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, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned 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 enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks Luna's magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule-but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected hen-even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she's always known.
I really liked this at the start, and the end was sweet, but somewhere in the middle it started to make me feel uncomfortable. I can't quite say for sure, but I think it might be the fact that this book includes a lot of what could be deemed mind control. I often struggle with books that include mental issues where the characters lose some control over their minds - whether in mental illness or from magic or whatever. So I would guess that was my problem here too. It's a pity because otherwise I really did like this book.
I loved that one of the main characters is an old, old, like very old, woman. Not many old woman protagonists around, so I really like that. Plus the swamp monster and who couldn't love the Enormous Dragon? There is a lot to like about this book, and most people don't struggle with the same things I do, so I would say it's one most people would like.
