This ended up being a very different read than what I expected, and I was initially a bit resentful of that. But I slowly got into the rhythm of it and while it wasn't a favorite, I still enjoyed myself. I expected this to be a cozy novel reminiscent of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but it's more of a Myazaki adventure. Dreamy, borderline nonsensical at times. It may even be worth it to go back and reread down the road when I have better adjusted my expectations. There are still some critiques that hold, however, regardless of expectations. The dynamic between the two MCs felt a little insta-lovey, and their motivations felt a bit surface-level. More character development would've really taken this to the next level. Similarly, there were some moments between them that just felt a bit over the top and became cringey, just so dramatic in these scenes that lacked the emotion to give proper depth. It seems like a lot of folks are loving this so far so please feel free to take my review with a grain of salt. But as with just about every book I've read this month, this one just wasn't for me.

4/5 ⭐️

This was a cozy, dream like, magical, transport into a Hayao Miyazaki film kind of book. I loved the imagery this book conjured up, it was unique and the story was compelling. I did think the ending was weak but overall a great book, I would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Samantha Sotto Yambao, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for my early access to this.

I had a feeling this was going to be an "it was fine" kinda book, and yeah, it was fine... but you know *just* fine.

There was a lot about this book I liked, but there was a lot that needed development as well. The world was magical and was on the cusp of bringing rich lore! The only thing is... it never quite stuck the landing. More often than not, it felt like we got the polished first draft. There was so much potential, which is a little disappointing because the book was so short, and it felt so rushed.

This extended to the characters... They were pretty one-note, with the exception of Haruto, and I am SO SAD we did not get more of him. He was so good, and his brief time with us made me more invested in his story vs. the MCs. And I liked the Hana and Kei, but I just was not invested the way you should be with MCs. There just wasn't enough there to connect with them on a deeper level.

Also, I think this is more due to reading reviews and the singular reference Kei made, but... just because something is whimsical and set in Japan doesn't mean it automatically equals Ghibli. Even at Ghibli's darkest, like Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä, and yes, even Grave of the Fireflies, there are still profound moments of unyielding hope or optimism woven throughout the story. I did not get that from this novel ***AND THAT'S OKAY!*** This book is its own thing.

If I had to do comparisons I'd say that this book has a darker kind of whimsy that was more akin to Pan's Labyrinth, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore (but sadly not as good as those two, sorry...) mixed in with The Alchemist (which was imho also fine!)

There is one thing I do want to bring up. How was "cozy" being used to describe this book? This whole thing started out as being mysterious and well... sad. There were a lot of heartbreaking moments here, even from the beginning. And we were thrown into a scenario with very high stakes! Which again is fine! I like those kind of books! So, if you remove "cozy" from your expectations, I think you're better prepared for the world ahead! Possibly you'll even enjoy it more!

So, was this a bad book? No! It had a lot of heart, but it felt too rushed. I think if this had more time to bake/develop the characters, then you'd easily have a 5-star book. Also, the marketing did not help. The emphasis should have been more on its darker, enigmatic themes rather than its whimsical side. My expectations would have been completely different if "cozy" hadn't appeared in the genre tags or marketing.

Overall, I thought the story was beautiful in its own way, and I think fans of Journeyman's Tales will enjoy this a lot. Those who like rich dialogue, complex characters, and detailed world-building? It might be a skip for you.

Lastly, I want to thank NetGalley, the author, and Random House for the arc in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a beautiful story!! 😍 I was so invested in the characters and the world building was fluid.
An engaging story I'll be sure to pass along!!!

The magic structure and world building created by Yambao made this a very fun read that stretched my imagination in the best ways. There's a pawnshop that buys choices, people followed by rain, highways of rumor, and flight by song. It's rich fantasy with a playful love story to carry you through a mind-bending universe. (Email recommendation sent to newsletter subscribers of WordSmarts.com)

The worst thing a book can have is potential.

This premise had loads of it. I was really excited to read something a little different for me and, at first, this drew me in. It was dreamy and whimsical. But as I kept reading, it got more stiff and lost all the oomph.

I feel like genre books try to make themselves fit into a small literary box and this causes them to lose all the fun and entertainment in them. Yambao is a good writer, but something just never came together here. It felt too stilted and like is was trying really hard to make some poignant point.

The main relationship made no sense - why would Kei just join this whole adventure? He took zero convincing. I know we get kind of an answer why Hana brought him along, but that also doesn't completely make sense because she was trying to get him to leave for most of the story

Anything interesting that could have happened in this story just didn't. It became dry and boring - which makes so sense for a premise that felt so exciting. It was so repetitive - Hana and Kei would take some quirky transportation to a new part of this world. They would get a morsel of information. Then they would take another quirky mode of transportation. I kept thinking what is the point here? What is the motivation for this entire journey? Are we hanging all of that on Hana wanting to find her parents? She didn't seem that close with her dad and barely knew her mom. She thought her mom was dead, anyway. And when she does finally find them, she chose Kei over them immediately and just leaves?

Also, I have seen no one else mention this, so maybe this is just me and where my head is at in this moment of my life, but - CW/TW pregnancy, childloss, infertility

There is a lot about choice and motherhood and babies and conception in this book that just felt...bad? SPOILER the entire idea of Hana's mom being punished to live with soulless children who are constantly called monsters felt really weird and gross to me. Is there an allegory here? It sure feels like there is. If this concept had been brought up earlier in the book, I would have DNF. But it came in in the last third, so I pushed through. But this whole idea was off putting. The people in Hana's world do not have souls - the pawnshop uses the regrets they take from people to make souls for their people. But some babies don't get souls? So those babies are taken away and put into the ground and live ferally in this underground world. This is where Hana's mom is sentenced to when she steals a soul. So she is left longing for her child that she left behind. There is a lot to unpack here with yearning for a baby and struggling to have children.

It's also revealed at the end (HUGE SPOILER) that Hana's mom conceived of Hana because she drank someone's regret and that Kei's mom abandoned him to have a different life - then she regrets that!

Don't get me started on the whole idea that in Hana's world people are tattooed with their entire life/fate so it is all planned out. So how/why is she able to completely stray from the path and go on this journey? Or was this on her skin the whole time? None of this is explored or acknowledged. Is that why the Shikkuin chasing her? I know they want Kei because he is an outsider...

SPOILERS Done

I don't know even know what I'm trying to put together here, but the more I try to explain this book the more it falls apart and leaves me feeling upset.

What I liked about WATER MOON:
-super interesting world, "magic" system, and general mythology
-extremely cool different scenes and locations, very Ghibli vibes
-overall themes of choices and decisions being critical to humanity
-well written and extremely readable overall
.
What I didn't love as much:
-While I liked the characters, I didn't find myself truly connecting with them in a way that could have pushed this to five stars

A unique take on a fantasy novel. This book GRIPPED my attention and I read it in one sitting. If you’re looking for something different yet also magical, this is your book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Digital ARC. I can’t wait to add this to my physical book collection when it releases soon :)

This story is very beautifully written. What a creative concept. This will live forever on my shelf and I eagerly await more from this author.

This was absolutely fantastic. As a lover of all things Ghibli, I will say that there was a decent resemblance here. I found Water Moon to be a very cozy fantasy which was quite appealing as I often read rather heavy books. Will definitely recommend to others.

It's not always that I like books that feel like fairy tales whose magic system doesn't have a structure nor rules. But I really felt captivated by the world that the author created - anything could happen and anything did happen. Sometimes it felt a little chaotic but I felt it went along well with the story that was being told. Reading this books really felt like being told a fairy tale.

And I also liked the adventure that I embarked on. Since there was always a threat to Hana's and Kei's well being, I was engaged in the story and I felt the story had a nice, steady pace. I did think, though, that the ending was a little bit of a let down because Hana is told a pretty big twist and it's rapidly dealt with and we don't get to really see the ramifications of everything that went down. A lot of it is done off page and we are told about it.

The romance feels a little instalove-y. But due to the fairy tale feel of the book, it didn't bother me. I liked both of them and I liked following them. What I really liked were the scenes when Hana was engaging with the magical properties of her world - they were so creative and beautifully described.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Water Moon follows Hana, the new owner of her family's pawn shop, as she embarks on a magical journey to find her missing father.

As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to pick it up and read it again. I love a funky little story, and I love whimsy, and I love heart; this book has all three in spades. It was twisty and fun, intriguing and emotional, difficult to follow at times but ultimately an excellent read. I adored Yambao's lyrical voice, as well as the rich construction of our main characters and their multifaceted world. This was my first read by Samantha Sotto Yambao, but it certainly won't be my last!

This book was just okay. It was very fairytale like which made me not fully enjoy the overall story. The writing and translation were average, nothing special. If you like stories that are heartwarming, then this book will be for you. It was a nice story, but not my cup of tea.

The writing and tone were extremely atmospheric and I found the magic system to be unique and compelling. However I had some issues with the pacing, the MMC felt too overbearing and the FMC felt flat in a multidimensional landscape.

I really wanted to like this, and I did put in maximum effort to try and get through it.

However, I think the concept of the book is excellent, and truly very enticing. But the execution, and the addition of the romantic relationship kind of took everything off the rails and I had a hard time really connecting to the characters, and caring about their storyline.

Overall, I'm sure it's a fine read, I just wish I liked it more. Wishing the book and the author nothing but the best.

4.25 ⭐️
Beautifully written, a blend of Inception and a studio Gibli movie.

I wouldn’t call this cozy exactly, it’s warm and magical but the non stop action and the stakes I think are higher than a cozy fantasy.

Loved the whimsy, but the romance at the beginning felt very insta-love and I didn’t love the way the MMC forced his help on the FMC, I felt like there could have been a better narrative reason as it did rub me the wrong way a bit.

Loved the ending, and the world was beautiful and unique.

More of a mystery/detective style than I expected. Not for me , but mystery enthusiasts will love this.

Soft DNF @ 35%.

I simply lost interest in this one. The chapters were choppy and the pace of this book was way too rapid to really develop the characters and the underlying plot in a way that made sense to me. The writing was gorgeous, but that simply wasn’t enough to keep me engaged.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you Del Rey and netgalley for the gifted eARC!

Wowowowow me irl at the end of this book: 😓😧😭🥰

I am obsessed with this world! The author does such a wonderful job bringing this quirky world to life. I felt like I was jumping through puddles and riding paper cranes with them 🥹

Hana was such a surprising character! We see so many different sides to her throughout this book and never quite know what to expect from her. I really enjoyed seeing her learn to embrace change and not following her designated path.

Kei was so fun to get to know! He’s very analytical and curious, so this journey was very eye opening for him 😌 I loved how sweet he was to Hana from the start and how selfless he is.

This story is so friggin beautiful 😭 Kei and Hana built such a sweet relationship and would do anything for the other. It was crazy how many choices that were made shaped what happened during this book. Some of the secrets that were revealed really shocked me!

This is the most amazing book. I'm obsessed with this and it was my favorite read of 2024. Water Moon is a stunning novel by Samantha Soto Yamboa that is other worldly, cinematic, and one of my favorite things I've ever read. People in our world head for ramen, but sometimes they end up in a pawn show in another world. It has people pawning their regrets for tea. When the pawn shop owner goes missing, his daughter, and an unlikely friend, must travel the world while being chased by the neutral arbiters of her world. They must travel on songs, fold back time, and more.

This is such a deep book that crawls under your skin and lives in your thoughts. It's so incredible. Please read it!!!