A review by shelves_by_sim
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-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? N/A

4.5

This story was absolutely so beautiful, I loved the cozy fantasy feels it gave and it just felt so wholesome in the end. I loved the concept of this world, a magical pawn shop that deals in choices and opens up to a whole new world filled with it's own weird and wonderful anomalies! I found the worldbuilding to be quite easy too, even though it relied heavily on Japanese lore. The writing was easy to understand and made the read feel light! 

Samantha also has a nonlinear style if writing, a back and forth between different characters and the past and present - which I really enjoyed because I feel like this brings new information and reveals more of the plot in a way that is not just straightforward. I really enjoyed getting to know Hana and all the strange things about her world, what the choices are used for and even how "fate" arranges their marriages. It was all so interesting! And then meeting Kei, who is the embodiment of Roman from Divine Rivals. Supportive and amazing and I just loved him.

Their journey was a hard one, both of them on the run in search of Hana's parents with soulless creatures after them and I enjoyed every second. I loved that Hana's character had so much depth and I am so proud of who she became. Her feelings for Kei are something very hard, and even quite impossible, to navigate in her world but the choices she made determined the end of her story. I love how choices were such a huge theme in this book because it such a relatable topic. I loved the ending, Kei found some very much deserved peace before they got their happily ever after and it was so beautiful! 🌺