Water Moon was an incredible 4.25 stars read for me. The world building that Samantha Sotto Yambao achieves in this novel is a speculative fiction reader's dream. Sometimes, her descriptions traced along my skin; other times, they nestled into my bones. I found myself basking in the beauty of so many sentences. I still have a lot of questions about the story's world, but they don't distract me from the momentum of the plot. I would love to read another book that takes place in Water Moon's world.

I have profoundly mixed feelings about the romantic component of this book. To avoid spoilers and talk about it in broad strokes, I think certain moments felt predictable and Hallmark cliché. These clichés tend to make me cringe. With that being said, maybe it was helpful to have the romantic element be predictable amid such a dynamic, unique, and unfamiliar world, something to anchor the reader's broader exploration. While I enjoyed the romance, I just wish it surprised me more.

Overall, I would recommend the Water Moon to anyone who enjoys navigating familiar questions in a whole new world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Water Moon is a cosy fantasy story, that introduces you to a magical world behind the door that is supposed to lead to a ramen restaurant but instead opens up to a tiny pawnshop where the chosen people can trade their choices and regrets.

Hana was supposed to replace her father as he retired from the pawnshop, only to wake up to a mess of a shop and her father gone. A stranger, Keishin, thought he was going into the ramen restaurant when he stumbled into the shop and saw Hana for the first time. From here, I could not have guessed where, or how the story will end.

Before writing a review of a book, I usually take notes while reading. If I dislike the way the story unfolds, I tend to express my dissatisfaction in my notes. I have to admit that I had many complaints about the romance between Hana and Keishin at the beginning of the book because... hey, it is the beginning of the book. I am not a fan of love at first sight, and I was not pleased with the romance as the story progressed. I kept questioning "why is he even here?" However, now that I have finished the book, I will refrain from further criticism because I am somewhat satisfied with how the plot turned out.

The book is full of magic and secrets, but it also lacks a lot of things. If it only reached its full potential, it could have been something that Studio Ghibli would have created. This world has a pawnshop where people trade choices, a museum where paper cranes that fly around are actually mistakes that people made, and a town that makes stars... This is by no means a spoiler, you should know going into the book that everything will be magical.

The plot, however, feels weak at the beginning, making it difficult for me to continue reading the book. The beginning just feels awkward. Later, I learned that this is due to the many many things that the main character is hiding. While I understand its purpose, I also feel that it could have been better. A reader should not wait until the end of the book to finally be seated and interested. The book should have had something that hooks us, keeping us glued to the pages.

I gave the book three stars because while I love the world-building and the characters, I find that the story-telling to be lacking and it could have been improved for a more interesting read. I could finally enjoy the book when it was near the end, where everything had a clear purpose. But had I been impatient and stopped reading when I got bored of Keishin fawning over Hana for no absolute reason, I could have missed the opportunity to realise that the story was, in fact, not so bad.

If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli movies or cosy literature, this book is for you.

3.5 ★

Water Moon transports the reader into the world of Hana, the new owner of the pawnshop that is left in shambles and Keishin, a customer that "lost" his way. The world that Samantha Sotto Yambao created is full of mystic wonder that sweeps the reader off their feet and bends everything they think they know.

The world of Water Moon is an encapsulating one with things like selling time in a bottle of sand and riding a rumor. The vivid and lyrical storytelling of Yambao gives life to "the other side" along with Tokyo's own setting. Hana and Kei's intertwined fate is slowly unraveled with both sweet and bitter moments.

I did wish there was more character development (especially with Hana and Kei), but since the timeframe for the main portion of the book is around a week max, it's understandable. The biggest drawback for me would be how most of the action is skipped through and the reader only the brewing of trouble and then the aftermath. This also results in the plot feeling a little slower and long-winded towards the middle.

Overall, Water Moon is a dreamy fantasy novel, that introduces the reader to a breathtaking world full of mystery, romance and regrets. I can't exactly call the novel a cozy read, but it's definitely a fantastic one that had me in its grip.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very creative & magical... but once I paused it I just couldn't pick it up again so I'm going to let go of reading it for now.

advanced reader copy from netgalley- thank you! I really liked what I did read.

This story surrounds an otherwordly pawnshop that allows you to pawn choices that will change the course of your life. The day Hana is set to take the shop over, she wakes to finding the shop in disarray and her father gone. She goes on a journey to find him alongside the client who walks into the shop in the midst of the chaos.

This book has a lot of dreamlike scenery and concepts. That is where this book stood strong to me. The dreaminess made this book feel cozy. However, the romance didn't work for me. It didn't feel natural and the plot felt like one endless loop while they ran from their enemies from place to place, making the story feel repetitive. Those two elements made this book not for me, but I can see how the dreamy writing will appeal to other cozy readers.

The book captivated me from the very first pages. Engaging plot and unique characters. An enchanting magical world.

Water Moon very quickly draws you in with the mysteriousness of the restaurant/pawn shop. The creativity and detail Yambao puts into creating the world is wonderful. It's full of twists and turns but not overly complicated. And while you expect the main characters to get their happy ending (because that's the basis of storytelling) there are a couple twists at the end that I was not expecting. I thought the pacing of the book was good. Fast enough to help the concept of Kei and Hana being on the run but not so fast that details get missed. I also think the cover art is beautiful.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I started this book and it has a slow buildup, but over time it got much better. The characters were interesting and the story was beautiful. It made me kinda sad but it was a great book, plus the cover is very pretty

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this one. I think the author did a good job in introducing us to this world and incorporating a lot of creative ideas. In particular, I liked the mode of transportation that was used towards the end of the book. The book is pretty fast paced, since the characters are on the run the whole time, which kept it an entertaining and quick read. There are also several reveals that occur. I felt like one of the big ones was kind of brushed off too quickly. But I still overall appreciated how many things were explained.

This is a great book for some people... but maybe not so for others. It is a sentimental story that begins in a mysterious, magical pawnshop hidden away in Asakusa, Tokyo, where a young woman is about to inherit the management of the store from her father. The shop is where people pawn their regrets. If that premise appeals to you, I recommend this book with the caveat that you should check out a sample and read the first couple chapters before you buy it.

Because Chapter Three is as far as I got before I stopped reading. I don't DNF a book lightly. I have to be certain that there is no way I could bring myself to finish it. However, after a few pages, the young woman mentions how the shop is her "ikigai" and my initial reaction wasn't "Oh that is sweet." Instead it was, "oh, no, are they also going to mention other romanticized concepts marketed to the West, like the bittersweet tradition of 'kintsugi' as a metaphor for how people should fix what is broken?" That is the moment I realized that I was feeling too cynical to enjoy this story.

When (to my lack of surprise) kintsugi got mentioned a few pages later, I stopped reading. So I only finished the first two chapters before I realized this was not for me.

I've lived in and around the Tokyo Metropolitan area for many years, so I'm coming into this story with my own experiences and feelings has made it apparent that I that do not seem to mesh well with the author's approach. I see deep, emotional concepts like ikigai and the practice of kintsugi discussed outside of Japan, especially to western audiences, but when it comes to living there as an average person, it never really is mentioned much. I've never seen kintsugi used to fix a bowl, for example -- if you break a bowl these days, you won't fix it with gold in Japan. It takes time and effort, so some folks might, but you can usually buy a new ceramic bowl for cheap at the store.

Asakusa feels rather romanticized as well -- I've been there many times and I do find the side streets pretty and somewhat otherworldly on the surface, but I tend to think of the place as a huge tourist trap. Imagining a secret shop there doesn't intrigue me due to my own experiences, so I know that reading this book would be difficult. It's not the fault of the world the author has built -- it's mine for not being the right reader for the book. With this particular approach to Japanese culture and with flowery metaphors that don't suit my preference, I was not finding any connection with the characters nor their pawnshop clients.

I did not enjoy this story and stopped reading early on, but I will give it a 2 stars because I am required to give it a star rating on Netgalley and I can give it credit for being a really cool concept and book cover. I also think it is a book for those who enjoy a particularly sentimental style of writing with a romantic view of Japan. I recommend that you read a few pages before you buy. If you vibe with with the world and the writing style, you'll likely be in the right headspace to enjoy it.

This book’s cover is what drew me in and I’m so glad it did! The book was a dream-like escape for me. I loved the fantasy and atmosphere which was lots of fun to imagine. This is a beautiful, twisty, thought-provoking and just absolutely good book to read. I enjoyed it and hope others do, too!

Kai ruined it for me, and not it a good way. Like most, I lost the connection as soon as he entered the pawnshop. He was so unbelievable as a character and the instant love connection felt so forced that his entire existence in this book was an insult to logic itself.
The attempt to solve the underlying mysteries that were so well-established early on dropped off almost immediately, and it ultimately ruined the world-building. The constant hunting quest to go this place and find that nonsense didn't do it for me, and the prose felt forced. If I were to sit here and analyze it further, it felt like two different authors co-wrote this to complete a manuscript. If the author could go back in with a stronger alpha reader or a developmental editor I think this could be totally savable and redeemable, but based on Kai's presence I doubt it.

Water Moon stole my breath from my lungs and filled them with hope in its place. This lyrical novel is so brilliant and tenderly crafted, presenting a world that's both cozy and full of terrors.

This one started out so strong, and I was really invested in Hana's story. I loved the concept of the pawnshop hidden behind the ramen door, and the idea of being able to pawn choices to change the course of your life is such a magical, fabulous one! I was all in to figure out why her father disappeared, what happened to her mother, and how the uber-mysterious masked figures fit into the world... It seemed like I was going to find this one every bit as magical as Love and Gravity, which I adored.

Then Kei entered the pawnshop.

From there, frankly, I lost the threads and the connection to this story entirely. I found his character utterly unbelievable and the insta-spark between the two to defy logic or believability. The series of endless "let's go HERE!" objectives, seemingly set in an attempt to solve the underlying mysteries that were so well-established early on, fell flat for me and started to feel repetitive, even while the world-building grew ever more unique. But the world wasn't enough to hold me to the story, unfortunately, and my savage interest never returned.

This one was not a good fit for me at all. It felt uneven, almost as though it were written by two different authors piecing the story together. Three stars still for the fabulous start and wholly original world-building, but the story itself just didn't do it for me...

Thank you NetGalley for this amazing arc! This felt like a fever dream in the best way. The world building was great. It was quick and easy read. A unique fantasy story with interesting twists.

Point me to a crossroads because I would sell my soul to have Miyazaki drag himself out of retirement yet again to animate this gut-wrenchingly emotional and insanely fantastical story.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, the author, and whomever clicked the button approving me for this ARC because I did not open this book expecting it to become one of my absolute favorite books I’ve ever read and I am beyond thankful.

I’ve been sitting here, just staring this review, trying to hard to come up with more to type but I’m honestly just at a loss for words and saying “five stars, fully recommend” just feels disgustingly insufficient.

2.5/5

I was stoked when I came across this in Net Galley, I loved the cover I loved the description - I was so excited to dive into this! I really enjoyed the first part of the book with Hana in the pawnshop - the ambiance and the descriptions of the shop itself and Tokyo outside of it and the mystery of the shop - captivating. Sadly, once Kaishin enters the story everything really fell flat for me. The character development is severely lacking and the whole story is just a fetch quest (go here to get that, then go here, oh no you're getting chased, gotta go here quick and on and on and on). I found myself skimming the book just to finish, it took me almost a month because I was so bored and disinterested. A huge let down for me and a big surprise since many of the landscapes and magical places they go to are very much up my alley but because of the fetch quest-y storyline I lost complete interest.

I initially applied for this book because of its beautiful cover on NetGalley, but it did not disappoint. I really enjoy Japanese literature and my Asian heritage so why not? It did take me awhile to get through it, but every time I picked it back up, I was transported into the magical land that Hana & Kei were traversing. I think I couldn't read it as fast because there was definitely a lot of world building and a lot of things are thoroughly explained in the book. It's whimsical and there are surprises waiting for you at every turn. Strap in!

“What I’ve experienced here feels like it would overflow from just one lifetime. I feel stretched, struggling, every second that I’m here, to fit everything into a tiny room that used to be my whole world.”

A beautiful, terrifying dream. Transitions crashing you off the path you thought you were taking. Delightful. Maddening. Unexpected.

If you need straight lines, this may not be your cup of tea. I loved the ride.

Thank you to Random House and the author for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

I really loved this book. It is beautifully written. My brain imagined every detail so vividly. It is a high stakes, thrilling adventure. I honestly was so captivated by this story. And the twists! So good. Love love love.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for giving the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.