Exquisite elements that didn’t quite gel together Ugh… *Water Moon* had so many interesting ideas, and there are—without a doubt—glimpses of brilliance scattered throughout. However, after finishing Samantha Sotto Yambao's *Water Moon*, I was left feeling a bit disappointed. I was expecting more from this fantasy book, to be honest. The book starts off strong — *Water Moon* is a fantasy novel that opens with Hana Ishikawa discovering that her father is missing. She also unexpectedly becomes th...

The unnecessary romance between one-dimensional characters ruined what could have been a truly unique and wonderful story. It's a shame, because Samantha Sotto Yambao's *Water Moon* had so much potential. As far as book reviews go, I'm usually pretty forgiving, but this felt like a missed opportunity. The core concept was fascinating, but the forced romantic subplot just didn't work and ultimately detracted from the overall narrative. I wanted to love *Water Moon*, but the underdeveloped charact...

Okay, owning a magical pawn shop? That's officially my dream career.But this book? It built up this amazing world, then dragged me kicking and screaming to all the places I *didn't* want to go.Basically, I was head-over-heels for the fantastical, surprisingly creepy parallel universe of the pawn shop in *Water Moon* by Samantha Sotto Yambao, but the actual storyline? Not so much.Way before "romantasy" was even a buzzword, I was constantly getting annoyed by how many fantasy novels ditch any real...

This book gave me all the vibes of a Studio Ghibli movie, but unfortunately, as a book, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It's like imagine someone tried to turn a dream into a story but forgot to add any real substance. 🌙✨ The concept was SUPER creative and had me thinking, OMG this could be amazing—a magical pawnshop for regrets in Tokyo? YES, PLEASE! 😍 But wow, the execution? Not so much. It felt like Samantha Sotto Yambao's *Water Moon* was trying so hard to be deep and whimsical but e...

Imagine stepping into a charming Tokyo ramen shop, only to find yourself in a quirky little pawn shop where the owner offers you tea and asks if you’d like to sell him your deepest regret. Welcome to the Pawnshop of Almosts and Ifs. Toshio Ishikawa has dedicated his life to collecting these life choices so their owners no longer have to carry them. But as fate would have it, other powerful beings seek to collect them for their own purposes, and the consequences of any of them going missing are ...

(1.5 stars)For me, *Water Moon*'s huge potential was undermined by its awkward writing and one of the least developed romances I’ve ever read. Even though its plot and world work overtime in an attempt to save it, I spent most of my time with this book sighing and rolling my eyes instead of being swept up in whatever magical adventure the premise promises.I’ll start with what I liked, if only so that I can complain without stopping later on. I think the world in *Water Moon* is very original and...

Water Moon was my first dive into Japanese-inspired fiction, and I was utterly captivated as this beautiful, unfolding story played out before my eyes. Imagine a pawnshop tucked away on a quiet Tokyo street, specializing in the buying and selling of otherworldly, invaluable items: debilitating regrets that cling to the living. Existing in a space between moments, the shop reveals itself only to those who are truly lost. Toshio, the pawnshop’s owner, has been a dedicated guardian for decades, off...

"Broken things have a unique kind of beauty, don't you think? Especially people. They shatter in the most fascinating ways. Every dent, scratch, and crack tells a story. Invisible scars hide the deepest wounds and are the most interesting.” I'm really torn on how to rate Samantha Sotto Yambao's *Water Moon*. I mean, it was cute, but it just didn't really grab me. The whole reading experience felt like watching a Studio Ghibli film because of the wonderfully imaginative places the story goes, ...

In high school, I had a teacher who told me that only two things in life were guaranteed: death (a little depressing, I know) and choices (probably not in that order). From the moment we're born to the moment we die, we make a series of choices that ultimately define us and write our lives into permanence. Incredibly charming, inventive, and insightful, Water Moon is a novel about exactly that: the choices we make, the regrets we have, and how we learn to live with both. I think humanity as a wh...

Oh boy, oh boy! The magical world-building in this fantasy novel whisks you away to incredible places. Imagine jumping into ponds to travel between parallel universes, putting your head on your pillow only to wake up in a land where a bridge connects you to another dreamscape, or listening to candles to hear the last prayers whispered to them. It's that kind of imaginative journey!The story unfolds in the backstreets of Tokyo, centering around a magical pawn shop. This shop can only be found by ...