Water Moon
The Sunday Times bestselling fantasy novel that takes you on a magical and healing adventure
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Before the Coffee Gets Cold meets Studio Ghibli in this captivating Sunday Times bestselling romantic fantasy novel that will sweep you away on an unforgettable, magical adventure.
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 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.
Would you rewrite your destiny if it meant losing a part of your past?
Praise for Water Moon!
‘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
‘A spell-binding journey into a magical Ghibli-esque world. Endlessly inventive, this haunting and enchanting tale is not to be missed.’ --A.Y. Chao, author of Shanghai Immortal
'A unique and beautiful fantasy novel' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'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 whimsical and immersive [Studio] Ghibli-esque adventure' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'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
'Every leg of the journey unfolded with its own distinct charm' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Whimsical, poignant, thought-provoking, and wildly adventurous, Water Moon will bend your imagination in the very best of ways.' --Mikki Brammer, author of The Collected Regrets of Clover
'The world building [is] so exquisite' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
**This edition contains an early preview of Samantha's next novel, The Elsewhere Express - coming soon!**
WATERSTONES Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of the Month - NOVEMBER 2025
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is a magical story, told with great charm. Hana works alongside her father in a strange Tokyo pawnshop. From the outside, it looks like a ramen restaurant, but a special kind of customer will discover a shop where they can trade in their regrets and bad decisions. On the day of her father’s retirement, Hana discovers the business has been ransacked and her father has vanished. With the help of a customer, a thoughtful young physicist, Hana begins a quest to find the truth. The novel is full of vivid moments—such as flying on the back of paper cranes and a night market in the clouds— and the world-building is well executed. But the inventiveness and whimsy never obscure the real emotion at the book’s heart. There is greed, pain, loss and love—and these human feelings, along with the brilliant writing and thoughtful pacing, make the fantastical adventure seem just about possible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Yambao (The Beginning of Always) delights with this gentle portal fantasy about a quaint mystical pawnshop from another realm that poses as a Tokyo ramen restaurant where customers can exchange their regrets for peace of mind. It's Hana's first day as the pawnshop's new manager after her father, Toshio, retires. Instead of being excited for her new role, however, Hana awakens to find the pawnshop ransacked, the door open to the outside world, her father missing, and a regretted choice a customer pawned the day before stolen. Hana must track down the missing choice or face punishment from the Shiikuin, the mysterious entities who control her world. In the midst of this chaos, a physicist named Keishin walks in off the street looking for some ramen. He offers to help Hana hunt down the missing choice, leading them on a quest through a bizarre magical world. Yambao's inventive setting pushes the limits of common fantasy tropes, and her thought-provoking exploration of regret, choice, and free will resonates. This whimsical tale will have readers riveted.
