Water Moon

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What to expect

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

Critics Review

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
Megan Bannen, bestselling author of THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY
Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book
Gareth Brown, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE BOOK OF DOORS
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
A.Y. Chao, author of SHANGHAI IMMORTAL
An engaging, dreamy fantasy with an atmosphere reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli production
Guardian
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
Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Other Birds
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
Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul
A Studio Ghibliesque tale of whimsy and water in which the protagonists enter a fantasy world to find missing things and also themselves
Sunday Times Style
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
Rania Hanna, author of The Jinn Daughter
Whimsical, poignant, thought-provoking, and wildly adventurous, Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon will bend your imagination in the very best of ways
Mikki Brammer, author of The Collected Regrets of Clover
For Studio Ghibli fans, Water Moon is going to become your new favorite book
Bookriot

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