2024 the best fantasy books review

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With more than a million copies sold, Newbery Medal winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a must-read for fans of classic children's literature or timeless fantasy fables.

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. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the 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. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge—with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl . . .

After you finish The Girl Who Drank the Moon, look for Kelly Barnhill's latest wondrous fantasy for young readers, The Ogress and the Orphans!

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Algonquin Young Readers; Reprint edition (April 30, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1616207469
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1616207465
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8+ years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 640L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 9
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 0.88 x 8.75 inches
Reviewer: Xela
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A wonderful book for all ages
Review: At the San Francisco Writer’s Conference 2017, I heard this book repeatedly recommended by the agent Mary C Moore whenever discussing middle grade fantasy. After the conference, I put it on my reading list. In the past, I had the opinion that the best books are children’s books: an opinion that had faded of late. This book reaffirmed that faded opinion.The first thing that struck me was the writing. It’s frequently said, of course, that every line must serve a purpose, drawing the reader in. Yet I can’t remember the last time I read a book that executed that theory so well as this one did. From the start, the characters and their conflicts are crystal clear; and with a baby being sacrificed to a witch that the Elders know does not exist, the stakes are high. I only felt the story slow down as the writing took time with characterization in chapter two, when we meet said non-existant witch and her magical companions.The second thing that struck me was the diverse age range of our cast of characters. There is the elderly witch; the child that she adopts; the teen-turned-young-man that defies the culture of sorrow of the town in which he was born and raised; and the middle-aged woman who lost her daughter. Each of these characters is confronted with problems of their age. The child wants to find out who she is. The young man learns to push past his mother’s expectations to find a vocation he loves and the love of his life. The middle-aged woman has lost sight of the young woman she used to be in the face of the soul-rending grief of losing a child. The elderly witch is faced with her own mortality.I was also struck with admiration by the time course of this book, which takes place over the course of thirteen years. Of course, there are many stories that do this: Harry Potter and In Malice, Quite Close are only a few examples of books that begin with a set up a decade or more before the meat of the story begins. However, I am accustomed to such stories dedicating only a chapter or two to the set-up before diving into the main meat of the story. This is not so in The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Here, we are nearly half way through the book before we hit the “present,” or the meat of the story. Yet the first half of the book—covering nearly 12 years in the lives of several characters—felt neither tediously lengthy nor overly rushed.Barnhill doesn’t necessarily elaborate at length about her characters or her world. Yet she chooses her words with exceptional skill, weaving a simple world infused with depth to the reader who cares to look beneath the surface.This, I thought as I read, is what truly makes a children’s book ageless: a story so simple that children can enjoy it, but infused with so much depth and complexity that it can be meaningful at any age.The foremost theme from the onset of this book is Sorrow. The people of the town live their lives buried in sorrow and grief; meanwhile, the witch does not allow herself to feel sorrow. In the book, of course, there is a supernatural reason behind this. Taken at face value, one might interpret the story as a manifesto against the human tendency to sink into sorrow or grief. However, I don’t choose to see it that way. At the end of the book, sorrow has ceased to be a liability as it was in the past. The town is no longer perpetually sunken into grief, but nor is there a need to prevent oneself from feeling sorrow for the sake of self-preservation. I choose to see the theme as demonstrating the futility of either extreme: for while they do not wallow, there is still sorrow in the end, though it is presented in a form more complex than any previous form.The world and the story, though original, had a familiar feel to them that made them highly accessible and an easy read, but nevertheless one that made me think.I highly recommend this book.

Reviewer: Tiara
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Enjoying this
Review: I recently read "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" and it quickly became one of my favorite books. This enchanting story, written by Kelly Barnhill, is a deserving winner of the prestigious 2017 Newbery Medal.The novel is a beautifully crafted tale of magic, mystery, and adventure that captivated me from the very first page. The characters are vividly drawn and I found myself deeply invested in their journeys and the connections they form with each other.One of the most compelling aspects of the book is the lyrical prose and rich world-building. Barnhill's writing is both poetic and poignant, drawing the reader into a world of wonder and imagination. The narrative is full of twists and turns, keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout.The themes of love, sacrifice, and the power of stories are woven seamlessly throughout the book, making it both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. By the time I reached the end, I was deeply moved by the profound messages and the satisfying resolution.I highly recommend "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" to readers of all ages who enjoy a compelling and beautifully written fantasy story. It is a true gem of a book that will stay with me long after I have turned the final page.

Reviewer: Book Lover
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Modern Classic
Review: I am so embarrassed. A Newbery award winner, in our library collection, and I had not read it until I downloaded the ebook from Amazon on a special for $1.99. Now I know what all the excitement is about. This is an award winner that deserves every plaudit it receives. This is a book that could easily be part of an adult collection, reminding me of T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" and the stories of Philip Pullman or even the Stephen Sondheim play, "Into the Woods." For as we all know, a great fantasy has no age restriction; it is ageless, just as it is timeless.The bare outline of the story is a tale of the yearly offering of the youngest baby of the community known as The Protectorate to the Witch of the Woods. The Council of Elders enforces this sacrifice for the safety of the population, but the reader soon learns it is the Council that has come up with this scheme to keep the people subjugated, In fact the witch each year rescues the abandoned child and finds a home for him or her in the free cities far away. One year, however, instead of placing the baby with a family, she takes the baby to be her own and accidentally suffuses her with moonlight which transforms into powerful magic. She than attempts to protect the child from the power of her magic by creating a spell to keep it hidden til her thirteenth birthday.The whole book is a study of magic in all its forms and purposes, both conscious and unconscious, but more importantly, the book itself is magic. Listen, for example, to this little throw-away paragraph about the unexpected behavior of papers that appeared in a tower room with no explanation: "Apologies," the papers murmured. They scattered and gathered; they swirled into great whirlwinds; they undulated across the room in waves.This paragraph begs to be read aloud like the poetry it is. The whole book is a perfect read-aloud, with wonderful titles at the beginning of each chapter and lovely cliff-hangers at the end.But the story is more than an evening's entertainment. It is a clarion call for open access to knowledge, for as Barnhill writes, "Knowledge is powerful, but it is a terrible power when it is hoarded and hidden."So I have told you of the beauty of the writing and the power of the book's message, but I haven't yet told you what a wonderful story it is with characters that will hold your attention from the first time you meet them til they finally leave the stage.This book has already received so many 5 star reviews, I would be surprised if you have read my offering to this point, but I am writing not so much for you who might read this, but for me to place as a tribute to this author and her perfect story.

Reviewer: Excelente
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Adorei

Reviewer: Kimberlyn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Format: HardcoverGenre: Fantasy/YA/Childrens/MagicReview: I started reading this book with my 11 year-old daughter. She, like her mother, loves magic, fantasy, the moon, and the stars, and this book seemed like the perfect one to capture her attention (she isn't big on reading). And for awhile, it was. We made it to chapter 13 (about 1/4 of the way through the book) before some more violent descriptions, blended with my, ahem, rather dramatic reading style, scared her too badly for her to continue wanting to read the story. Despite being very into it myself at that point, I put it to the side in the hopes that she would come around. She never did.So, months later, I picked it back up on my own and binged the rest of it.The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a perfect blend of darkness and light. We see both the good and the bad in humanity, the love, the kindness, the care, but also the fear, the decisions made from places of desperation, and the decisions made from places of control. There are no one-dimensionally "good" or "bad" characters in the story. All of them are "flawed" to some degree. They are all so very human. Even the very worst of the worst show gentleness and warmth towards certain characters, care and love that they may not want to feel but undoubtedly do. That raw humanity is what makes the book so powerful.Not that alone, of course. Kelly Barnhill is a great writer. I probably don't need to mention that - after all, she won the Newbery Medal for this novel. But I will reiterate it. She's a great writer. Her style draws you in and keeps you reading, which is especially important in books aimed for children since their attention spans can be incredibly limited. The skill she has when weaving her words together, blended with the strength of her characters, makes this a powerhouse of a children's novel.Am I upset that my daughter couldn't finish it? No. Perhaps disappointed, but not upset. I hope that in time, she'll come back to it on her own. She'll decide when she can face the darker aspects this book brings to the fore. Until then, it will sit on my shelf, a lovely reminder of time spent reading with my little girl, and a story that I won't soon forget.

Reviewer: Shivani
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved the story... How well it end..I am n adult but tried new book to read I felt good I felt inspired and there is hope.

Reviewer: summer45
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Pacy plot which engages your emotions while bringing an insight and understanding of why we do the things we do.

Reviewer: A. Pascal
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Mi hija lee mucho y se ha vuelto un desafío encontrarle libros interesantes y cautivadores para su edad - 10 años. Así que probé con este, basado en todas las reseñas, y me alegra haberlo hecho. ¡Ya va por la mitad y le encanta!