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Water Moon

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Would you rewrite your destiny if it meant losing a part of your past?

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it.

Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones – those who are lost – will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.

Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop's new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it.

Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice – through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds.

But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own – and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back.

Step into the captivating and romantic fantasy novel that will sweep you away on an unforgettable adventure - perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli, Erin Morgenstern and Before the Coffee Gets Cold!


‘Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page' -- Megan Bannen, bestselling author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

© Samantha Sotton Yamboa 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Cosy Fantasy Genre Fiction Magical Realism Mystery

Critic reviews

Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page. I didn't want to leave this fascinating world. Sam Sotto Yambao has written an inventive, refreshing fantasy here
Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book
A spellbinding journey into a magical Ghibliesque world where regrets and memories can be bartered, where appearances are not what they seem, and where dreams, free will, and destiny are pitted against fate. Endlessly inventive, this haunting and enchanting tale is not to be missed
An engaging, dreamy fantasy with an atmosphere reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli production
What a bright, fresh voice Samantha Sotto Yambao has brought to the literary world. Water Moon is a novel for all the senses, but its true magic lies in being breathtakingly visual. You will be spirited away
Water Moon is a dreamy, ethereal fantasy, set in a fascinating faerie tale world with appropriately dark corners. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki will love this one
A Studio Ghibliesque tale of whimsy and water in which the protagonists enter a fantasy world to find missing things and also themselves
Water Moon is one of those rare, unique reads that stay with you long after you turn the final page. With its lyrical writing and philosophically poignant themes, Water Moon clings to your soul and renders it transformed
Whimsical, poignant, thought-provoking, and wildly adventurous, Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon will bend your imagination in the very best of ways
For Studio Ghibli fans, Water Moon is going to become your new favorite book
All stars
Most relevant
loved It - well written - Easy world tò call into - personally found the only sex scene redundancy, but that Is Just a personal preference. a delight tò ready or listen to

a bonbon of a book

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Saw this in my local book shop, liked the synopsis so thought I would give it a try.
A truly magical novel the 'visuals' if that's possible in a non graphic novel were great.
Mostly great story telling, was like reading a Studio Ghibli film, just the ending, to me, felt a little lack lustre. This would make an amazing graphic novel and one I'd gladly go and buy.
Of the performance the one and only thing that bugged me is the pronunciation of the word 'duty', could never hear the T in the pronunciation and it started to grate by the end of the book.
Have and will reccomend this title to others.

What a magical novel.

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The world building could be amazing if they ever got to it, but every time a new element of the fantasy world is introduced the author barely explores it before devoting several paragraphs to "they wanted to kiss, but they shouldn't, but they wanted to, but they mustn't, but they wanted to, but they oughtn't". It's like a cake made entirely of frosting-- I do like frosting but is there any of the cake the blurb promised?

Romance at the expense of all else

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Great story with unexpected twists and turns. Impressive world building, magical realism and an excellent narrator.

The magical realism, the world building and the narrators voice acting

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World was interesting but the execution wasn't great. Too many things, poor characters... it was all over the place. I so wanted to love this book but it's a big disappointment... took me ages to finish it because I was not into it

Nice world but that's about it

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