"Here is the baby in the arms of an old woman. Here is the baby with a belly full of stars. Here is the baby in the arms of a woman who is not me. A woman who calls herself Mama"

The town of Protectorate have an annual tradition, an evil annual tradition. Each year, the youngest child is sacrificed and left as an offering for the witch who lives in the forest. The folk of Protectorate hope that this will stop the witch from terrorising their town and keep them safe. However they could not be more incorrect about the "terrifying" witch in the forest, who is in fact loving and caring. Each year she finds babies abandoned in the forest, feeds them the stars to keep them full and leaves them with a loving family. She cannot understand why this keeps happening. This all changes when Luna is abandoned in the forest and is fed the moon instead of the stars, filling her with magic that if left alone can become dangerous. The Girl Who Drank the Moon follows Luna's journey to the truth, with a loving witch she calls Grandmama, a swamp monster named Glerk and a humorous tiny dragon named Fyrian.

This book was such a delight to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I love the plot and the concept of the book; I also love how appealing it is to a wider audience than its target of middle grade readers. I couldn't help but fall in love with the characters, especially Fyrian. His character made me laugh throughout, and I couldn't help but compare him as "Donkey" from Shrek (I love Donkey). The fact he is a dragon made it inevitable that I was going to love him, however as he developed as a character I just loved him even more. I really enjoyed the world building in this book and the whimsical writing style that the author portrays throughout. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to live with the witch in the forest with her wonderful creatures. This book has most definitely opened my eyes to a new author, I can't wait to read other previous books she has written and I really hope she continues to write other fascinating stories.

I would 100% recommend this to everyone, even if you don't think middle grade is your thing, I think you may be pleasantly surprised.