The Girl Who Drank the Moon
By: Kelly Barnhill / Narrated By: Christina Moore
Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
Because the Moon tastes better than Starlight! Gosh, what a book!
Christina Moore has turned into one of my favorite narrators, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon showcases her abilities to near perfection. There are soooo many wonderful characters in this audiobook, from the loving yet possibly misguided Witch, Xan, to a poetry-spouting Monster with the gentlest eyes, Glerk, to a Simply Enormous Dragon who carries wounds and remains small and childlike, Fyrian. And there’s the man who knows sorrow, who eventually knows perfect love, Antain. There’s a Witch who thrives on the Sorrows of others; there are coarse and deceiving Elders; there are the depressed and suffering people of The Protectorate; there are Star-Children whose lives start in great tragedy but grow, through eating Starlight, into the richest people of all.
See? My fingers cramped up just writing down all of that, and that’s just a smidgen of how this wonderfully rich book goes. And that’s not EVEN getting into Luna, the girl who was fed the full moon by accident—Xan was kinda preoccupied with the beauty of life and let her drink that instead of Starlight.
This causes Luna to become waaaaay more than one of the Star-Children; she will have powers beyond compare. But as she grows up, those powers prove to be too much for a child who can neither control nor understand them, leading Xan to devise a way for Luna to not grow into her powers until she is 13, at which time Xan will die, leaving the planet after over 500 years of life. Xan believes that’ll give her time to tutor and teach Luna about magic, about control. But there’s just one problem—Luna will zone out each time something magical is mentioned, leaving Xan and Glerk confused and frightened.
Then there’s The Protectorate and the Elders who have told the populace that a Witch will destroy their township and kill everyone if the youngest child is not abandoned in the woods on Sacrifice Day. There’s Antain whose heart is too pure to stand that, and he’s scarred on the inside by the hurt he’s seen and is scarred on the outside by the powers of the one he’s hurt.
This is a story about choosing hope over grief, of choosing faith and love despite pressures to yield and conform. And everything, EVERYthing has Consequences. The best of intentions might have disastrous Consequences, and in the end, all will have to look within their own beating hearts to discover what was hidden all along, what is true, what is pure.
I loved the writing as there was such beautiful imagery, and Kelly Barnhill proves just how rich her imagination is. This is the second time I’ve listened to the audiobook, and I think I liked it even more this time, even knowing what all was going to happen. I guess cuz I really got what I’d only sensed the first time around. I have a tendency of “experiencing” audiobooks rather than actually paying attention to them, so I can listen to a book many, MANY times and never get bored.
This was indeed one of those times where it felt like catching up with beloved friends, felt like sipping on Starlight myself (I totally realize that Lowly ME would never be intrepid enough to drink the Moon!). This is not quite 10 hours, and the time whirs by like paper birds. You’ll want to listen to it all in one sitting, but I’m here to tell ya: Ya maaaaay wanna take your time to savor the Moon…
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