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The Girl Who Drank the Moon
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Literature & Fiction
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In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
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Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent, and not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
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Overall
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Performance
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In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
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From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of "Stargirl, Stargirl." She captures Leo Borlock's heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. Then they turn on her.
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When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community.
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Broke, almost homeless, and recently fired. Those are my official reasons for answering a wanted ad for a skeevy-looking bartender gig. It went downhill the moment they asked me to do a trial shift instead of an interview - to see if I'd mesh with their "special" clientele. I think that part went great. Their customers were complete dickheads, and I was an asshole right back. That's the definition of fitting in, right? I expected to get thrown out on my ass. Instead, they...offered me the job?
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Publisher's Summary
A young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon must unlock the dangerous magic buried deep inside her in this epic coming-of-age fairy tale from the highly acclaimed author of The Witch's Boy.
Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. When Luna approaches her 13th birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule - but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her - even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she's always known.
The acclaimed author of The Witch's Boy has created another epic coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a modern classic.
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What listeners say about The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Adam Brown
- 2019-03-10
Beautiful, imaginative tale
This will stay with me. The world building was great. KB’s voice and humour sustained my interest even as the tale lost momentum a bit in the middle; but the ending was immensely satisfying.
4 people found this helpful
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- Heather
- 2018-09-19
Magical
This was the first audible book I’ve listened to and while I intended it for my oldest child, once I started it I had to finish and have listened to it ever since. It has a way of transporting your mind entirely into a magical place.
I recommend this book especially because the narrator is absolutely perfect for this story.
#Audible1
4 people found this helpful
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- Genevieve S
- 2020-06-28
Beautiful story
What a wonderful tale of love, friendship, and magic. I really enjoyed how it was written. Makes me long for more of these characters. Do yourself a favour and let this story take you away for a little while.
1 person found this helpful
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- Heather Lew McK
- 2019-05-19
10 Stars!
Wow. This was so much fun. We are taking our 11 year old grandson on a road trip this summer, and this book is perfect. There is no swearing or sex. This is simply a great fun story with fabulous characters. And the narration is beyond great. Each character is instantly recognizable. Despite the fact that I thought this would be great for a kid, I could hardly wait to hear what happens next.
1 person found this helpful
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- shyanne_19
- 2022-06-14
Absolutely wonderful story!
The narrator did an amazing job with this story. The story itself was perfect. It was intriguing and kept me hanging on all the way to the very end. No regrets here at all.
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-09-16
was a wonderful story
loved it and all the sass
the ending is both sad and hard warming.
it is fantastic fairy tale
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- Norman
- 2021-08-18
And now for something completely unexpected
Kelly Barnhill has taken all the elements of classic and modern fairy tales and turned them on their heads. At the same time, she has created a thrilling tale that kept me in suspense at the expense of necessities such as food and sleep. I am very impressed.
This book is intended for younger readers. I'm turning 70 and I could not put it down.
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-05-20
Magical!
Such a lovely story! Filled with wonder and excitement! Excellent performance! I really enjoyed it!
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- kristi
- 2020-11-28
Amazing!
this was a great book that I enjoyed with my 9 year old daughter. I just finished it today and already want to go back to the start and listen again!
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- alex
- 2020-08-15
Excellent
One of the better stories I have read in a long time! A lot of concepts for discussion in an engaging story - and first class narration!
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- Tom
- 2017-08-31
Wonderful, Delightful, Engaging
I am an old guy, just about to turn 70. I've listened to hundreds of audiobooks and I never thought I'd like a Modern Fairytale type story. this one however took me by surprise. the entire feeling of the story is positive. the characters are mostly adorable and there's a great deal of humor throughout the story. I think the narrator is perfect for this kind of story and she did an excellent job. I highly recommend this to anyone if you just want to have a fun positive experience of a very well-written book.
282 people found this helpful
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- Gunnyvil
- 2016-12-18
Extraordinary Listening Experience
Who was your favorite character and why?
Fyrian, the tiny dragon, because the narrator does such a fine job of creating his voice. But all of the characters are wonderful.
What about Christina Moore’s performance did you like?
She excells at capturing the different characters. I particularly enjoyed her hilarious portrayal of Fyrian, the dragon small enough to fit into Luna's pocket.
Any additional comments?
I am 75 years old and a retired college English professor. This book is intended for middle school readers, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The narration is first rate and the story is filled with mythic themes.
261 people found this helpful
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- Jefferson
- 2017-05-09
Swamp Poetry, Love Magic, Sorrow Eating and Change
"The weight of moonlight--sticky and sweet--gathered on her fingertips. It poured from her hands into her grandmother's mouth and shivered through her grandmother's body. The old woman's cheeks began to flush. The moonlight radiated through Luna's own skin, too, setting her bones aglow."
Kelly Barnhill writes a lot of that kind of sensual, emotional, and poetic fantasy in her YA fairy tale novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2016). As the book begins, a mother tells her child about the wicked Witch who lives in the forest eager to destroy the entire Protectorate (AKA the City of Sorrows) unless the people sacrifice their youngest child to her each year. The novel then depicts a "Day of Sacrifice" on which the mother of the current child goes mad with grief and rage when the Council of Elders show up to take her baby girl away. Interestingly, the Witch in question, Xan, has no idea why the people of the Protectorate keep abandoning their babies in the forest year after year. But she rescues them from death by exposure and finds them suitable families among the people of the Free Cities on the other side of the forest. This time, however, she falls in love with the baby with the starry black eyes, so she accidentally "enmagicks" the girl by letting her drink her fill of moonlight. Feeling responsible, Xan decides to raise the child as her own granddaughter, calling her Luna. In addition to grandmother Xan, Luna's new family consists of her grandfather, a patient and loving 4-armed Swamp Monster called Glerk who is a Bog, a Poet and, in a sense, the whole world, and her brother Fyrian, a "Perfectly Tiny Dragon" who thinks he's a "Simply Enormous Dragon" and has been in a cute state of arrested development for 500 years. It's a charming modern fairy tale family.
One conflict in the novel arises from infant Luna's inability to control her chaotic magic. Moreover, Xan's own magic is constantly flowing into Luna, leaving the old Witch increasingly drained and aged. Xan will have to do something with Luna and her power soon, but what? There are other conflicts. Not all Barnhill's characters are charming. Luna's biological mother, the madwoman in the Tower, is being imprisoned and studied for her damaged mind and memory by the Sisters of the Star (an order of female warrior scholars), and despite being denied paper, she magically creates paper birds that "massed in great murmurations, expanding and contracting." The leader of the Sisters, Sister Ignatia, savors other people's sorrow a bit too greedily, while Grand Elder Gherland wants to maintain the status quo a bit too greedily.
One of the strong points of the novel is its characters, who are compelling and possess interesting, gradually revealed back-stories (Xan's childhood, for example, was not easy. . . ). Barnhill also works into her fantasy strong themes about magic, memory, time, change, education, sorrow, hope, family, and love. And her rich language makes mundane things magical and magical things sublime, while her wit makes conversations funny. Her writing is a pleasure to read, as in her many--
--sensual descriptions:
"The child's scalp smelled of bread dough and clabbering milk."
--neat similes:
"She gave him a look as sharp as a blade, and he ran out of the room in a panicked rush, as though he were already bleeding."
--fun lists:
"Even when Luna was content, she still was not quiet. She hummed; she gurgled; she babbled; she screeched; she guffawed; she snorted; she yelled."
--moving moments:
"Luna's heart was pulled to her grandmother's heart. Was love a compass? Luna's mind was pulled to her grandmother's mind. Was knowledge a magnet?"
--humorous lines:
"I hope you will be able to make at least one person grovel today."
--wise lines:
"Trusting in invisible things makes them more powerful and wondrous."
--and even some neat swamp poetry by Glerk:
"Each sleeping tree
dreams green tree dreams;
the barren mountain
wakes in blossom."
The reader, Christina Moore, has a clear and seasoned American voice for the base narration and does a kind and crusty Xan, a deliberate and swampy Glerk, a convincing pre-teen and teen Luna, a scary Sister Ignatia, a funny crow, and so on. I loved her Fyrian, especially when he sings "Luna Luna Luna Luna" with atonal child fervor.
I did notice some flaws in the novel. First, Luna and her mother's moon-shaped forehead birthmarks are Special Character Overkill. Second, part of the potent movement of the novel is the growth of Luna from baby to teenager, but although Barnhill mentions facial and magical "eruptions" breaking out when Luna nears 13, and there is even a powerful volcano getting ready to blow, the novel avoids menstruation (unlike, say, Jane Yolen's fascinating exploration of that part of a girl's maturing process in "Words of Power" [1987]). Third, a few too many times a few too many characters explain or summarize what's been happening with the sacrificed and rescued babies and the Protectorate's cloud of sorrow etc. Fourth, Barnhill moves into climax mode a bit too early and stays there a bit too long. Fifth, despite Barnhill's pleasurable language and vision, she is writing too much in the current YA trend of short attention spans, manifesting itself in short sentences and short chapters, in her case 48 chapters in the nearly 400-page novel. Finally, for purposes of suspense, at a key point Barnhill makes Antain, a bright and moral young apprentice Elder who'd rather be a carpenter, too dense and unquestioning for his character.
Anyway, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is an impressive fantasy: scary, funny, moving, and magical. Readers who like YA fantasy lacking romantic triangles but possessing plenty of witty and poetic writing and loveable characters and human villains should like the book. (I almost regret another strong point of the novel, that it seems to be a stand-alone work rather than the first in an interminable series.)
108 people found this helpful
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- Mandela B Doescher
- 2017-01-28
So glad this one won the Newberry!
I began the book as a hardcover, but became too busy to finish it. I thank the stars and the moon that I ended up finishing it on audio. The narrator was AMAZING! A tale to be shared with your children or alone in your car. The wonder, imaginative folktale, and surprise culmination of the several storylines will leave you bewitched!
105 people found this helpful
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- Breanna
- 2017-02-14
an unexpected Delight
I didn't know it at the time when I started this book that it would actually help me with the grief and the loss of my own mother it seems like a normal cute fairy story at the time but it became so much more
36 people found this helpful
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- J Price
- 2016-09-03
Xantastic!
I listened to this on Audible and loved it! A cleverly written novel that enchanted me from the very beginning. This fantasy is the story of love helping overcome miscommunication. If you enjoyed Harry Potter, put this on your must read list!
77 people found this helpful
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- Lea
- 2017-04-05
Had Potential
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
At first, I was charmed. I admire the world, the premise, and the backstories behind these characters. However, only a few chapters in I came to realize that's all it was: backstory. Very little actually happens in the book itself, and the overall arc is more of a slight walk uphill. I never once felt excited. There was so much potential in the world-building itself, that I listened to the full thing in hopes of a worthwhile climax, but I should have trusted my instinct. The execution was fundamentally flawed. I ultimately left the book feeling disappointed.
What was most disappointing about Kelly Barnhill’s story?
There were no mysteries, no questions, no puzzles I wanted solved by the end of the story. All information was given up front in a chronological sequence of events. I knew things as they happened and wondered nothing.
In a better construction, we should have unfolded all these things in Luna's shoes, in flashbacks or discoveries she made, establishing her as a solid lead. This is not the case. Though I feel Luna was intended to be the main character, she doesn't even lead the plot until the tail end. It felt scattered. Everyone was a main character, and therefore no one was.
There was little conflict. I would have loved to jump ahead through 3/4 of the book to the point that Luna comes of age, and find this information alongside her. Sadly, it is like reading a biography in a fantasy setting. It's only slightly less boring than daily life.
The dialogue was unnatural and a little melodramatic. I can't imagine anyone speaking like the people in this book, and they all spoke the same. And while I appreciate Barnhill's flowery prose, it was at times laborious, and often interfered with the impact of certain events.
What does Christina Moore bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The most adorable tiny dragon voice that could possibly be imagined.
Other than that, I felt her performance helped to alleviate some of the unnatural dialogue and add personality that might not have been there otherwise.
Do you think The Girl Who Drank the Moon needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
A follow-up might be more exciting, considering this book read like a precursor to a more eventful story.
Any additional comments?
Overall, the story was very shallow, in terms of characters, arc, and dialogue. Its potential was there, but the execution left it unfortunately dull. I would like to see this story revisited, as more of a journey of self-discovery alongside Luna and the tiny dragon, Fyrian. I would like to see it start with Xan's first encounters with Luna, then jump ahead to Luna at 13 years, trying to piece together the mysteries without Xan around to enlighten her. She could have gone on a journey looking for her grandmother, and we could tag along wondering why there's a woman in a tower, why children are left at the edge of the woods every year, why Luna draws the pictures she does, and most importantly why she is only now discovering magic. I see so much that could have been, and that's why I feel so disappointed.
82 people found this helpful
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- MK
- 2017-09-10
Good story, great perfornance
Good, easy story. Nothing deep, just a fun listen. Christina Moore does an excellent job narrating. I love her interpretation of Fyrian and the crow! Will look for more audio books narrated by her.
9 people found this helpful
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- mira
- 2016-11-03
Truly magical
Simple, elegant, and wholly satisfying.
This book is for both children and those childlike enough to carry wonder in their hearts.
47 people found this helpful
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- Maureen O'Hara
- 2017-01-13
Magnificent!
This was an absolutely fantastic book! I thoroughly enjoyed it cover to cover! The narration was phenomenal! She did all the voices so beautifully it really brought the book to life. I highly recommend this book!
37 people found this helpful