Water Moon by Samantha Sotto yambao

Water Moon came recommended by an employee of a small bookstore I love, and combined with the very intriguing concept, of course I had to read it. I haven’t read a book quite like this one. It reminded me of the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series, where people can come into this cafe and be transported back in time. The beginning of the novel didn’t hook me per se, but I kept reading because I could see the potential. It seemed to describe the story almost in an anime-esque manner, which caused me to picture this all as an anime (which I liked!). A very visually targeted novel, it was easy to picture the settings and characters, but at the expense of a deeper connection with the story and characters.

Water Moon is a novel for dreamers. Nothing is as it seems, as is continuously warned from the beginning. I almost think this was meant to BE an anime as opposed to a novel. Or even a manga. If this was adapted into an anime I would totally watch it! It was very whimsical and almost gave Alice in Wonderland vibes when Keishen is introduced to Hana’s world. The night market and the vendors/porters were very interesting as well, but I almost wish we could have had more perspective from Keishen, since it was all new to him. His personality was super calm and peaceful, I would have enjoyed the stability of hearing from him more.

I LOVED the creativity with the fantasy aspects of this novel. It definitely gave big Studio Ghibli vibes - I liked the concept of “riding a rumour” to their destination. I loved the relationship between Hana and Keishen, how they seemed to balance each other so well. Up until the end parts, I felt like I could give this book 5 stars. I think that the author got ahead of themselves for the couple twists near the end, I thought that they didn’t really flow with the story.

SPOILER BELOW**

I did not like the reveal that the pawnshop owner(s) take pieces of the client’s souls. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the concept of that, but that the main character hid it from Keishen the entire time despite their many vulnerable experiences with each other. On top of that, the reveal of finding Hana’s mother and father seemed underwhelming considering the entire book was building up to this point. I thought that Toshio (Hana’s father) having a complete change of heart was also confusing. He was very adamant about how important their role as the pawnshop keeper was, how Hana’s mother had betrayed them and they must never follow her footsteps. All of this just for him to go searching for her, and once Hana finds him he has a change of heart concerning being the pawnshop keeper. It seemed abrupt to me.

SPOILER ENDS **

Overall I really enjoyed the novel, it kept me interested enough to make putting it down difficult. There were definitely parts I wish were done differently, but the author certainly has a very creative way of thinking and writing. I hope they continue to improve their storytelling skills and write something even more extraordinary!