I want a real shop where you can sell your regrets please, and I want it now. You cannot create a storyline like this and not expect someone to scream “I need this right now”. Yes, I know there are consequences and yes for someone who believes in science, this is a ridiculous story but let the girl dream for a minute :)

Pawnshop hidden behind the facade of ramen restaurant - ones who do not have any regrets see the restaurant, the others enter into a dream world where decisions can be unmade. Hana’s parents were the ones running the pawnshop. Her mother was taken by the dark forces for the crime she committed and since then it was only Hana’s father and herself. The day when it was her turn to run shop was approaching and when that day came she was supposed to do more than she bargained for along with the physicist who joined forces with her.

I really liked the wholesomeness and sadness the story brought to life. I know it is weird to be amazed by the sadness of the situation, but that emotional heaviness made the idea of decision making more important and irreversible. Technically this was about a pawnshop saving you from your decisions but at the end it is the decisions who made us who we are.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

When I first came across Water Moon on NetGalley, I was captivated by its intriguing premise: A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets. If that doesn't interest you, I don't know what will.

And I was not disappointed.

At the heart of this enchanting fantasy novel is a mystical pawnshop that can only be found by those who originally intended to dine at a ramen shop but somehow end up trading their deepest regrets instead. Patrons exchange life choices they wish to change for something that belongs to them, and these regrets transform into birds, locked away in a vault and shared with fearsome supernatural entities known as shiikuins, who wear haunting masks.

Hana has spent her life in this extraordinary shop, learning to decipher emotions, resentments, and regrets under the guidance of her father. He teaches her through scavenger hunts, leaving cryptic clues behind for her to unravel. But everything changes when Hana wakes up on her first morning as the Pawn shop owner to find the shop ransacked, its most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing.

Enter a charming physicist—an unusual customer who, instead of seeking to sell his regrets, offers his help instead.

Together, they embark on a breathtaking journey through an ethereal world to uncover the mystery behind the theft and Hana's missing father. Along the way, they traverse rain puddles that lead to other realms, soar on paper cranes, cross the bridge between midnight and morning, and explore a night market nestled in the clouds.

With its intricate world-building, poetic prose, and unexpected twists, Water Moon kept me enthralled until the last page. Samantha Sotto Yambao's imagination shines brilliantly, weaving a dreamlike narrative that blends fantasy, mystery, and emotion.

Overall, Water Moon is a beautifully crafted, unique, and thought-provoking novel that offers both whimsy and depth. I eagerly look forward to reading more of Sotto Yambao'sYambao'sworks in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine | Del Rey for sending me the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao was such a unique read. A magical realism that starts in a pawnshop where you sell your regrets. Hana, the daughter of the pawnshop owner, has lived a life that was written on her skin since she was born. When her father retires, leaving the pawnshop to her, but disappears the morning she is meant to take over, she must begin making choices she never felt she could make. Her first client Keishin, a scientist, comes into a seemingly ransacked pawnshop and finds himself drawn to this other world that appears in place of a Ramen restaurant.

The two of them embark on a journey through ponds, into temples where prayers live in smoke, traveling through songs and rumors, a museum of paper cranes that hold memories, and so many more incredibly profound ideas. Yambao takes seemingly ordinary concepts and spins them into fantastical elements that left me mystified at each turn of the page. Time, choices, regrets, life and death, fate and destiny; this novel gives you a new perspective on all of it. The writing was breathtaking. I found myself slowing down just to be able to take it all in.

I was in awe by the way the story unfolded and right up until the last page I was on the edge of my seat. Yambao’s writing was so captivating, I don’t think I’ve read anything like it. This book will sit with me for a while, but no regrets from me having read it!

I highly recommend this to everyone. My largest take away is that everything is interlinked from a passing conversation to a simple choice we make. If we are only guaranteed two things in life: choices and death; what will you choose to do with the time you are given?

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao is one to savor like a steaming bowl of delicious ramen on a cold, rainy day. The blend of magical realism, fantasy, and romance is beautifully woven with scenes and characters brought to life in engrossing detail. I was totally swept away into this other world and lovely relationship between Hana and Kei.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was described as a sort of cozy fantasy. I think it hit the mark for the kost part although there was some definitely dark moments as well. The different realms in the "other" world were fantastical, beautiful, and deadly.

I loved how cozy and magical this book was!! It was such a creative execution and unique story. This book has a combo of mystery, magical realism, adventure, romance, and speculative fiction and I loved how it was all weaved together.

Reading this truly felt like I was teleported into another world. The world building definitely felt inspired by Studio Ghibli and the story even made a reference to it. If you enjoy the cozy/nostalgic feel of Studio Ghibli but want high stakes and an epic adventure with the most swoon worthy romantic moments, THIS IS FOR YOU😌

I took off a star only because I felt a slight lack of connection to a few characters and because the story slightly felt rushed. I wish this story could be expanded on further!! I truly loved it.

like The Starless Sea!!! so so good and dreamy! made me homesick for another world. the prose is lyrical and magical and the characters are loves le

Water Moon, by Samantha Sotto Yambao, is not the kind of book I would normally pick up. I’m all for plots that revolve around choices and people having to reflect on whether they made the correct ones. But a story that centered on the romantic journey of two strangers as they wade through a world built on regret? It took a little bit of effort to break out of the science fiction fortress I had built up recently. But one of my goals was to tear down those walls, even a little bit, and Water Moon made an impression.

Hana is about to inherit her father’s pawnshop. This is no ordinary pawnbroker, as he trades for people’s past regrets. The only way one can enter the shop is if they are in need of unburdening. The morning after her father retires, Hana wakes up to the shop in disarray. As she is trying to clean up, looking for clues as to where he may have gone, Keishin opens the door. Instead of asking for help himself, he offers to help Hana unravel the mystery of her father’s disappearance before he is found by the horrifying spirits that govern Hana’s world.

Right off the bat, Water Moon just hits you with waves of whimsy and it instantly pulled me in with its riptide. I enjoyed that it felt fanciful while dealing with deep, introspective issues. The book didn’t make light of the fact that people carried around the weight of their choices. It engages with them with a sincerity that some might find overwhelming, but I was totally open to. It helps that Yambao’s prose perfectly captures the weight of everything. It’s filled with metaphor, focusing on the feelings the characters express instead of the actions they are taking. The opening scene is allowed to breathe freely, giving the reader a window into a woman weighing the possibility of trading her choice made decades ago for a box of tea and the weight lifted off her shoulders. It was the perfect tonal framing that sets up the rest of the story.

The two leads are my kind of leads. The girl from a whimsical world that is grounded in the harsh rules that govern her kind and a scientist boy just waiting to be taken on a journey that shatters reality. It was such a good pairing because it sort of knocks against some of the tropes I am used to from Western 2010s romantic comedies about boys saved by manic pixie dream girls. Hana feels resigned to her fate but manages to buck against it in small ways. She has a headstrong mentality that rubber bands between knocking down the walls that hold her in and pushing against the insane ideas offered by Keishin. It makes her feel like someone who has been hemmed in and needs to escape but is unsure about her abilities to defy fate. I found myself enamored by her straightforward attitude that revealed the rules that governed her world. She was stubborn but open in an odd mixture that peeled back the contradictions of her realm.

And Keishin is my sweet summer man. Nothing hits like an educated man who understands the rules of the universe but is constantly searching for his mind to be blown. I think part of it is a projection of sorts since I am constantly looking for something to tear away the wallpaper of our world to discover the secrets we’ve pasted over. But Keishin is just so goddamned stubborn in his need to help Hana find her father. He was the perfect foil to Hana in the sense that he shared some similar qualities, but the parts where they differed caused the romantic and narrative tension. He was cute and sometimes exhibited the ideal qualities of a himbo imbued with the knowledge of high-level physics. The trips into his mind to talk with the ghost of his mentor were fun and heartwarming. He was someone who was open to the strands of fate and ziplined on them so hard and fast his weight bent them ever so slightly.

The two of them paired together was like peanut butter and jelly. It was invigorating to watch them dance. The push and pull of their budding relationship felt natural. There weren’t moments of forced miscommunication to string you along. It was the natural forces of their personalities and the tension of what they wanted vs what they expected that carried the day. And you smash that together with a story about a world fueled by the regrets of another; it makes for a whimsical yet grounded tale of love. Water Moon is bedazzled with aphorisms, anecdotes and pieces of, for lack of a better term, eastern philosophy. At times it could maybe be a little saccharine, but I often found my heart and throat tightening over the bittersweet revelations. It made the romantic elements hit that much harder because fate felt arrayed against the two in ways that most stories bungle. I genuinely wanted them to find a way to be together.

And while the romance does feel front and center, it’s not the only good part of Water Moon. It is filled with some sad stories and some happy ones. The search for Hana’s father uncovers the many demons that populate their realm. How the choices they have stolen and the choices they made have their own repercussions. And where Water Moon takes you is unexpected, much to my delight. Now, that may be because my romantic reading muscles are not worked out very well, but still, I had a blast.

Water Moon, by Samantha Sotto Yambao, was a real delight in these turbulent times. It didn’t spirit me away from the real world, but I don’t think that was its goal. It felt very deliberately grounded in the fact that our choices can hurt people, including our own selves. It was a pleasant romance with two leads that I would easily fight and die for. So if you’re looking for a little magic, a little philosophy and watching two stubborn people dance for each other, you can’t go wrong with Water Moon.

Rating: Water Moon Fall into the deceptively deep puddle that is this book.
-Alex

An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advanced copy of this novel. Water Moon is the first book I've read by Ms. Yambao, and it has been a magical experience. This novel is a thought-provoking, whimsical journey of the choices people make and the people they affect. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to reading additional novels by this masterful writer.

I thorouhgly enjoyed this book. However, the only gripe that I had with this book was that the pacing was a little bit off. It dragged in the middle which is why I cannot give it a full 5 stars. But the scenery was lovely and i really felt like I was in the book.

DNF @ 34%.

A slow, cozy read with a lot of whimsy. The fantasy elements are intriguing, and the premise of the female MC's responsibilities are well fleshed out. Wasn't a fan of the interventions of the male MC. Ultimately a little too slow for me.

⭐️: 4.25

I enjoyed the sense of whimsy that persisted throughout, a quality that seems to be rare in books with adult protagonists. It was like reading a Studio Ghibli film. The pacing seemed a tad off. I felt like scenes at the beginning were longer, but scenes that were equally as important seemed rushed in the end. You also need to have your “fantasy logic” cap on. They escape on a cloud of paper cranes? Sure. Why not?

Overall, an utterly delightful non-Western, modern day fairy tale.

A magical journey between worlds, Water Moon had everything I love from Japanese culture and from fantasy stories. Kei and Hana's journey was unpredictable from beginning to end.

Water Moon was a pretty immediate choice when I was trying to decide what book I wanted to start the year with. A book that’s about a young woman who runs a pawnshop where you can trade your regrets, the mysterious disappearance of her father and the young man who stumbles into her shop and ends up helping her figure out what happened? Sign me up!

I’m pleased to say that I ended up really liking this book. While it’s not necessarily a new favorite of all time (and we’ll get to why in a moment), it did hit a specific sweet spot I have since it captures the essence of Japanese anime films that I love (specifically those of Makoto Shinkai and Studio Ghibli). I could so easily see this book translating well to a visual medium - the details woven into this adventure would be incredible to see animated, both the mundanity of the every day and the whimsy of the fantastical bits.

The plot itself appears to be pretty straightforward, but it combines a fantastical whirlwind adventure (that’s whimsical with a hint of underlying darkness, a contrast that really speaks to me these days) with unexpected plot turns that tie up in an interesting way by the end. It’s focused mostly on unraveling the central question and taking readers on a journey, and I was along for the ride.

There are two things that keep this novel from earning a full five stars. The first thing won’t surprise long-time followers of my reviews, but I would have liked more character development. We get a sense of who Hana and Kei (and some other individuals) are, but it wasn’t enough to get me personally invested (and subsequently affected my feelings about events and relationships overall).

The second thing is the writing style. This, I’m aware, is a more personal opinion. It’s not that I disliked it; it’s more simply that I found it a little bit clunky at times. And, while there are definitely plenty of quotes that I ended up tabbing, some of them felt a little disjointed from the narrative.

Water Moon was still, overall, a wonderfully whimsical adventure to begin my reading year with. For readers on the hunt for literature that has an anime vibe to it, this would be a good choice.

(Also, it should be noted that this novel is by a Filipino author, if that’s something you’re keeping tabs on!)

2.5/5I don’t have much to say about this book because I ended up not finishing it. I understand why many people compare it to Studio Ghibli, and I think if it had been marketed as an interconnected short story collection, it would have fared better. For me, the frequent shifts in adventure felt jarring at times. While the book had a melancholic and whimsical atmosphere that was sometimes cozy, it also felt disjointed. I’m sure there will be readers who love this book—especially since I’ve seen beautiful editions of it—but I personally had no desire to finish it. Additionally, the romance felt underdeveloped, with an instant-love dynamic that didn’t hold my interest.

With all of the adventure and magic of Spirited Away, the romance of Howl's Moving Castle, and the heartache of Your Name, Water Moon felt like coming home and traveling to a far away land all at once. Yambao has mastered the art of the suspension of disbelief and delivered a tale of reflection and imagination.

I really enjoyed this fantasy book! It’s a different take on fantasy/magical realism. I loved the setting being in Japan. I enjoyed the characters, I felt they were lovable and easy to follow. The story was interesting and entertaining. The world the author built was really cool and relatable to even real life. It didn’t feel complicated to try and imagine.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ebook.

“Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao” is easily the loveliest and most enchanting novel I will read in 2025. Rife with magical realism, a lush atmosphere, and incredibly tender romance, it captured my heart from the very 1st page. I loved it so much that at about 20% I stopped what I was doing, and immediately just bought a copy because I didn’t want to miss anything that made the final cut. The story follows Hana Ishikawa, who has assisted her father in running a magical pawnshop in Tokyo. There is no way to find the store except to enter it while waiting to get ramen, those who enter the store find it because they must give up a choice that led them here. On her 1st day as the new owner, Hana wakes up to find the store ran-sacked and a choice missing from the vault. Keishin appears the same morning, an unusual customer who instead gives Hana the choice of accepting his help.
The way the story unfolds (pun intended) is *chefs kiss* so well done. Nothing is ever as it seems, and that’s true for the world around Hana and Keishin (traveling through puddles, rumors, paper, etc.) and even in turn, who Hana and Keishin really are. I love the balance of magical realism, the mystery (her father set up the store for his own purpose and to protect Hana), and the adventure the two go on to get answers. What stands out most, though, is the tender romance between Hana and Keishin. Their love blooms gently amidst the chaos, and I found myself tearing up by the end. Their relationship is one of the most beautiful and well-crafted I’ve read in a long time. I haven’t stopped thinking about "Water Moon" since finishing it, and I’m certain readers who love magical realism will absolutely devour it. It’s a book that I’ll cherish deeply in my heart for years to come.

The writing is flowy and gorgeous, and I enjoyed the concept of "what if our life was already mapped out for us--and what would that mean for our choices?" Plus, it's SO creative and magical; it was fun to learn about the twists and turns of Hana's world.