On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones – those who are lost – will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as its new owner to find the pawnshop ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it.
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice – through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds.
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own – and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back.
- Title: Water Moon
- Author: Samantha Sotto Yambao
- Publisher: Del Rey
- Publication Date: January 14, 2025
- Genre: Fantasy
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: death of a parent (past), mentions of a heart attack, grief, blood, parental abandonment, injury
- Rating: ★★★★★
The second I saw the cover for Water Moon I knew I had to read it. Did I know anything about it? No, but a book cover that gorgeous with my favorite colors means I have to read it. Luckily, once I read the synopsis I was just as excited about the story as I was the cover.
I have been dying to read this book and the longer it took for me to get it, the higher my expectations became. I’m so glad to say that Water Moon met and exceeded all of my expectations! I would actually recommend going into this one pretty blind and not knowing much about the details aside from the synopsis. It was so much fun to read without having any idea how exactly the story was going to go. I think it’s a page turner no matter what, but the anticipation of not knowing where exactly the story would go made it impossible to put down.
The atmosphere in this book is absolutely incredible. Everything was so lush and vivid — the world building was incredible. It felt so well plotted and executed, this world felt so real. The magic system was also brilliantly done and so creative! I felt that I could jump into the book and find myself in their world just like Hana and Kei were able to jump into puddles or travel through songs to be transported somewhere else. To be honest, I can’t pinpoint why exactly but I just got Studio Ghibli vibes; this book kind of made me feel the way I feel when I watch Studio Ghibli films. I truly feel that this is one of the most creative and interesting magical worlds I’ve read in a really long time!
I can’t get over the writing in this book. There were so many lines that left me breathless. I took note of 15 quotes to put in my review notes and I’m sitting here going “How do I pick just one to share?” they were so gorgeous, but I think the quote that best sums up the book is this,
“We have been blessed with time to think. It has allowed us to realize that life is about finding joy in the space between where you come from and where you are going. I may never get to where I want to go, but I can look back on my life and say that I did not waste a second of it being bitter that I was not someplace else. Happiness does not exist in a place. It lives in every breath we take. You need to choose to take it in, over and over again”
Gosh, that’s just so perfect. And there are so many little nuggets of gold like this in the book. I absolutely adored the writing in this book.
I really liked the characters and characterization throughout the book. I thought both Hana and Keishin were interesting characters to follow; I loved how even though they were (literally) from different worlds, they struggled with many of the same doubts and feelings and it really shows that most of the time we’re more similar to people than we think we are, no matter where we’re from. I thought that Hana and Kei complimented each other well and I enjoyed the way their relationship developed. The side characters were so fun, and while we didn’t get to spend too much time with them, I did feel as though each of them were their own characters and had their own stories and lives outside of the little snippets of them we got with Hana and Kei. There weren’t any filler characters and I was very happy about that.
As we know, fantasy is not my main genre, but I’m starting to read more of it and this kind of cozy fantasy is definitely one that works for me. I also loved that there was a mystery element to the story that was quite literally a page turner. I was so excited to see where the story went and how the mysteries unraveled and were revealed. Some moments literally had me gasping; I loved it.
Water Moon met and exceeded all of my expectations and was such a lovely book to experience. It made me feel joy, heartbreak, surprise and had the most beautiful dreamy vibes. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
Links for Water Moon: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop
Samantha Sotto Yambao is a professional daydreamer, aspiring time traveler, and speculative fiction writer based in Manila. She is the author of Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, A Dream of Trees, and the Beginning of Always. WATER MOON, her latest novel, will be released on January 14, 2025.
