Water Moon

I received an advance copy from NetGalley.

In Tokyo, some people think they are entering a restaurant only to find a pawn shop instead. Little do they know, they've crossed to another world where they can trade a regret--a choice--for peace as they move onward. This is the place where Hana has grown up, trained by her father to take over the shop someday, forever weighed down by the knowledge that her mother stole a client's choice and was killed because of it.

On the day after her father's retirement, she awakens to find the shop ransacked, her father gone. A strange man enters--a physicist from Earth, and someone who hasn't come to trade a choice. He insists on helping her--and continues to do so as they begin a fantastical quest to show more find her father and answers.

This is a mind-bending trippy book that put me in mind of the movie What Dreams May Come. Hana's parallel world to Earth doesn't operate as ours does. Something akin to magic imbues everything, and the plot unveils constant surprises. I'm a frequent fantasy reader and I struggled to track what was happening at times--I can imagine some people would be utterly lost. I found it to be a worthwhile journey, however, with a sweet romance and a satisfying finale. show less

In this ethereal novel the parallel worlds of Hana and Kei intersect. Hana has just been tasked with taking over for her father in the pawnshop they operate. But this is a unique pawnshop where customers trade in a past choice or regret in exchange for happiness. Kei is a Japanese-American physicist who has traveled to Tokyo for work. On the day Hana is to assume her new duties she discovers that her shop has been ransacked and her father is missing, and then Kei walks through the door. He determines that he must help her in her quest to find her father, who they surmise has gone off to find her mother. The world of their journey is Hana's world, with travel through puddles, being carried along by songs, helped by origami cranes, and show more always under threat of the shiikuen, zombie-like enforcers of the worlds. With lyrical writing, the author treats us to Hana's world, which we may not always understand, but which charms us and seduces us to care about the success of the journey. show less

Has some neat dream logic and settings, which works for a plot that both jumps all over the place and progresses rather slowly. The comparisons to Ghibli are apt as far as folklorish environment -- on the heavier end of violence & horror in those rather than cozy, and lacking the depth of metaphor.

I'm not going to say the prose is trite, but there are a lot of deep-sounding philosophical lines, and most just aren't given enough room to breathe because this is an adventure story, via exposition dumps galore. It's like the occasional lyricism is at odds with the plotting, which shows in the number of lines I highlighted dwindling as the book went on. The resolution is straight up unearned.

Unfortunately, there's also not much character show more development, and as a result, it's leaning a lot on vibes. This one just didn't have enough much of a muchness to paper over the gaps for me.

The summary didn't prepare me for the romance angle, and it was too prominent for me considering the stakes, but hey. Even if it seemed shallow and rushed ("Don't look at me, I'm ugly," makes an appearance...), it's at least established early so you can bail if you find it implausible.

So, a mixed bag, 3 1/2 out of 5 stars at the moment -- more than just okay because of some of the imagery, but not a confident 'I liked it.' Likely to drop in my estimation rather than increase, not least of which because of the following.

I'm also a bit thrown because the book is heavily positioned as Japanese-adjacent in a particular way.

It's set a little bit in Tokyo and the US, mainly in pseudo-historical-fantasy-Japan, with characters speaking Japanese (and understanding it perfectly except when plot demands otherwise), Japanese proverbs written in hiragana as epigraphs, and prominent cultural Japanese touchstones like origami cranes featured in the text and cover art. (Neither cranes nor paper folding are exclusive to Japan, but in combination with everything else, it does seem meant to invoke that association.) The name given to the main setting is Isekai. A bit on the nose. HEY THIS BOOK IS SOAKED IN JAPANESE SPIRIT

"Water Moon" was written in English by a Filipina. It's not abnormal to write in or outside your culture, and Japan is certainly a cultural hegemony in its own right; apparently the author was inspired by a trip there.

But some words are translated into Japanese awkwardly, seemingly left 'untranslated' to gesture at authenticity. (The romanization is sometimes inconsistent, or directly conflicts with kanji, other times it feels very arbitrary, "All according to keikaku.")
Which okay, kinda cringe, but... okay.
...No Japanese proofreaders? No culturally-sensitive editors with google translate?
It's performing Japanese as appropriation, even from my limited context, and I've seen criticism elsewhere that suggests it's worse.

The book is also lightly marketed as a "healing fiction" novel, a subgenre of slice-of-life. It really peaked for English translations this and last year, but derives from established Japanese and Korean trends, which have been around for decades in Japan as 'iyashikei.'

In short, the genre centers plots within an ordinary setting, often a third space, like a coffee shop, bookstore, or department store; another name for it is 'everyday life' books. Some have a bit of magical realism, but they are grounded in a banal context, and in character moments more than sweeping plot. Character interactions build personal growth way more than emphasizing their relationships. If they go somewhere fantastic, they always return to the site of the 'real' world as the main location.

The whole effect means I find the buzz around it more offputting -- "Water Moon" trades in magical realism, but it's a romantasy and travelogue -- shoving it into iyashikei as a trend creates a rug pull when you actually read it, at least for me. I don't know if it falls on the publishers or readers, but that ignorance leads people to believe it is a Japanese book in translation. Which feels deceptive in a totally own-goal sort of way that glosses over the racism in the writing, and in conflating all Asian 'cozy' reads as ultimately tied to exoticized depictions of Japan.

...Did not expect it to be a problematic read! show less

“A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting fantasy novel.”

I stole the blurb because it was too perfect. This book feels like reading a daydream, if that makes any sense. (Of course it doesn’t, that’s the point of daydreams.) It’s whimsical and sweet and delightful, but also wistful and at times bittersweet. It’s about choices made and discarded, regrets, and how those things come to define us.

There’s a ramen shop on a particular street. This ramen shop is popular, with lines that often stretch out the door. But occasionally when someone walks through the door, they instead enter show more a pawnshop with a kindly proprietor, offering a cup of tea and gently asking about choices and regrets. Perhaps you’d like to unburden yourself? They can help with that, you know.

What happens to those choices once sold? What happens if one goes missing?

“.. life is about finding joy in the space between where you came from and where you are going. I may never get to where I want to go, but I can look back on my life and say that I did not waste a second of it being bitter that I was not someplace else. Happiness does not exist in a place. It lives in every breath we take. You need to choose to take it in, over and over again.”

If you liked Before the Coffee Gets Cold, or if you like the whimsical worlds of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children, this is a book made for you.

Are you a fan of magical realism? Or do you prefer your stories more grounded in reality?

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review! Water Moon is available January 14! show less

4.75 Stars. Water Moon is the first of Samantha Sotto Yambao’s titles that I have read but it certainly will not be my last. Like all the very best literature, this novel is the combination of many genre – mystery, family drama, romance, magical realism, adventure, fantasy and thriller – and explores numerous, typically heavy themes, in deeply intelligent and refreshing artful ways.

From the opening lines, Sotto Yambao invites readers to think about even the simplest of things differently; more deeply perhaps, and as adults, to unbridle our curiosity.

Notice I said ‘invites’ rather than ‘forces’ readers to think about things differently? Proverbs are woven throughout this dreamlike narrative, but they never feel show more didactic.

Sotto Yambao’s fantasy alternate world-building is intricate yet ephemeral. Water Moon’s mystery suspense and swiftly paced adventure plot presents evolving fantastical paradigms to occupy and entertain the mind — a bit like Alice in Wonderland minus its absurdist satire and farce. Meanwhile in the background your brain chews over the more gristly topics such as parenthood, love, grief, personal agency and consequence, life meaning and legacy. Only in the very final denouement did I feel this narrative’s execution was anything less than taut. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2025/01/water-moon-samantha-sotto-yambao.ht... show less

3.75 stars

I enjoyed this book!! It was a whimsical and fantastical adventure with a super interesting concept: a magical other world where nothing is what it seems, a mystery to be solved with lives on the line, and two from different worlds working together to solve it. Unfortunately, I feel like things got a bit too fantastical and it veered into confusing. I left the book with lots of questions, and though the book had an arguably good ending, I wasn’t quite satisfied. REGARDLESS, I really liked this book!

I really enjoyed the magical realism and the bite-sized chapters. While Keishin’s devotion to Hana is a bit instalovey, it felt grounded like fairytale love. Like, I don’t question the prince loves Cinderella type of way.

I’d love to see this adapted into a graphic novel or manga. I think it would soar visually.

Ending: the ending is tied with a bow, tying up loose ends, but I actually was leaning into the bittersweet with Hana gone. I thought he gained his mother back and lost the love, and it was okay because your fate doesn't have to be tied to one person. You can love again. But, I'm also not mad at a happy ending that feels a little too easy. It's better than an amnesia!Hana