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A review by holdenwunders_
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
3.0
I absolutely hate DNFing a book, especially one with such a beautiful premise and cover but that’s where we are at now. I have not finished it and there’s nothing inherently wrong so I’ll give this stars and hope it finds the correct audience, which sadly I’m not.
I have seen this book be compared to a Studio Ghibli film multiple times and don’t necessarily think that’s wrong but what pushes Ghibli over the edge is not the cozy whimsical magic but how in depth the world building is and I found this lacking. I enjoyed the premise of all the magical elements but found the depth to be lacking for me personally. I also have seen it compared to The Starless Sea and can see how the polarizing aspect of that book could be compared here but felt reading The Starless Sea was all depth and world building.
Audience wise, if you love a solid instant love, whimsy, cozy, magic then this story is most likely for you. There’s a lot to like about this book but over months of trying to come back to it, I was doing a disservice to myself and the authour at this point. This book will be HUGE and not wrongfully so. I’m excited for those that will eat this up and hope it even gets picked up for a theatrical release one day!
I have seen this book be compared to a Studio Ghibli film multiple times and don’t necessarily think that’s wrong but what pushes Ghibli over the edge is not the cozy whimsical magic but how in depth the world building is and I found this lacking. I enjoyed the premise of all the magical elements but found the depth to be lacking for me personally. I also have seen it compared to The Starless Sea and can see how the polarizing aspect of that book could be compared here but felt reading The Starless Sea was all depth and world building.
Audience wise, if you love a solid instant love, whimsy, cozy, magic then this story is most likely for you. There’s a lot to like about this book but over months of trying to come back to it, I was doing a disservice to myself and the authour at this point. This book will be HUGE and not wrongfully so. I’m excited for those that will eat this up and hope it even gets picked up for a theatrical release one day!