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sol_journal's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
**Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Posted to: NetGalley and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 16 January 2025
3.9 (rounded up to 4) out of 5 stars.
This is another one of those titles that I thought was going to rank lower than it did based on my grading metric. I am nothing if not honest though, and while I had my minor bone to pick here and there, I also can admit that the world building and the overall plot itself saved this read for me. I think the points in these categories really pushed the overall score up, because otherwise I don’t know how well this book would have done with me.
Let’s just jump right in (get it- cause they used puddles to travel in the book… Okay, I’ll see myself out…)
I want to start off by saying that this book snagged me in pretty early on. I had just come out of a different arc read that left me wanting (especially after being my first DNF at hardly 10%) and I was losing traction on this beta read that I had the honor of completing (no reason here, just a mild book slump that had left me struggling to finish reads). So I knew I needed a breath of fresh air, and Water Moon was just what I needed. It had a beautiful world unfolding before me, so vividly enough that I could see it (but the writing style itself wasn’t too flashy and over the top). I hadn’t even gotten to 10% here when I knew that it would be a keeper.
And then the romance came in…
I don’t know why I have such a bone to pick with romance lately! For this story specifically though, I think I know what the issue was. Hana and Keishin falling in love was cute and all, but there was a thread that steadily unraveled and I realized that I just couldn’t forgive this character for it. SPOILER BENEATH THE TAG FOR THIS If you must know/have already read the book so this won't be such a spoiler- it was the fact that Hana was already in an arranged marriage and Haruto was such a sweet guy. I mean, I had to put the book down to stop myself from crying when his last scene came up! What do you MEAN he says "Dying while I remember you is better than living a day without knowing your name." HELLO??? If he had been a b*tch or just an uninterested guy, then maybe this last scene could have been his moment of redemption, but all Haruto did was love. I miss him, dear reader. I hope he has a different ending in another life :(
So yeah… That and its almost insta-attraction base, it would have been fine. Again, the world and the plot was SUCH a lifesaver for this book. The writing leaned on the simpler side, but it was still able to lend this depth to the story that really gave it the push it needed to keep rolling. There weren’t any snags in the plot that made me stop (from what I can remember) and everything did solve itself pretty nicely while also making sense. Water Moon definitely does carry the vibes of a classic Ghibli film, and that really helped me find the wonder and the want to sit in this world longer and longer. I mean, there’s teahouses you can visit when you dream, paper houses of origami creations, the ability to travel on a song- everything was so unique and beautiful to me that I really did find myself falling in love with this new world! I have never wanted to see something in film more before than this!
There’s also the themes that the book tackles. I think what helped the main characters click with each other was the shared fact that both of their mothers were gone from their life somehow. That fact lended me a sliiiiightly less critical lens against the romance as it did give them a kernel of connection that they were able to nourish. Alongside this though, there’s deeper traumas and regrets that feel more universal and touching. It was all lit in a sort of dim, warm light that you wouldn’t be able to realize its importance until the growing brightness suddenly blinded you.
Water Moon held a lot more beyond its beautiful cover than what met the eye. It told a story that I wasn’t quite expecting set within a lush and lovely world that felt like I was dreaming. Truly, pushing all my issues with the romance subplot aside, I enjoyed this read. It had everything within it that I needed to avoid falling over the cliffside edge of a deep book slump.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy
Abortion and pregnancy are both in very brief mention. They are mentioned towards the end and both do not go in detail.cassidy_rain's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
“Every hope deserves to sparkle in the sky.”
What a whimsical adventure this story takes you on! It feels like a fever dream, in the best way. Water Moon follows Hana; she’s taking over running her family’s magical pawn shop, as her father is retiring. The pawn shop only appears to those who need it and people can only pawn their regrets. On her first day taking over, she awakens to find the shop ransacked and her father missing, along with one of the pawned regrets. Hana embarks on a dangerous and magical journey to locate her father before it’s too late.
The writing style is very poetic and beautiful and I love the imagery in here. Nothing is quite what it seems. I really enjoyed all the different “worlds” that they traveled between. For a cozy-ish fantasy, there’s actually a lot at stake here! The story jumps around timelines a bit, which takes time to orient to but it’s very rewarding when it all comes together in the end. I really admire the author’s creativity and originality.
Thank you to Netgalley, Samantha Sotto Yambao, and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
What a whimsical adventure this story takes you on! It feels like a fever dream, in the best way. Water Moon follows Hana; she’s taking over running her family’s magical pawn shop, as her father is retiring. The pawn shop only appears to those who need it and people can only pawn their regrets. On her first day taking over, she awakens to find the shop ransacked and her father missing, along with one of the pawned regrets. Hana embarks on a dangerous and magical journey to locate her father before it’s too late.
The writing style is very poetic and beautiful and I love the imagery in here. Nothing is quite what it seems. I really enjoyed all the different “worlds” that they traveled between. For a cozy-ish fantasy, there’s actually a lot at stake here! The story jumps around timelines a bit, which takes time to orient to but it’s very rewarding when it all comes together in the end. I really admire the author’s creativity and originality.
Thank you to Netgalley, Samantha Sotto Yambao, and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Abandonment
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
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
darkclouds's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
Choices.
Something I do feel a lot of us take for granted in this day and age. You could class it as a burden on some occasions because what follows choice?
Regret.
Particularly a regret. The abandoned choice you decide to leave behind and think back on. Usually in despair.
Samantha Sotto Yambao takes us on a journey to explore just what would happen if you could leave a choice or a deep regret, without fearing its weight on your life. With that, she has gifted us a timeless piece that is Water Moon.
One major reference that has been floating around early reviews and promotions - Studio Ghibli. I can wholeheartedly abide by the commentary that pairs these two together because reading Water Moon, indeed, had me envision a glorious and magical animated adventure in my head with every page turn. Despite the sprinkles of pop culture references, it was a story that transported you within it's timeline and provided a solid escape from reality. Not once whilst reading, did I find myself becoming self aware of my surroundings because the storytelling had me captured and encased within its magical hold.
It's a cutthroat story about family, choices, regrets and love. Following Hana through her desperate journey to seek her Father who had gone missing, she could only rely on the assistance of a stranger from a world different to her own. Keishin and Hana played a remarkable role in bending the otherworldly aspects with logic and science. Here we have paired a doctor who thrives on science and facts, and he's forced to open his mind and eyes to a world that defies all the rules he had grown up with. To a girl raised to do one thing, and that is to run an enchanted pawn shop that blends her world with the one we live and exist in today. A girl who only knows her fate and what it would mean to act against it. A girl that has only witnessed the way of her world and all the whimsical traits it contains. It was a richly woven story that drowns us in heightened emotions and peak tension.
I ate up every word with my aching heart until I turned the last page. A phenomenal UK debut from this author and I can't wait to see more from her.
Something I do feel a lot of us take for granted in this day and age. You could class it as a burden on some occasions because what follows choice?
Regret.
Particularly a regret. The abandoned choice you decide to leave behind and think back on. Usually in despair.
Samantha Sotto Yambao takes us on a journey to explore just what would happen if you could leave a choice or a deep regret, without fearing its weight on your life. With that, she has gifted us a timeless piece that is Water Moon.
One major reference that has been floating around early reviews and promotions - Studio Ghibli. I can wholeheartedly abide by the commentary that pairs these two together because reading Water Moon, indeed, had me envision a glorious and magical animated adventure in my head with every page turn. Despite the sprinkles of pop culture references, it was a story that transported you within it's timeline and provided a solid escape from reality. Not once whilst reading, did I find myself becoming self aware of my surroundings because the storytelling had me captured and encased within its magical hold.
It's a cutthroat story about family, choices, regrets and love. Following Hana through her desperate journey to seek her Father who had gone missing, she could only rely on the assistance of a stranger from a world different to her own. Keishin and Hana played a remarkable role in bending the otherworldly aspects with logic and science. Here we have paired a doctor who thrives on science and facts, and he's forced to open his mind and eyes to a world that defies all the rules he had grown up with. To a girl raised to do one thing, and that is to run an enchanted pawn shop that blends her world with the one we live and exist in today. A girl who only knows her fate and what it would mean to act against it. A girl that has only witnessed the way of her world and all the whimsical traits it contains. It was a richly woven story that drowns us in heightened emotions and peak tension.
I ate up every word with my aching heart until I turned the last page. A phenomenal UK debut from this author and I can't wait to see more from her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Death
kinseyelise's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
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