This is a beautifully written book, the concepts and the fantasy worlds it delivers are delightful but I’m struggling to decide what rating to give it. Maybe it’s my frame of mind at the moment and I may have loved the book at some other time. I enjoyed the story but didn’t totally engage with the characters and at times had to reread bits of the story to remind myself of certain points as my mind had wandered.
There are some lovely quotes in the book and, on reflection, I think it deserves a reread when I am more receptive.
Thank you to the author for the lovely writing, to the publisher and Netglley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, but found the story a little slow in places, and often found myself having to flick back a few pages to clarify some finer points. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

this is genuinely one of the most incredible pieces of fiction ive ever read in my life. the writing style is so beautiful and the storyline is just fascinating. i can’t wait to get my hands on this once it’s published!

The story follows Hana, who takes over her father's unusual pawnshop in Tokyo, where people trade their regrets. When her father goes missing, Hana teams up with Keishin, a physicist, and together they explore a world where time bends, puddles lead to new places, and paper cranes fly.

The author's descriptive writing makes Hana's world come alive, and it's easy to get lost in the dreamy setting. The romance between Hana and Keishin is sweet, but it feels a bit rushed.

This book is a great read and perfect for fans of magical realism.

We are introduced into a beautiful and whimsical world in this book that is stunningly written. The worlds that we are introduced to were stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the story. The only caveat for me with this story was that the romance felt a bit hasten, even though the relationship between the two character was very lovely.

Thanks to the Random House UK and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity for me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Water moon as a book was such an exquisite experience for me a very mystical fantasy standalone!

I can say that I’ve immersed myself in the world Hana lives and lost myself in all the details that make it so intriguing and interesting to me 🫶🏻

Samantha Sotto Yambao’s writing was perfect and it can really make you live in Hana’s world,especially if you are a fan of magical fantasy and the studio ghibli vibes.This was my first book by this author but I can say that I will look forward to her next books!

Thank you so much to netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As the magical, dream-like Water Moon begins, we meet Hana who is about to take over her father’s pawn shop. But it is not an ordinary pawn shop. Hana’s pawn shop trades in choices.

On the morning of her father’s retirement Hana wakes to find her father missing, the pawn shop ransacked, and the front door unbelievably wide open to the real world. In walks a tall stranger, Keishin, and with his arrival our mysterious tour through Hana’s world begins.

Water Moon traverses realms of time and space. Keishin, a physicist, seeks answers in science, in the physics of why. In Hana’s world he finds that nothing makes scientific sense. Here time can be folded backwards, jumping into a puddle leads to other dimensions, and you can ride to your destination on a rumour or on a flock of paper cranes. Together Hana and Keishin embark on a magical mystery tour.

The author’s writing matches the ethereal settings and we are immersed as if in an exquisite dream. The pacing is slow and detailed. The plot meanders, but in a way that totally mesmerised and enmeshed me in the magical world the author has conjured. If you are a fan of magical fantasy with a love story, or fans of Studio Ghibli, you will enjoy this book. I have rated it at 4.5 and would have been 5 stars however I felt the ending was way too rushed.


Thank you to Del Ray UK, Random House UK, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

What a lovely, strange book! I thoroughly enjoyed this dreamlike tale from Samantha Sotto Yambao- she paints beautiful, strange pictures of the adventures of a young woman searching for her father, the former owner of a magical pawn shop in Tokyo, dipping between worlds to unravel the mystery of his disappearance. The writing is beautiful and so evocative, the plot winding but faster-paced as the book goes on, with plenty of little twists. If I had one criticism it would be that occasionally it felt like series of vignettes loosely tied together by the story, but equally the plot brings them all together in an enjoyable and satisfying way. I will definitely keep an eye on what the author does next!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read and review this!

This was a highly anticipated read for me and I felt kinda underwhelmed sadly. I enjoyed the whimsy of the story, the themes that the author was trying to share but, there was just too much that didn’t work/vibe for me which really bummed me out.

The pacing felt off after a while for me and time in here felt off to me as well. Some details felt confusing, like contradicting sometimes. The romance although so cute at times felt too fast and sudden which I personally don’t enjoy. Even if the concept of fate was involved.

I really liked the story that the author was going for and there were good quotes and I did kinda enjoy the very end but It just isn’t for me sadly like I wanted it to be. I do think there are people that I know that would enjoy this more than I did. I’ll for sure still probably talk to them about it.

As soon as I finished this book, I knew that I would have to sleep on it before writing a review as I was left utterly speechless.
I was captivated from the get go by this whimsical tale that easily flips between the worlds of make believe and reality.
Samantha Sotto Yambao has created something just shy of a literary master piece. The world building and imagery was so vivid that I felt as if I was in a lucid dream.

Water Moon is a Ghibli-esque novel based in Tokyo and another world. We follow Hana, our mysterious protagonist, who is starting her first day taking over her families pawn shop. A shop that doesn’t trade in items or money, but choices. However when she finds her father has gone missing, and the pawn shop in disarray, she decides to go on an adventure to find her family.

I loved every moment of this book. From flying on paper cranes, to jumping through puddles and to even climbing up incredibly high ladders to visit the night market.
The chemistry between the main characters was a lovely addition to the tale. And I really liked every character they met on their journey too.

The book picked up its pace quite unexpectedly around the 80% mark and their adventure took a dark turn. With secrets revealed, betrayal and a fight for their lives. But the change of pace and stakes was quite welcomed by this point of the story.

I feel like I will be continuously recommending this book to everyone and anyone!

Thank you so much to Samantha Sotto Yambao, Random House UK and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book. The writing is so expressive and the story had me enthralled. Highly recommended reading.

The most whimsical book I read whole year. One of my all time favourite books is Alice in Wonderland, this felt like Wonderland on steroids....in a good way. Traveling via puddles, songs and rumours? Sign me up ;)

Wow! This book………. I mean, just wow!
From the beautiful cover, to the final page, this book just had me.
It’s an amazing piece of writing by the author, they’ve created a world so fanatastical, I completely lost myself in it.
The writing style, the characters, all have a whimsy with a touch of realism woven through.
Whilst reading it, I kept trying to slow myself down as I found I was racing through. Purely by accident, but it was that easy to lose myself in the unfolding tale.
I’ve had a bit of a reading slump lately and this one has managed to reignite my interest and passion. After finishing this, all I could think was, what do I pick up next? Where do I go from here? The excitement had returned and it’s thanks to this book, this author, and I cannot wait for more from them in the future!
Thank you so much to the author and publisher for allowing me this ARC.

Living paper cranes and jumping into puddles to get to other worlds.

This simply was the best magical realism I've read in ages.
Studio Ghibli meets The Starless Sea (both I love with my whole heart), with images so vivid each scene was like a wonderful and somewhat eerie painting in my head.
It took me at least a week to read this book, but not because it was boring, no. Because I didn't want the journey to end.
For once, I deeply cared for the characters, and I deeply cared about the world. For a start, the idea of a pawnshop where you can pawn your regrets is phenomenal. I don't need Narnia's door anymore, but send me to Hana's pawnshop instead.

I love books about choices, I love books that not only help you escape for a little while, but also make you realise that even outside the pages, every choice is yours, and significant.
And this book was so very beautiful, especially for those who like all things whimsical.

Did I forget to mention that in this story, if you put them to your ear, seashells tell jokes ?
(Honestly, I am so, so grateful I got to read this.)

Hana’s father is due to retire and hands over the pawnshop to his daughter however, this is a pawnshop like no other - most people walking through the door find themselves in a shop selling ramen noodles! On her first day as owner, she walks into find the shop ransacked and something very important - a stolen choice - is missing, along with her father. Then a man walks into the shop. Unusually, he does not want help but is taken by Hana and seeing that she is distressed, instead offers to help her. Thus begins a magical journey - together they travel in ways that are unbelievable. A wistful love story, full of fantasy, which meant I needed to read on way past bedtime.

Thanks to Netgalley, Samantha Sotto Yambao and Random House Publishing for this ARC.

This book was an excellent piece of escapism, the setting was far more fantastical than I was expecting and the story more elaborate. Based on the first couple of chapters, I had thought it was going to be similar to The Coffee Gets Cold and other translated Japanese fiction with a group of short stories tied together. It is not that at all, it's more similar thematically to Caraval or Alice in Wonderland.

I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy romance that leans heavily on the fantasy. The romance is light but charming. The main reason I'm rating this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that I wanted the author to spend more time exploring each individual plot point and character. She managed to fit a lot into very few pages but it was to the detriment of the pacing and depth in my opinion.

The main character Hana was a highlight, I appreciated a strong female lead character. The book explores the theme of duty throughout and I think this was well reflected in Hana's thought processes and decision making.

Overall, this was enjoyable but would have benefitted from either being much longer (maybe a trilogy or very long standalone) or condensing the plot points into a few solid sections and side characters so it didn't feel so choppy.

<b>2.5</b>
This book had <I>so much potential</I> but was watered down by prioritising a lukewarm YA-style romance and a laggy fetch quest storyline.

<b>What I liked:</b>
• I <I>loved</I> the cover: it’s absolutely beautiful!
• The world within the story was fantastic. I wish there had been more exploration of the different travel elements, landscapes, and interesting folks that live on the pawnshop side!
• The descriptions of food were excellent.
• Someone’s memories being described as “heavier than a well fed cat”.

<b>What I wasn’t so keen on: </b>
• The writing style kept me at arm’s length. There was a lot of beautiful imagery and world building but the writing got a bit <i>too</i> bogged down in the detail and the book wasn’t holding my attention the way I had hoped. Arguably, there’s a lot of stuff happening (action?) in this story but this was still a slow read for me. I’d often mind my attention drifting or myself putting the book down to do something else. Towards the end, it started to feel like a slog. The prominence of a insta-love, lukewarm romance dulled my enjoyment. Romance isn’t my bag and the love triangle in this book felt really YA.
• For such a rich world, the characters were super vanilla: they didn't feel real to me and none of their complexities or intricacies got out of second gear.
I didn’t care for Hana and it especially annoyed me that how she saw herself (a "monster") and how she was portrayed (almost an altruistic Mary Sue) didn’t align which made her seem whiny, attention seeking and difficult to root for. Keishin was easier to like but didn’t feel fleshed out either. At the beginning, I struggled to suspend disbelief that Keishin would care about Hana the way he did: patching up her injury, the investment he had in finding her father, consenting to the trade with Horishi, having a pearl cut out of him, etc. Like he'd known her for like two minutes?! The dialogue between Hana and Keishin was twee and, in some places, so embarrassingly simpering that I had to skim. 🥴
• The ending, in my opinion, was contrived and not worth the slog.<spoilers removed> I just found it simplistic and too twee.

I think there's a good story here; but, it's lost in the meandering writing, lacklustre characterizations, and prioritization of romance. This book may appeal to folks who enjoy YA but as an adult reader, I'm underwhelmed.

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

This gave Starless Sea and Caraval vibes to me but with a Studio Ghibli theme. Reading this while in Japan too was a real bonus that helped me get immersed into the story.

The writing is beautiful and dances you through the whimsical adventure. This story is set in another world but with a lot of Japanese influence. There's magic, markets in the clouds, travelling through puddles and a pawnshop hidden inside the doorway of a ramen shop in Tokyo. There is a very insta-love romance in it but the story reads like a fairy tale which I think makes it fit quite well in my opinion.

This book was fun but also almost broke my heart in places, like a truly good book should.

The cover is gorgeous too!

Hana works in a pawnshop where customers are persuaded to pawn a difficult choice. In Hana's world there are no choices, lives are pre-destined and indeed, tattooed on every person; it is a strict autocracy and failure of duty is savagely punished by sadistic robots. On the first day after she takes over from her father as the pawnshop owner Hana finds it trashed, and one of the pledged choices is missing. A charming stranger enters the shop, and unusually, wants to help her not to pawn anything. Together they set off to find out why the shop has been trashed, travelling though the magical world with the sadistic robots never far away. Its a very imaginative and clever plot, well written, and utterly compelling. Samantha Yambao is a great find and I look forward to reading more from her.

A wonderfully whimsical fantasy story with a touch of mystery and romance.
Water Moon is a beautiful world to step into, with brilliant characters and concepts. The story is told well, in a vivid yet imaginative style.
Truly beautiful and homely.
Extremely cosy yet well paced.

I can't wait to see more of Samantha Sotto Yambao's work!