This was a lovely book, really. There's a town that must sacrifice its youngest baby every year to the witch in the woods, although the witch actually has no idea why these people keep leaving babies in the woods to die and just places them in nice families in town that aren't burdened with (they think) a terrible curse. Except for one baby that she can't help but keep, and can't help from feeding moonlight which enmagicks her.

The story then follows several different character--the little girl growing up with the witch, the bog monster and a tiny dragon (who believes he's Simply Enormous), the one young man in town who objects to the sacrifices and wants to kill the witch instead and the woman locked in a tower by a the sinister Sister Ignatius and who's been mad ever since her daughter was taken from her. These characters will, of course, eventually come crashing together.

Thematically the book deals a lot with grief and growth and death being a natural part of life. Everyone dies, but everyone also lives on.