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chrissy22's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A whimsical, Studio Ghibli vibe throughout. The world-building was descriptive enough that I could picture everything. The writing was lyrical. I did think the characters and their growth could’ve been more fleshed out and their development more poignant. I feel it could have had more adult themes when it came to development. I also deducted points for it being insta-love. It happened way too quickly without any build or struggle which made this, along with not enough risk taken for character development, feel more YA than adult. I also thing climax and main conflict could’ve been more fleshed out given how it was so centered throughout the plot. A lot happened off page.
Overall, did really enjoy this book. It was magical.
Overall, did really enjoy this book. It was magical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer and Abortion
sirpandacat's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, and Abortion
caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Watermoon is one of those stories that’s told to you in a whisper but echoes loudly in your mind whenever you have a quiet moment to think about it. The prose is beautiful from jump, absolutely alluring. It feels like getting swept up by a very calm river, where you think you can emerge whenever you want, but the current runs deep and won’t let you go until it says so.
I appreciated that the story was quick to act on its premise. Our protagonist Hana only gets a few pages of explaining the status quo of her world before her father’s disappearance turns it all on its head. She’s an insider to the world of her pawnshop; she knows how things work, and coupling her with the eternal outsider Kei allows her to show off the whimsicality and darkness of it in turn. As a reader, I was given an immediate example of how the pawned regrets look mundane to untrained eyes, but when seen by someone in the know are breathtaking and magical and precious. The reveals of Hana and Kei’s identities as products of those regrets, of choices made or not made, were made more poignant by this fact; Hana knew what Kei was from the moment she saw him, but couldn’t recognize the truth of herself until it was pointed out to her.
I enjoyed both Hana and Kei’s perspectives as the story shifted between them both, and not only for the way their respective insider/outsider dynamics shaped the framing of, for example, traveling though puddles or floating on clouds of paper cranes. Each of them offered a very pragmatic yet hopeful perspective on the world and their central goals were always clear and the primary drivers of the plot. Though the search for Hana’s father (and for her mother’s fate) was what made the protagonists move through the story, what I found most appealing was the growth they did individually. While messy, it was satisfying to watch their mirrored emotional arcs of 1. Mommy issues and 2. Feeling at the whim of or abandoned by fate resolve into a complicated equilibrium of “I don’t know if making choices is easy but I still want to try”. Though I didn’t buy their romance at first, by the end of the story I was very much rooting for Hana and Kei’s ability to be happy together.
I am a little miffed we didn’t get more clarity on what Hana did in the five years that separated her and Kei, I understand why it was left out. Rebuilding a society after its core tenets are shaken up is fodder for a whole different book, one the author wasn’t telling in this story.
The parts of Watermoon that will stay with me most strongly are the feelings it left me with. I felt sad for the clients of the pawnshop who never get to come back for what they pawned, not only that they can’t see the true value of their regret but that they forget they could come back even for something they consider worthless. I spent quite some time (before learning that a regret was a piece of a soul) thinking about what if anything I would pawn, what burdens I have that are too heavy, and I’ve decided I don’t have any. Heavy as they are they’re mine. Having that instinct rewarded by the narrative was satisfying, as was seeing those choices become something magical and special on their own.
I recommend Watermoon to fans of shows like Midnight Diner, where character internalize takes center stage, lovers of stories they have to work for, that appear quiet until you look at them more closely. It’s a novel made for people who like to feel as though they’ve discovered something special and hold it close to their hearts.
I appreciated that the story was quick to act on its premise. Our protagonist Hana only gets a few pages of explaining the status quo of her world before her father’s disappearance turns it all on its head. She’s an insider to the world of her pawnshop; she knows how things work, and coupling her with the eternal outsider Kei allows her to show off the whimsicality and darkness of it in turn. As a reader, I was given an immediate example of how the pawned regrets look mundane to untrained eyes, but when seen by someone in the know are breathtaking and magical and precious. The reveals of
I enjoyed both Hana and Kei’s perspectives as the story shifted between them both, and not only for the way their respective insider/outsider dynamics shaped the framing of, for example, traveling though puddles or floating on clouds of paper cranes. Each of them offered a very pragmatic yet hopeful perspective on the world and their central goals were always clear and the primary drivers of the plot. Though the search for Hana’s father (and for her mother’s fate) was what made the protagonists move through the story, what I found most appealing was the growth they did individually. While messy, it was satisfying to watch their mirrored emotional arcs of 1. Mommy issues and 2. Feeling at the whim of or abandoned by fate resolve into a complicated equilibrium of “I don’t know if making choices is easy but I still want to try”. Though I didn’t buy their romance at first, by the end of the story I was very much rooting for Hana and Kei’s ability to be happy together.
I am a little miffed we didn’t get more clarity on what Hana did in the
The parts of Watermoon that will stay with me most strongly are the feelings it left me with. I felt sad for the clients of the pawnshop who never get to come back for what they pawned, not only that they can’t see the true value of their regret but that they forget they could come back even for something they consider worthless. I spent quite some time (before
I recommend Watermoon to fans of shows like Midnight Diner, where character internalize takes center stage, lovers of stories they have to work for, that appear quiet until you look at them more closely. It’s a novel made for people who like to feel as though they’ve discovered something special and hold it close to their hearts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
mollyrook's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. I'd describe it as Piranesi meets Spirited Away with a star-crossed lovers arc—absolutely delightful and completely magical. If I have one main complaint, it's that I would have liked Hana's personality to be a little more fleshed out. I'd also have liked to see a bit more early chemistry and attraction between them. On the whole, though, such a dream of a book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage
lauramcc7's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I had the absolute pleasure of reading this book as an ARC on NetGalley. It was so incredibly magical, very Studio Ghibli in so many ways. Water Moon is a captivating read, and every chapter brings forward a new type of magic. This book examines the power of choice in such an ethereal way - what you believe is an insignificant choice, might just change your life for good.
~
Hana and Keishin are such a strong characters from the very beginning - they have this all-consuming drive to KNOW, to understand. And from the very beginning, they’re fighting to keep the other one safe. They have this instant connection, this unbeatable pull towards one another, and in a world where Hana has never had her own choice before, Keishin is her first, and most important, one ever.
~
Everything about Samantha Sotto Yambao’s world building is stunning. We get to explore the beauty of this world through an outsider’s eyes - and we’re just as captivated as he is. It is a breathtaking novel, and I already want to reread it, knowing what I know now. It is heartbreaking, but also incredible hopeful, and it is so full of beauty. I cannot recommend it enough.
~
Water Moon is a must-read, so keep your eyes peeled on the 16th January. (I may have preordered an exclusive copy of it as soon as I finished reading this arc)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
stephaniecommerer's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'd like to thank Samantha Sotto Yambao, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Water Moon follows Hana, a young woman left in charge of a pawn shop after her father's retirement. Unlike other pawnshops this place deals in regrets and choices. The morning Hana goes to open her shop for the first time as the new owner she finds it ransacked, her father and a choice gone, and so she decides she must find him, with the help of Kei, a young man who walked into her store.
It promises the charm of a Studio Ghibli movie and Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikaszu Kawaguchi, however it's unlike either of those. You can tell the author had some amazing magical realism ideas, but the worldbuilding lacked so much detail that it began to seem random when things were introduced, or akin to shock value. There were no titles for her world or Kei's world, but there were titles for a lot of what seemed to be unimportant things for the story. Things are briefly brought up and never mentioned again, and when the lore is mentioned, due to Kei being from the human world he acts as a reason to info dump for the reader to learn some information.
Speaking of Kei and Hana, there was an extremely forced romance between the two. They had no chemistry and the love between them was generally instant as they only know each other for 2 days by the end of the book. There was no real reason for it to be there, and was one of the reasons I thought about DNFing this book. The author also has a way of writing that I think others may enjoy but I did not, the introduction of Japanese words spelled out with English letters and then repeated as a question translated by another character, it got old very quickly. The dialogue was very stilted and awkward and seemed to try to be very quotable and deep, I think she shouldn't have tried so hard to sound profound since I did like the quotes Hana and her father said before the love interest was introduced, which is where I think most of the faults start. There are a lot of one liner sentences that give a dun dun dun feeling at the break of a chapter or at the end of chapters.
I think if this book had more time to rest, be edited and worked on just a bit more it could've been a lot more like what it was advertised to be. It's also very likely that this book will find is audience among romantasy readers and other people that sadly aren't me.
Trigger Warnings I Gathered: cancer, parent death, some sexual content, injury detail, dementia
Water Moon follows Hana, a young woman left in charge of a pawn shop after her father's retirement. Unlike other pawnshops this place deals in regrets and choices. The morning Hana goes to open her shop for the first time as the new owner she finds it ransacked, her father and a choice gone, and so she decides she must find him, with the help of Kei, a young man who walked into her store.
It promises the charm of a Studio Ghibli movie and Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikaszu Kawaguchi, however it's unlike either of those. You can tell the author had some amazing magical realism ideas, but the worldbuilding lacked so much detail that it began to seem random when things were introduced, or akin to shock value. There were no titles for her world or Kei's world, but there were titles for a lot of what seemed to be unimportant things for the story. Things are briefly brought up and never mentioned again, and when the lore is mentioned, due to Kei being from the human world he acts as a reason to info dump for the reader to learn some information.
Speaking of Kei and Hana, there was an extremely forced romance between the two. They had no chemistry and the love between them was generally instant as they only know each other for 2 days by the end of the book. There was no real reason for it to be there, and was one of the reasons I thought about DNFing this book. The author also has a way of writing that I think others may enjoy but I did not, the introduction of Japanese words spelled out with English letters and then repeated as a question translated by another character, it got old very quickly. The dialogue was very stilted and awkward and seemed to try to be very quotable and deep, I think she shouldn't have tried so hard to sound profound since I did like the quotes Hana and her father said before the love interest was introduced, which is where I think most of the faults start. There are a lot of one liner sentences that give a dun dun dun feeling at the break of a chapter or at the end of chapters.
I think if this book had more time to rest, be edited and worked on just a bit more it could've been a lot more like what it was advertised to be. It's also very likely that this book will find is audience among romantasy readers and other people that sadly aren't me.
Trigger Warnings I Gathered: cancer, parent death, some sexual content, injury detail, dementia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Dementia and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Immediately, the writing got my attention. It flowed so easily and had me flying through the first third of the book. The short chapters, the world-building, and the character development told through flashbacks, it was all so easy to digest and imagine.
However, the middle got bogged down by certain choices and an instalove romance that felt like it was forced into the story. There are reveals that make those two elements so much more interesting later on, but the logic didn't feel right as I was living it and it affected my interest in the story greatly.
That being said, the twists were insane and I loved how everything came together and fell apart in the end. It surprised me and really redeemed the story for me.
The fantasy elements of the story were very Ghibli-esque and I loved the little magics of Hana's world. As we get to see more and more of it, the ways of travel, the elements of magic, all feel so beautiful and fantastical. I think this would make for a cool animated film and I think the audiobook will add so much atmosphere and cool vibes to this story.
All in all, a solid fantasy, but the romance really pulled me out and I wish some other choices were made (despite the outcomes and twists).
TW: child death, murder, injury detail, blood, gore, violence, death; mentions pregnancy, abortion
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 3.5/5
ACR gifted by Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.
However, the middle got bogged down by certain choices and an instalove romance that felt like it was forced into the story. There are reveals that make those two elements so much more interesting later on, but the logic didn't feel right as I was living it and it affected my interest in the story greatly.
That being said, the twists were insane and I loved how everything came together and fell apart in the end. It surprised me and really redeemed the story for me.
The fantasy elements of the story were very Ghibli-esque and I loved the little magics of Hana's world. As we get to see more and more of it, the ways of travel, the elements of magic, all feel so beautiful and fantastical. I think this would make for a cool animated film and I think the audiobook will add so much atmosphere and cool vibes to this story.
All in all, a solid fantasy, but the romance really pulled me out and I wish some other choices were made (despite the outcomes and twists).
TW: child death, murder, injury detail, blood, gore, violence, death; mentions pregnancy, abortion
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 3.5/5
ACR gifted by Del Rey in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy