(Review #377)
This is my first ever completed audiobook!!! I had tried 1-2 in the past but they never stuck. This one was very special because we listened to it in the car on the way to and home from school. My 9 year old rated it a 4.4/5 stars (as did I) and my 8 year old rated it a 4.8/5 stars. For the last few days we have been talking about how we thought it would end and were all excited!
Unfortunately the climatic moment was cut off with the next sentence being “3 weeks later” which shocked us all and we were a little disappointed.
Otherwise, the magical system was fabulous, the characterization was phenomenal, the world building was beautiful, the prose were great for their age level, and the overall imagination was perfect for my mega creative son.
We didn’t know going into it that the story was 48 chapters (10 discs) so it took us quite some time and investment but I truly feel this book will be a core memory for my son one day. His favorite character was the completely enormous dragon who happened to fit in their pocket. My favorite was the swamp monster, AKA the poet.
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 . . .