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Janna Mauldin Heiner
, October 13, 2017
(view all comments by Janna Mauldin Heiner)
Let me start off by saying I don't read a lot of fantasy. Most of it seems to float the same plots and stock characters in a bloated river of overused words.
But in _The Girl Who Drank the Moon_, Kelly Regan Barnhill gives us a story full of the unexpected--fresh characters, real humor, surprising story, and words sometimes so beautiful I wanted to read the same sentence more than once.
It's hard to write about this book without giving something away. There's a witch. There's a girl. There's a place in the woods where they meet. There's a community ruled by fear and an echo of Shirley Jackson's _The Lottery._ There's a powerful evil, but unlike most fantasy, it's a plain unmagical one, not unfamiliar in our own world; and there's a great compassion housed in a humble heart, who dares to face the evil armed with simple magic and powerful love.
Love will always win.
A wonderful book to read aloud or savor in solitude. I'm 51 and loved it; my two 8-year-old boys can't wait to read it with me after hearing a couple of snippets. There are powerful female characters that make it perfect for girls just entering the confusing tween years. There are good conversations to be had--about bullying, about truthfulness, about sacrifice, and about empathy and kindness.
Highly, highly recommended.
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