If you love Studio Ghibli films, you must read this book. It was an enchanting, a stunning work of art that blend whimsical storytelling with deep emotional resonance. I could just imagine being in the magical pawnshop, the Museum of Education, and riding paper cranes. Samantha did an incredible job enveloping the theme of how important choices are and it's a beautiful thing to have the freedom of choice. Her writing is so detailed and vibrant, I just want to read the book all over again. I am definitely going to read the rest of her books. Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc and the chance to read this amazing piece of art.

"Broken things have a unique kind of beauty, don't you think?"
"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."

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for access to the eARC for an honest review.

Water Moon was sold to me as whimsy fantasy with the vibes of our most beloved studio ghibli movies, and on that it definitely delivers. However, anything aside from ✨ immaculate vibes ✨ there were just too many shortcomings for me to rate this any higher than 2 stars.

For starters, the characters, while endearing together, ultimately fell very short when stood on there own. Hana and Kei meet within the first few chapters and unfortunately, the author does not allow them any time to develop outside of their relationship to each other. On there own, they had such promise to be interesting characters - a magical pawnshop owner and a physicist on the verge of a massive break through / quarterlife crisis - but alas it was a missed opportunity. Compounding on the issue of underdeveloped characters, was an underdeveloped relationship between them. This may be more of a "me" issue, but I cannot believe for one second that these two met and fell in love in the span of a single day.

In regards to the pacing of the story, it was very jumpy throughout, which ultimately resulted in a very rushed ending that felt extremely unsatisfying. I also couldn't help but feel the chapters became very formulaic by the midpoint. I swear every chapter was ending the same way, with some iteration of "We will have to jump through a puddle, we will sail upon a dream, we must ride a rumor, we must sell a wish, etc. etc." i was over the quirkiness so quickly.

If you're purely a vibe reader and don't mind insta-love, or you really want to read a studio ghibli-esque book, then you may enjoy. Unfortunately this just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for a copy of this ARC! I loved every second of it and I look forward to getting a physical copy for my shelves!

Atmospheric and magical, this book was such a treat to jump into and I didn’t want it to end.

This book follows Hana, who has just inherited a Pawn Shop from her retiring father. This is not your ordinary Pawn Shop. It appears only to a select few, those who really seem to need it. And instead of trinkets, the clients of this particular Pawn Shop can trade in a moment where they made a choice - a choice that irrevocably changed their lives. However, on the morning Hana has become the Pawn Shop’s new owner, she discovers it ransacked, her father gone and a choice missing. Moments later, a young man enters the Pawn Shop and with his help, Hana begins a desperate search for her father and the missing choice.

I was completely blown away by this story. I knew I would enjoy this book the second I read the synopsis but I was entirely unprepared for how this book would sweep me away. The whole thing was deliciously atmospheric and the story, from start to finish, felt utterly dream-like and magical. It was like the kind of dream that feels like you lived a lifetime in the few short hours you were asleep, the kind you don’t want to wake up from because it’s just that amazing.

The world building and pacing of the book was fantastic. Despite the multitude of places we see in Hana’s world, everything seemed to fit perfectly together. The story flowed smoothly as we followed Hana and Kei on their quest to find her missing father and there were just enough revelations to keep things interesting and surprising. Every moment felt intentional and well thought-out and tied the story beautifully together. It felt like a book version of a Studio Ghibli movie.

The characters were also wonderful. I loved the slow burn romance between the two characters and I could feel their connection grow as the story went on. I even loved every one of the side characters we got to meet as well, each unique and adding to the story in a way that kept things moving naturally forward. Nothing felt awkward or out of place, which I feel is really rare to find in a book with new world building.

My only (very minor) complaint, is that I wish the ending had been a bit longer. It felt almost rushed compared to the steady flow of the rest of the novel but I was ultimately satisfied by how this book concluded.

Overall, if you adore unique fantasy wolds, cozy reads, Studio Ghibli films and/or a hint of romance, you need to pick this one up. This was one of my favorites reads of the year.

Rating: 5/5
Review will be published on my website on December 9th, 2024 at the following url:
https://mishmashedmagic.com/bookblog/water-moon-by-samantha-sotto-yambao

➤Plot

Hana's whole life, she has only known her father's pawnshop. A pawnshop that is connected to our world by a door that may lead to a ramen shop or their shop. But the clients don't bring in items... They bring in choices they are willing to give up. A choice that may be connected to a regret that follows them in life that they want to let go and in return they get peace of mind - they can finally accept their life as it is now. Or... At least that is the thought.

It is finally time for Hana's father to retire and for her to be the new owner of the pawnshop to carry on the family's tradition.

So why is it the first day of her job she wakes up to the pawnshop in a totally mess, a choice missing, her father no where to be seen, and a stranger from another world who just came into the pawnshop?

Over the course of the story we are taken to this magical world of jumping into puddles to travel, paper cranes that are alive and can fly, giving up memories for tickets to locations, finding the bridge that connects the dream world to the wake world, and many more things to leave you in awe - all while the story asks you: "What is the true meaning of a choice?"

➤Characters

There are many characters within this novel that stands out in their own right but only two true main characters and the ones we follow throughout this whole story. However, I will highlight one of my favorite side characters that only appeared for one chapter because their appearance has filled my mind with wonder - A wonderful humanoid fox that towers over humans in height, dressed in a fine robe, and made up completely of sand. I adore them so much! Just the thought of them gives me of that episode in Avatar the Last Airbender where they are in the desert and they meet that owl. Both mystical and terrifying. Many of the characters fit that description which makes the story feel so wonderous and scary.

However, Our two main characters:

Hana - The new pawnshop owner. She lives in this other world and was only raised by her father. Her mother was punished after she was born for stealing a choice and breaking the rules, leaving Hana and her dad alone. Hana very much plays by the rules and is very stoic, not always understanding the jokes the other lead throws at her. However, she also has a very kind heart and isn't scared to show her emotions when they are strong, wanting the other side to see how much she truly cares about them. She is intelligent and stubborn. As much as I like her, she does need someone to bounce off of since she is too stuck in the core identity she carved for herself.

Which is so amazing that she has another lead that is almost the complete opposite of her.

Keishin - Keishin is from our world, just arrived in Japan and wanted some ramen... And now he is in a pawnshop with a woman who just looked like she got robbed - Oh no. While Hana is stoic and all about business, Keishin is witty and kind. He is always up for adventure. He is an aspiring scientist, wanting all the questions to the universe and to understand everything in his path; which makes Hana all the more interesting to him. The two play off of each other wonderfully and we get peeks into Keishin's past to make him who he is today. He is a great character to ask the same questions we, as the reader, are asking about Hana's mysterious world. It's very funny when he asks Hana how something works and she responds very plainly "well because of this reason of course", when it sounds to insane to people from our world.

This is a romance and I have seen other people who have complained about their insta-love romance. I am someone who doesn't enjoy insta-love (slow-burn all the way), and I will say that Keishin does fall very easily for Hana but give it a chance. I really adored their relationship over the book and it is worth the pay off as you watch everything happen to the two.

➤Enjoyment

The biggest highlight of this book for me was the spectacular world building. What do you mean that I can pick up this seashell and it will tell me a joke? WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN GRAB ITEMS FROM MY HOUSE WITH THIS BAG? Like, how did you come up with this Yambao?? THAT IS AMAZING!

I always had a very vivid image in my head going through this book as Yambao painted each picture wonderfully for us. There was so many moments when I was dying because I wanted this to be an animated movie so badly. I want to see these moments actually drawn because I know it would be so magnificent since Yambao perfected what words to use to perfectly hand you the world she created to you.

From the wonderous world she made to the inner conflict that humans make on a daily - choices. How such small choices can change the direction of your life and what we do with those choices. Is giving up a choice good or bad? What happens if we were never given a choice at all? Would we be satisfied in life?

The only part I didn't enjoy as much as everything else was the insta-love. In the beginning I was like "Oh no, they are going to fall each other super fast", but quickly I realized there was much more to this relationship. It may of started with Keishin falling pretty quickly for Hana but I true connection was established overtime and they started to really understand each other as people. Which made me start to root for them.

I will say, I started to cry a little at the end when certain things happened and I am not ashamed. I felt so much for these characters from the journey that Yambao took me on.

I am so excited to buy this when it comes out and mark all the pages with all the quotes I adored.

For a book that started out so promising, this was honestly kind of a huge letdown. I think this book's biggest strength is drawing the reader in to a fantastical and oftentimes unnerving world. The main antagonists of the book also felt appropriately creepy; they reminded me a little of the Sisters from Kubo and the Two Strings but less human. Unfortunately, that's about where my appreciation and enjoyment ends.

Water Moon employs one of my least favorite tropes in fiction: insta-love. This has the unfortunate effect of bleeding into the individual characterizations of both Kei and Hana. Because neither of them (but especially Hana) really get enough time by themselves before meeting to build their characters, the moment they meet, it's insta-love and their characters start to feel less fleshed out and more defined by their relationship to one another. There's an attempt made by the author to subvert that a little later in the book, but it really rang hollow to me. From the instant they meet, the two can't stop thinking about each other to a degree that was annoying rather than romantic. And while Keishin did get a few POV chapters that had nothing to do with Hana and his relationship to her, Hana seemed to get much fewer. As a result, while neither of them felt whole, Hana especially seemed like a shadow of what the story wanted her to be. This made the moments that happen later in the book--things that were supposed to very emotional and character-defining--feel devoid of the emotions they were meant to convey.

The character-building and the romance were the things that hindered my enjoyment of the book the most, but the pacing, too, felt like it jumped around a bit too much. That, and the ending felt rather rushed, in my opinion.

Overall, if you don't mind insta-love, I'd still probably recommend this book because I do think the world-building is so inventive and fun. It's just that what the story chose to focus on didn't work for me and not even the creativity of the world and the premise could hold my enjoyment for long.

One of my favorite books coming out! This was a fascinating story and really felt like an adventure. It's fantasy, a love story, and an epic all in one. Truly enjoyed the imagination in this one.

REMINISCENCE SLAY 🌂

Water Moon by @samanthasottoyambao

5 🌟

Guys when I tell you I don’t think I can wait until January until I get my hands on this book, to be able to hold it and cherish and cry on it like I did reading it on @netgalley, I am not even kidding. I WANT TO START REREADING IT RIGHT NOW!!

Watermoon is one of those books that feels like a dream—beautiful, slightly surreal, and drenched in emotion. Hana inherits a pawnshop where people trade their regrets, and one day, her father vanishes. Enter a quirky physicist to help her on a magical journey through rain portals, flying paper cranes, and markets in the clouds. Plot? Kinda hazy, but it’s the vibes that matter—grief, self-discovery, and confronting the past.

What really got me thinking was how the book deals with regret. It made me reflect on how much we let the past anchor us and whether we ever truly let go of those moments we wish we could redo. Hana’s struggle with moving on from her father and the mystery surrounding his disappearance hit close—because sometimes, we never get the closure we crave. It made me tear up 🥲. The whole idea of trading regrets is so wild yet relatable. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just trade away the things that weigh us down? But the truth is, we’re all carrying some version of regret or loss, and Hana’s journey reminds us that, at some point, we have to make peace with them. Thank you @samanthasottoyambao for taking me further than the book, looking back on my own life, and probably shift my chemical makeup with how much this book affected me.

Self-awareness slay? Absolutely. This book had me questioning how much of my own identity is tied to things I can’t change and whether we ever stop searching for the answers to our own regrets. Hana’s growth in accepting the mystery of her life and learning to live with her past was both frustrating and inspiring. How self-aware are we really, when it comes to regrets and letting go? Watermoon doesn’t give easy answers, but it leaves you thinking long after you turn the last page.

Written in a prose that is just as beautiful as its cover, Water Moon is a gorgeous and gentle tale that takes place in surreal realms existing just beyond the reaches of everyday reality. The story begins in a magical pawnshop that collects the choices of their visitors, with the daughter of the pawnshop owner beginning her first day and taking over her father's position. However, unexpected events occur which send her and her first pawnshop visitor journeying to mysterious places beyond the shop in hopes of locating her father. This book is written in a contemplative. dreamy way, and encourages the reader to see the way how the small choices we make in our everyday lives shape us all. I loved journeying with our main characters Hana and Keishin through the whimsical landscapes of Hana's world; from a museum made of lost time to a night marker floating in the clouds, every destination was so uniquely crafted. I think this book would be a perfect evening read when you're in the mood for something soothing and reflective.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me early access to a copy of this book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy!! But more importantly thank you author for taking me on a delightfully whimsical heartbreaking and lovely journey. This was not what I expected and I didn't even try to go into a ramen shop.

A magical pawnshop trades in a person’s life choices and biggest regrets. When Hana Ishikawa, the daughter of the pawn shop’s owner, wakes up one day to find her father missing, along with a precious artifact, she and a charming physicist named Keishin go on a journey to another world in order to find Hana’s father.

The world in Water Moon is very whimsical. With a setting of Tokyo and being transported to another world, “Ghibli-esque” is an accurate way to market it. At times, I did feel like the setting was a little disorienting, as things happened without explanation like in a Ghibli film. I’m able to suspend my disbelief a bit more when watching a film for some reason, but in this instance, I found it a bit more difficult to read. I wanted to understand the world and wished there was a little more world-building before jumping into things.

Hana and Keishin are a charming pair in the novel. I like that they are opposites—a mystical pawn shop owner having a forbidden romance with a grounded physicist whose world was being turned upside down felt like a fun dynamic. I did feel at times that the characters themselves lacked agency, which made the plot feel a bit watered down.

Additionally, I thought the prose was quite lovely. There are some instances where it felt a tiny bit cliched in regards to the romantic aspect of the book, but everything else felt well-calibrated.

Overall, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the book, but I think the fantasy aspect, the back-and-forth between the main characters, and the themes of fate and destiny will be appealing for other readers.

Thank you NetGalley for my second ARC!!

This book was a pleasant surprise! It did not go how I thought it would and I’m very glad about it. I needed to sleep on it before trying to write my thoughts down because what a book. It’s clever, endearing, whimsical, but I wouldn’t say it felt like a warm hug.
I was STRESSED. Our two main characters ran around a dreamscape being chased by these all-knowing evil entities for most of the book. But honestly it made the stakes high and the emotions higher.
I loved the characters (even when they frustrated me).

The only thing I found that I kept not understanding was when Hana would tell our main man that she didn’t care about him after all they had been through together. STOP LYING PLS.

Anyways, overall 10/10 on vibes alone. Like it’s adventurous, spooky, and has a romance that I ate up.

Samantha Sotto Yambao created a beautiful world inside of a puddle. The setting of this story was miraculous, confusing, beautiful, and brutal all at the same time. I loved the facade that hid the darkness of the other world. Behind gorgeous images of a cloud of paper cranes lay something far more sinister. Yambao made me think about what my choices mean and look more closely at the little ones I make every single day. In some way, it took away the pressure of the big decisions to think about how the small ones can be more impactful. I loved how we barely saw the "real" world except in flashbacks and at the very end. It was interesting to think of Hanna being so isolated yet tied to the outside. Overall, Water Moon had some one of the most interesting settings I have encountered in a while. I cannot wait to see what Yambao does next!

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao is a beautifully written story that is part mystery, part fantasy, part romance. The book opens with the retirement of Toshio, Hana's father who runs a pawn shop. This is not a regular pawn shop because people can buy and sell life options or choices. Toshio disappears and his daughter Hana goes on a quest to find him alongside Keishin a young man who has a romantic interest in Hana.

This book is unique and creative. I think that many people would rate this book as 5 stars. I have given a 4 star rating because I tend to like more realistic stories but that is purely personal preference.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 Stars

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao is an enjoyable, light read with a touch of magic and romance. While the story had a nice concept, it didn’t fully draw me in, and some parts felt slow.

Overall, it’s a decent book for those who enjoy whimsical, heartfelt stories, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression for me.

This story starts in a pawnshop tucked in the inner-dimensional folds of a ramen shop in a parallel Tokyo. We follow Hana, a new proprietor of traded regrets, and Keishin, an unknowing customer, as they search to uncover the mystery of her ransacked pawn shop. It’s a fast-paced novel—that while sometimes feels like we flying through (e.i. the romance)—has a great conclusion with that moment of clarity. It’s a fanciful whimsical world of floating markets, magical transportation, and paper cranes described with lyricism along the likes of Erin Morgenstern, Rebecca Ross, and Hayao Miyazaki.

But much like how the true nature of the pawn shop is revealed to a customer, this story has a rich complexity that earns its five stars.

Water Moon is a tale about the choices we make in life, the selfish and the world-altering. The kind an anxious person turns over until polished smooth, like a river stone. It’s about finding yourself, fate, fear, and the choice to make life your own. It’s about the stories we create for ourselves and about others. Samantha Sotto Yombao creates a world in which we can question ourselves and our humanity.

How Do You Live?

Water Moon is a reflection of my soul, especially at this moment in my life. A 25-year-old who is questioning her career and life choices every day, is afraid of disrupting the stillness of water. Whose fear is seeping into the soles of my shoes and whose therapist echoed the exact themes of this book. I saw myself in the characters and the worlds. Something where I think in future rereads, I’ll continue to find meaning in the nuances of this book.

Thank you Water Moon for being my "water moon."

Much appreciation and thanks to Net Galley and Del Rey for providing me with this digital arc for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

“Scars don’t make you any less than what you are. They are simply stories, just like this scroll."

Admittedly I read half of the summery and decided I needed to read the whole book. Pawnshop that takes regrets? Absolutely sign me up. But the book was so much more than that. Instead you have Hana and Kei surviving being hunted my deathless beings as they travel through a magical world in search of Han's parents.

The book has more heart than I ever expected. So many lines stuck with me and just made me want to pause and live in the book. The characters are flawed in the best way. The world is magical and complex. I just wanted to learn more about it.

This book feels like I stepped right into a Studio Ghibli movie. The imagery is unmatched and I was not able to put it down! 10/10 recommend!

5/5! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

”Things don't have to make sense for them to be real.”

You ever have a book that you are just drawn to? Like you just reach for it because you crave being in that world? This was that book for me. It was like being in absurd dream, that was chaotic, but calming at the same time. This was absolute solitude for me.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ Toshiro runs a unique pawnshop in Tokyo, one where you can pawn your life choices and deepest regrets. One day, he decides to retire and leaves the shop in the hands of his only daughter, Hana. On her first opening day, she awakens to find her father missing, the pawnshop ransacked, and a choice stolen. Just when she feels hopeless, in walks a stranger, Keishin, who tells Hana he will help her find her father and go along on the unexpected journey with her. ˖ ࣪ ⊹

And it is quite the unexpected journey. I'm not sure that I have ever read a book that had me in such a peaceful state of mind. It had stunning visuals and references to Japanese mythology and folklore, and the author had an incredible way of creating a world one could quite literally, only dream about. The romance was subtle, but gentle and beautiful and the same time. Everything had a purpose, meaning or lesson behind it, and I adored that. Chef's kiss.

“And you are an ocean, Hana. Gentle and quiet, yet powerful enough to sweep away any man or ship. I drowned in you a long time ago and I did not even know it.” Ugh, my heart.

This book will 100% not be for everyone, and I absolutely understand that. BUT. If you are constantly lost in thought, constantly day dreaming and contemplating the meaning of things like me – read this book. Samantha Sotto has done an amazing job of creating a space for us to get lost in.

This is my first book my this author, and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this amazing ARC!

Hana works at her family owned pawnshop, a place that exchanges regrets for memory loss. A man named Keishin stumbles into a scene of disarray at the pawnshop. There’s broken glass on the floor, the place looks ransacked, and Hana’s foot is bleeding. Hana tells Keishin her father is missing and immediately decides he wants to help Hana. Their journey begins by jumping through a puddle and landing in a place far far away from Tokyo. Hana and Keishin work together to find the truth about where Hana’s father has gone and why Hana and Keishin have more in common than they think.

I loved just about every second of this book. I oscillated between devouring the words and grazing in order to savor the descriptions. Water Moon does not give its secrets away up front. Many times the story spits Hana and Keishin out in bizarre situations and I was left puzzled as to why they were there and how it would help their cause. But instead of being aggravating it was delightfully confusing.

I’m big on world building, and this book has it. There are so many different scenes, so many different ways Hana and Keishin interacted with their surroundings that I wanted longer descriptions. I might be in the minority on that, but I wanted MORE imagery. I wanted to stay in some of these places longer and peruse the locale.

Not only was the book’s imagery beautiful, but its messages were impactful. Several times I read a line, a point that the book made, and cried. Not because it hurt, but because it made sense. It made the abstract tangible. It pulled something out of me that I know I have felt but have not been able to name. And really that’s what good art does. Music, movies, books, museums, it’s the high we all chase after and Water Moon delivers.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey and Ballantine for providing me an e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For those lucky enough, they may wander into a ramen shop and find themselves instead in a pawnshop on the backstreets of Tokyo. The mix-up won’t be a mistake or a fluke or trick of the light, but instead a magical moment of fate, drawing them to the one place they can exchange a life choice or regret. Hana runs the pawnshop with her father, and it is time for her to take his place as the owner now that he is finally retiring. However, the first morning she wakes as the new owner, her father is gone, and the shop has been ransacked. To make matters worse, a stranger from the other world, full of ramen shops and Tokyo streets, will wander into her life, and the two will be forced to run together for answers neither of them may enjoy finding.

It has been awhile since I’ve read a magical tale like this that had a hold on me from start to finish. The writing itself felt like a sort of webweaving, ink spilled across skin in bright hues. I would love to read this for the first time again, it felt like a dream. Hana and Kei’s journey was poetic, and I don’t think I’ll look at paper cranes the same again.