Welcome friend! In June, Ariel and I read Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. This is a dreamy book about a pawnshop where one can sell regrets. Check out the synopsis below and read our discussion that follows.
Samantha Sotto Yambao | Goodreads
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!
Water Moon – Discussion
Ariel: If there was one word to describe Water Moon, I would choose whimsical. This book takes contemporary fantasy and puts a poetic and artistic spin on the genre, and adds in a little bit of scientific philosophizing. Reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli film, I found it best not to question too much and just enjoy the ride.
Kriti: I felt the same! This was a beautiful book. It was so visual and immersive and the writing continued to paint gorgeous pictures in my mind from one to another.
The setting brings us to a parallel world where people who go looking for a ramen shop find themselves in a magical pawn shop where they can trade in intangible things to give them a sense of peace of mind. Some people are more resistant to this concept and others gladly give their regrets to the pawn shop.
What an idea! I was curious to see how regrets could be pawned off – how would you even give up something that is purely mental – and I loved how this was depicted. We all carry special objects with meaning and something as simple as the fare of a bus to get to a certain place associated with a regret can be exchanged for peace of mind. The second chapter from Toshio’s perspective when he meets a new client was quite telling. I found him very pushy, unraveling the vulnerability of a person walking through the door. They don’t know why they are here but he does and his attitude was kind of annoying and maybe after years of pawning regrets, and as the story reveals, the significance of that action, he was weighed down and emotionally insensitive to his job.
Our two main characters are Hana and Keishin, what did you think of them? I really liked Hana and her connection to the pawn shop and her father, and how the book follows her quest to find answers about her mother. I’m not quite so sure about the romance, and maybe it didn’t need to be a romance, but nevertheless Keishin was a good balance for Hana and brought a “normal” perspective to the magical world that Hana inhabits.
I enjoyed their constraining perspectives. Keishin is the wide eyed tourist, the scientist who must question everything and wonder at how something is possible. I like Hana too and this very well could have been a solid friendship book. Their romance didn’t add to the story for me even though I enjoyed their relationship and back and forth banter.
I liked the mesh of science (Keisin) with magic (Hana). Keisin had to explain everything from his knowledge base to make sense of it and I found that entertaining.
I did come across one of my favorite descriptions of love thanks to Haruto:
There was a lot of philosophizing around the concept of choice versus destiny. A particularly serious scene occurs when Hana and Keishin examine a museum of missed opportunities that changed the world forever; like a nuclear bomb that went off in one city instead of another, or an assassination attempt that was 13 minutes early. A persistent question throughout the narrative asks Hana and Keishin if they truly have choices or if their fate was pre written. The tricky aspect of it all is that once someone knows their fate, they banish all illusion of choice along with the question of possibly altering their fate had they never known what their fate would be.
I totally agree with you and I am glad you mentioned the museum! It was such a haunting scene. Keishin is so open to Hana and yet so closed off in his real life. The tattoos in Hana’s world and their relationship to a person’s destiny was a neat way to represent predetermination of life. Hana and Keishin constantly disagreed about choices and fate and I think this again spoke to the science vs magic contrast.
The shiikuin are a great addition to the story and I liked the haunting terrifying element they added to the world. Like everything in Hana’s world, they have their predetermined role to play and the unraveling of how they come to exist was heartbreaking. What did you think of these masked creatures in kimonos?
I thought they were a good added aspect that heightened the tension and the stakes. They created a sense of urgency in what would otherwise be a more nebulous plot. Overall, this was a great buddy read for us! 🙂
Water Moon was a smooth read. I could fall back into it easily. There were many interruptions while taking care of my daughter and I’m enjoying my Libby stats: I picked it up 37 times and finished in 6 and a half hours.
Thanks for reading our discussion! Let us know what you think of this book and add it to your Goodreads if you would like to read it.
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