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A review by bookswithlydscl
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Updated to 4.5* as even now, a few weeks, later this book has stayed with me and I keep thinking about the imagery and worlds built.
A magical pawnshop that not everyone can find that allows those who need it to rid themselves of regret at choices made. Hana is set to inherit the shop from her father but on handover day she wakes up to find it ransacked and her father and a pawned choice have disappeared.
What follows is a Ghibli-esque adventurous romantic fantasy that is a story of choices, love, family, loss and enlightenment.
I found this book to be a floating ethereal beauty that has careful and intricate world building and delivers an Alice In Wonderland sense of confusion, magic, awe and discovery. It takes its time to get going despite having an element of jumping from quest to quest but for me it all clicked at around 60% and I couldn't stop reading through to the end.
There are so many elements that work - The romance is well balanced and exactly what I want in a book (doesn't take over everything and no spice) and I have to go back to the world building again. The use of traditional Japanese culture to create this fantasy world was beautiful and breath taking and a wonderfully unique setting for the story.
This is one that I want to come back to again in the future and I think fantasy fans who are looking for something a little different will enjoy this addition to the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for this digital review copy of "Water Moon" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.
A magical pawnshop that not everyone can find that allows those who need it to rid themselves of regret at choices made. Hana is set to inherit the shop from her father but on handover day she wakes up to find it ransacked and her father and a pawned choice have disappeared.
What follows is a Ghibli-esque adventurous romantic fantasy that is a story of choices, love, family, loss and enlightenment.
I found this book to be a floating ethereal beauty that has careful and intricate world building and delivers an Alice In Wonderland sense of confusion, magic, awe and discovery. It takes its time to get going despite having an element of jumping from quest to quest but for me it all clicked at around 60% and I couldn't stop reading through to the end.
There are so many elements that work - The romance is well balanced and exactly what I want in a book (doesn't take over everything and no spice) and I have to go back to the world building again. The use of traditional Japanese culture to create this fantasy world was beautiful and breath taking and a wonderfully unique setting for the story.
This is one that I want to come back to again in the future and I think fantasy fans who are looking for something a little different will enjoy this addition to the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for this digital review copy of "Water Moon" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.