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If mother and mother nature are architects of the real world, then I would say writers also play a vital role in composing a fictional and functional world with all kinds of characters. One world we live in and the other we can imagine to the fullest to have the feeling of living in an imaginary world. The satisfaction of having a different world from different perspectives of writers makes the readers forever fans of the Fictional genre. After reading a non-fiction (Manifest: 7 steps to living your best life – Review Here), I thought it would be a change of taste if I check on some fictional, magical characters. So the book “The girl who drank the moon by Kelly Barnhill” justified and satisfied my expectations. Let’s dive into the description and my review section.

Description – 

A cloud of sorrow always floats above the city of Protectorate, when a family has to sacrifice the youngest newly born child to the witch. But the witch Xan, the kindest soul ever, rescued the babies and handed them over to the loving family from the other side of the forest. She rescued one baby girl and while traveling with her, she mistakenly fed her the moonlight, an extraordinary magic. So she decided to raise the girl as her own granddaughter and named her Luna.

On the other hand, one man called Antain was questioning the tradition of sacrificing the babies to the village elders. Being curious led the young man to find the witch. Will this determination be enough for him to solve the sacrifice ritual for 500 years old ? Will he face any conspiracy by her own Uncle, the grand elder Gherland of Protectorate ? Will he figure out the true nature of Xan and solve the mystery of baby sacrifice ? Will Luna be able to find her birth mother and most importantly understand her own identity ?

My Review –

The book started a bit slow for me in the starting few chapters as the author was creating a fictional world and building a storyline. Once I understood the stage and plot, there was no stopping. The book is full of magic, witch, dragon, monster, magical paper birds and lots of creativity. Emotions wise the book is full of happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, betrayal and anger. A mother’s pure love and sacrifice made me teary eyes. A lot of lines and statements in the book show the author’s intellectual humor. This is purely a children’s book which teaches kids the importance of affirmative and positive emotions such as hope and love. The book kept the secret almost till the end, made me nervous and anxious about what would happen to the protagonist if they couldn’t figure out the real culprit.

The central theme of the story revolves around the idea that hope has the power to conquer any form of sorrow.

Awards & Recognition –

The book won prestigious The Newbery Medal 2017, which was given to American authors for most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. 

Conclusion – 

I am a person who likes all kinds of fantasy children stories and movies including Narnia, Stuart little, Harry potter and so on. While reading the book, I could relate to the wicked witch’s characters as Angelina Jolly in Maleficent. Hence I loved and enjoyed every bit of the book. Again this is my personal opinion. If someone enjoys children’s movies and books , I would recommend the same.