Control vs Free Will

[Alice]

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a story of love and magic, mostly of love. The people of the Protectorate have been controlled for many years by the belief of a witch in the woods that demands the annual sacrifice of the youngest child in the Protectorate. The tale of the witch has roots in the truth, but it has been twisted by those with an interest in misleading the public. They want to keep the status quo, because they are comfortable in power. This story illustrates how “controlling stories is power….” As the book unfolds, several different characters set out on a quest for the truth for one reason or another, which leads them each into the woods and causes them to interact with each other in intriguing ways. This is also a story of the challenges we all face as we are growing up, whether we are magic or not. It deals with feeling awkward and out of control, your words not coming out right. It encompasses the whole scope of human emotion, as each character confronts success, fear, loss. Some of the characters have attempted to question authority without much apparent affect on the machinations of the Protectorate, but when they each persist in doing their small part, together the characters begin to make a difference. This book upsets complacency and challenges people to wake up to conditions around them. It takes a small child to point out, “If it’s impossible to fight that which one doesn’t understand, then why not seek to learn?” The characters have feelings for each other which lead them in surprising directions as they seek to learn about each other and how to improve their lot.