Very interesting concept and some beautiful prose. I was wishywashy about it in the beginning but I think it picked up and that helped. I think the level of imagination was beautiful.

So this one is reminding me of a book I read a couple months ago, The Dallergut Dream Department Store which involved a store that sold dreams. This is very similar but instead of dreams Water Moon follows a woman who inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets and here is where she embarks on a magical quest. It’s very whimsical, dreamlike, studio ghibli even mixed with mystery as our protagnists father goes missing and she has to find him. There were some things that I didn’t jibe with but overall an enjoyable story.

If you could trade your regrets (and all the memories and things about your life associated with them) for peace of mind, would you?

As a reader, I always challenge myself to read genres and books outside my comfort zone. When I read the synopsis for Water Moon, I knew it would challenge me to think about storytelling through different cultures, structures and languages than my own.

This beautiful story revolves around choices, regrets, and living (or not) with both. In bending worlds between Tokyo and a metaphysical world, our main characters must chase secrets, lies, and their past demons to find the truth and make the most important choice they will ever encounter.

I was most struck by the prose throughout the book, with many of the chapters often starting with a short adage.

The pacing lagged a bit at times, and I struggled to decipher between all the different elements of the metaphysical dream world most of the novel was set in, but I think this is a special book that dares to be something different!

Water Moon is a mesmerizing read. It's like walking into a dream world. I love the premise, a woman inherited a pawnshop where clients can sell their regrets. Hana wakes on her first day as the owner to find her father missing and the store ransacked. She embarks on a journey to find out what happened and to get back what was taken from the store. This novel feels close to allegory and is delightful as Hana travels through her world with a stranger who has entered her life at the most peculiar moment. They travel through puddles, on paper cranes, and deep into a world that is nothing like you could image.

I loved it.

4.5 stars!

Thank you Net Galley & Del Rey for the advanced copy.

Wow, what a magical, whimsy world! This is a wonderful tale of regret, choice and love set in an elusive world. Nothing is what it seems and lies reveal truth.

My heart ached for every character. The story held comfort, adventure and mystery. It’s a fast paced Studio Ghibli-esque journey that is sure to stay in my heart for a long time. Hana and Keishin trek through a world traveling by means of puddles, whispers of a rumor, and rivers of clouds. The two are in search of Hana’s missing father the dawn after Hana inherits her family’s pawn shop in which clients trade choices for freedom of burden. But as the two discover more on their quest, the fates as written give way to possibility.

I only knock off half a point because the initial pace gave way to a whirlwind speed through all of the corners of this world. I wish we could have had more time within each vignette!

Water moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao is a cozy low to medium stakes fantasy that integrates Japanese mythology with some needed life lessons concerning choices, regrets and choosing your own path.

Disclaimer: I did read this book via audiobook by an advanced reader copy from Penguin Random House audio. I also followed along with an e-book from NetGalley at points throughout my read. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This audiobook is 15 hours long and narrated by Cindy Kay. I found the narration to be extremely well done. The voice, tempo and emotion lent to not only the story and plotline, but also the characters and their development was very well done. I will absolutely read more books narrated by Cindy Kay. I feel like she did an amazing job with narration.

this novel was absolutely devastating at the ending, but filled with fantastical magic and Japanese mythology throughout the story. We had some tattoo magic, origami magic, and some bending of time and space in order to create a lush and stellar world building experience. One of my main issues with cozy fantasy is that it becomes extremely predictable because the stakes are so low. That did not happen in the snowball. I was genuinely surprised at the ending of the story and where the characters ended up and the overall wrapup of the storyline. There are some great lessons to be learned throughout this novel as is the point of most cozy, low steaks, fantasy. You get to learn about choices and regrets and choosing one's path, regardless of where you feel like you are supposed to end up. There is a very plot romance that is closed door and very sweet and endearing.

The characters were very well defined and surrounded in a lot of emotion and mystery for a good duration of this novel. I found a lot of the magic and characters to be extremely unique and absolutely interesting in organic to the potline.

As is with most things with cozy fantasy and where I tend to have some issues at times, is the ease of convenience to which things happen to further the storyline, and that was no exception here. I did feel like some of the magic and situations the characters got themselves in were extremely easily resolved. Which is why I ended up giving it a 4.5. I felt like a little bit more resistance could've happened in the story to give a more suspenseful feel while still beinglow stakes. But overall, this is an absolutely stunning novel that I cannot recommend anymore.

This is such a spectacular story. The prose is great, the story begins quietly but keeps getting deeper: and the characters really made me root for them. It's a unique fantasy that will stay with me a long time.

I really wanted to like this book. I truly did. But there was something missing. The story felt hollowed out to some degree, like the author ended up prioritizing style over substance, even if that may not have been the intention. Sure, there were some beautiful, whimsical details and a bit of plot progression, it seemed as though the plot and themes kept getting bogged down in prose that at times strayed into saccharine territory and missed the forest for the trees. I do enjoy detail in the stories I read, but with this one, it just wasn’t executed all that well. And in doing so, character development also suffered. It’s a shame, since with the world the author built, this story had the potential to be great.

A truly magical journey that whisks you off into a Studio Ghibli-esque world that bends the fabric of imagination, with passages that catch you off guard and leave you gasping for air. A delightful and whimsical punch to the heart.

Although I do agree it was whimsical, it was also too subtle and left me wanting something more sinister….until about 35% in. If the beginning is hard for you, like it was for me, stick with it because overall the book is so unique and beautiful. The magical world building is unlike anything I’ve read before but somehow feels familiar too. Finishing the book felt like waking up from a dream and wondering if it was real.

I cried, I swooned, and I felt all emotions in this book. i thought it was going to be a cozy read, but i was in for a RIDE. Yambao has a great way of building the world of water moon, from holistically to the smaller worlds we delve into. in this whole book, I was not only rooting for Hana and Kei but also for Haruto! it’s such a fast-paced read, and it REALLY did feel like I’m in a studio Ghibli film—you can’t go wrong with that!

5 stars!

I am such a screaming fan of this book. The world that it builds is so interesting and magical that you never really know what’s going to happen next. I also love love love the connection between both Hana and Kei and Hana and her father. Everything between them felt so real and well-developed.

Every single even that took place in this book also felt so intentional and well thought out. Nothing felt like filler or like it didn’t add anything to the story and I enjoyed it so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the advanced copy!

**Thank you to Random House Publishing for this free digital review copy.**

"You turned off all the lights because you didn't want to see the truth." This line proves that this sweet story full of whimsical magic also had a depth I wasn't fully expecting. A lot of things happen in this book that the character from our world struggles to make sense of, but I didn’t try too hard to figure it all out and it worked for me! It’s not all light and fluffy, but at its heart the novel was about finding the place where you belong and figuring out how to do the right thing. "And if I fail, so what? that just means I'm eliminating a wrong turn and getting closer to the right one."

The author is based in Manila, the story is set in Tokyo (sort of) and the book reads like a Japanese novel in translation, but I believe it was written in English. I found it to be very beautiful, though I wish the chapters were a bit more consistent in length. I highlighted several more passages about time and seasons and relationships that I resonated with and that made me think.

As a lover of fantasy books, especially set in Tokyo with star-crossed lovers, this book 100% sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, this one was an average read for me.

I loved the mystery component that ran throughout the book, and how it felt like one big adventure. While seeking out her father, Hana and Kei definitely have to talk to a lot of different people and piece together the “puzzle” of where he went and why. This was incredibly intriguing to me.

While the book had many very interesting fantasy elements, such as riding within a song, villages that create the stars from wishes every night, and being able to bend time with origami, I found there was just a little too much going on. The characters jumped from one fantastical place to another very quickly to the point of being a bit jarring at times. I will reiterate, that the imagination that went into all these places was phenomenal, I just wish there were few places so we could appreciate them more.

While I liked Kei and his mentor on a surface level, I didn’t really love any of the other characters. I found that Hana was a fairly uninteresting character who was just bland for my taste. She had the incredible potential to be bigger than life, but unfortunately she came across stiff and almost robotic to me. Kei was definitely the more emotional of the two characters, so I felt like we did get some depth there, but not much; it was very surface level and revolved around his insta-love for Hana. My favorite character was actually Hana’s childhood friend, because he had the most thought-out backstory of anyone and he was willing to die for Hana if the need arose.

Yes, there were several twists, but I think with how they played out, they weren’t surprising. It wasn’t that I was able to guess them, but more that they were revealed in a manner such that 1) I didn’t understand it at first because too many things were going on and 2) I hadn’t gotten enough of a connection with the main characters to have a reaction.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and Samantha Sotto Yambao for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

This was a 3 star read for me but I think it would be 4 stars for others. I really enjoyed the premise of the book and feel like it had a lot of potential but unfortunately for me it fell a bit flat. The characters felt 2 dimensional and I didn’t find myself connecting with them. Some of the ending was a bit confusing and I’m still not 100% what happened due to all the time jumping.

Thank you so much to Del Rey and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

It’s going to be difficult to review this book and truly capture the wonder and whimsy that takes place inside of it, but I’m going to try my best.

Hana’s family deals in choices. The back room of their pawnshop is littered with trinkets and birds, all representing choices made and regretted in another world. In exchange for these choices? A box of tea that tastes different to every person that drinks it. Hana is not sure if she is ready to take over once her father retires, but when she wakes up to find him gone, Hana knows she must find him.

Keishin doesn’t think he has anything worthy of regret, but when he stumbles through the door to Hana’s pawnshop on the fateful morning of her father’s disappearance, he knows that turning around and walking back out the door would be his first.

This book reads like a Studio Ghibli movie with the wonder of a Pixar Short if that makes any sense at all. Everything, every place, every character is so creatively thought of and magical. Everything clicks together like the pieces of a puzzle and makes sense by the end even though it can be hard to understand.

The dynamics of the alternate worlds and the characters are so delicately crafted. You have a world in which choices are so plentiful it is okay to give them away and a world in which freedom is scarier than having your life plotted before you. Then you have two characters who embody those in reverse. It makes for a wonderfully compelling story and relationship.

While this book isn’t romance heavy, the romance is so beautiful and such a fixture of the plot that I can’t not talk about it. Hana and Keishin learn to trust each other under unforeseen circumstances and their relationship flourishes in such a natural way that is so cohesive to the plot.

This book is also beautifully written and so philosophical at times that I am definitely going to be viewing regrets and choices differently as I go through life. This is just one of those books that really sticks with you long after you’ve put it down.

This was such a heartwarming story. I’ve never read something so cozy without obvious action captivate my attention like this did. My full goodreads review linked below!

I feel as if I have just woken from a beautiful and elaborate dream. Water Moon starts in a pawnshop that serves as a bridge between worlds. One that can only be found by the lost and regretful. One that, in a world where every aspect of your fate is written on your skin, deals in the most precious wares of all: choices.

On the first day of her ownership, Hana finds her shop ransacked and a choice stolen - right as a physicist, Keishin, walks through the doors. Keishin puts all of his own worries aside to help Hana recover this choice and discover the impossible nature of Hana’s world while outrunning creatures that would otherwise extract this debt in suffering and blood.

This book will not be for every reader, especially if you hinge on the question “why.” At first, I felt a bit confused at how this story moved. There always seemed to be a perfect answer that I didn’t understand. When I realized this cloudiness was like what I felt from a dream, I allowed myself to accept what was in front of me, and let the journey unravel. Water Moon is full of rich, whimsical imagery and powerful depictions of choice and sacrifice. I ended up loving the poetic way we floated through Hana’s world, flitting from one impossibility to the next. The ending especially had me unable to put the book down.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced review copy!

For readers who love:
✨ multiple POVs
✨ magical, dreamlike worlds
✨ short chapters
✨ secrets and tension

I think a lot of people are going to really love this book. In general it is ethereal and lovely.

I do agree with a lot of other reviewers though. Some parts felt rushed and I wasn't really getting into the character interactions but in general, this is a lovely story and I have a feeling the book is going to do really well. I will for sure read future books by her.

It's only 3 days into 2025 and yet I think I will be hard-pressed to find a book that will top "Water Moon" by Samantha Sotto Yambao. This book was whimsical, fantastical, and a touch romantic but with the overarching theme of overcoming regrets. Walking into Hana's world as Keishin did felt like I'd plunged deep into a cooling pool of water, only to find it warm and welcoming. I never knew what piece of fantasy Hana's world would uncover for me next, nor did I expect any of the twists and turns that occurred along the way.

Both of the main characters are easy to become attached to -- likable and relatable as any well-written character is but each had their unique complexities which kept me wanting to know more about their pasts. Yambao wrote as if the pen was a paintbrush, her words dancing behind my eyes and painting a watercolor picture of Hana's magical world.

I don't think that I'll soon forget this story. My only regret is that I can't erase it from my mind, only to read it again. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy -- you won't be disappointed.