The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a beautiful, well-written story. When it won the 2017 Newbery Award I was a bit surprised and disappointed, because it was not a title I had read during 2016, and there were other titles that I loved and felt deserved the medal. Now that I've read it, I completely understand why this book "has what it takes" to be the Newbery winner. Barnhill's writing is beautiful, her characters are well-crafted, and the many places that make the setting of the story are thoroughly imagined and described. Additionally, Barnhill's style makes for an interesting story because there are strands weaving through the narrative that don't fit together for the reader until well into the story. One of the most satisfying pieces for me was the way that Barnhill's writing seems almost allegorical. The Bog, for example, is a place, but it is also a spirit. Barnhill evokes the language of creation stories and religion in speaking of the Bog: "In the beginning, there was the Bog. And the Bog covered the world and the Bog was the world and the world was the Bog." Glerk, the swamp monster who is the embodiment of the Bog, is a character of wisdom who knows all of the history of the characters and the times before them. He loves all of creation and worries over it. There is a good deal of play between good and evil, hope and sorrow, light and dark, truth and lies. Theme is very strong throughout the book. So, for a book upon which I have heaped so many positive comments, why only 4 stars? It really should be 4 1/2 if that were possible. The biggest problem for me was the start of the book. The beginning is (necessarily) very dark, and as the story begins to roll into action, it does so VERY slowly. I really believe that many of my readers would love this book, but would not stay with it long enough to find that out. I think one needs a good 90 pages or so of this 388-pager to be truly hooked. Up until that point, I wasn't sure if I liked the story or even if I liked the main characters. I wish that there was a way to move this part of the story along a little quicker, yet I understand why it is written as it is. For those who wade through the first 1/4 of the book, the reward is great, indeed.