Hello everyone! Welcome to a new (temporary) kind of post: Book Club results!

As you may know, typically for Book Club we all read the book over the course of the month and then I host a livestream of Twitch so we can go through all the review results, but for this month (and possibly next month) we're forgoing the livestream because things are going to be very busy on my end for a bit while I'm moving!

If this is the first you're hearing that I host a book club (or that I'm moving), you can join us over on Discord <3 Our May book is The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.

But for now, I've got the results for our April book to share! Here's what y'all thought about Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao...

FULL REVIEWS:

The setting of this book was so beautiful and unique ! It really did give off studio ghibli vibes. I did feel like thou the book was kinda all over the place and I didn’t really enjoy the characters, well atleast the main two. I found them to be kinda annoying.

Really loved the concepts and atmosphere of the world created in the book. It felt very Studio Ghibli in terms of the vibes it was trying to give off, but the overall story fell flat to me. The characters were were stiff (in part possibly due to the flat narrator), but none of the characters felt to have substance. The romance was so unnecessary and did not add to the story. The reveal at the end regarding the exchange, who Hana was, and Keishin (along with his mother) were intriguing but it felt like everything was tossed for the end. Would have loved to see this world told through short stories or even if we got to see more about the pawnshop through various clients (similar to the beginning). Wanted to know more about this world, but struggled to care for a majority of the book.

I loved the whole thing I really would love a whole series or a few books dedicated to the world itself just because it’s so interesting!!

I really liked this! I did feel the romance was a bit out of place at times but I still adored it. Very studio Ghibli vibes. I didn’t care for were that some of the characters endings were ambiguous and it bothered me.

I loved this book. Yet another book that felt like a ghibli movie! Kei and Hana's journey kept me on my toes the whole time, while still being immersed in such a richly described world. It goes in my "happy comfort re-reads" pile for sure. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it.

Part 1 was good. Part 2 was kind of boring. Part 3 was better. Part 4 was fine.

overall, i liked it! the vibes were fun and I feel like if they wanted to adapt it to screen, it would go over well. However, the romance between the lead characters fell flat. It was very insta-lovey, and I failed to see what the two characters saw in eachother. I also was in a bit of an apathetic mood towards reading in general closer to the end of the book, so that hampered my enjoyment a bit. I loved the concept and setting, though.

The narrative and writing style took a bit of getting used to but once I got into it, I really enjoyed this book. The setting was SO atmospheric and I liked how I couldn’t predict what would happen next. The fast pacing did mean that the characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked and the romance felt a little quick/insta-lovey.

I think I should have DNF'd this book. I was bored through most of it, and the combination of insta-love and skipping fight scenes earlier in the book kept me from connecting with the characters or the plot. I also felt like the nature of Hana's engagement and the love triangle just made her seem like a shitty person. While the world building was beautiful and fascinating, ending almost every chapter with "here's a new magical thing that will blow Kei's mind" got old after awhile and I started glossing over the new magical spaces because of it. 3 stars might be a bit generous but I did think the world building was quite beautiful before I got bored.

honestly didn't really follow the twists and turns of the ending, the romance was a bit cringy, and none of the characters super engaged me, but goddamn am I a sucker for hidden magical worlds. on pure vibes this rocked, the magic was scary, mystical, fun, and very convenient for the plot, just the way I like it. only aspect I wanted more from was the tattoos. didn't really understand how they worked and just felt like they were there to make the love more forbidden. I think I would have liked it more if it was about interpreting and faith/doubt rather than lack of free will. also would have loved a nice fun side character that has some important plot significance (ala calcifer from howls moving castle)

I made it 50% through this book and I should probably just DNF it. This book takes itself so seriously, and I just can’t. Between the shallow weebish understanding of Japanese, the painfully cringe instalove, and the superfluous word-salad metaphors, I just can’t take this seriously. She really said, “Do not look at me. I’m hideous.” word for word completely unironically about checks notes having beautiful magical tattoos? I’m laughing because that’s exactly the kind of juvenile scene I would have written as an angsty pre-teen. And naming the world in your isekai book Isekai?? Hmm, yes, the floor here is made out of floor. I also take issue with how this uses Japanese words to sound exotic, when in reality there’s no reason to use Japanese for basic words that would and should just be translated. E.g., father, other world, singer. Especially because the characters are not speaking English, they are /already/ speaking Japanese. Leaving a couple words here and there untranslated is just ??? I feel like this is a great example of how /not/ to use another language when writing a book. It randomly used a different romanization style at one point too which really stuck out to me, anyone who knows anything about writing Japanese would not do that. I doubt that this was edited by a native Japanese speaker, and idk that just feels kinda yucky to me.

My thoughts on this month's book are kind of a jumble. On the one hand, I flew through this book. I found it very imaginative, new and interesting. It wasn't just a copy of something or a reimagining of things I've seen before. I liked the world building and the pacing of the quest storyline. The things I didn't like was the characters. I couldn't connect with them in any way. I felt like an outsider or an audience member the whole time just watching them go through the story and was never full immersed in it. I felt like the love story was unnecessary. I'm glad it didn't pull too much focus from the main quest but it felt too instant love for me to care about its outcome. I would've been perfectly happy if Hana never came back in the end and Keishin just went about his life, whether he remembered the adventure or thought it was all just a dream.

Loved it. However, I’m not a romance fan and I mostly ignored the romantic relationship between Hana and Kei. I loved the idea of a beautiful magical world, but when you got deeper into it is really tragic, brutal, and cruel. Children born without a soul is tragic. What happened to Hana’s mother is tragic. I just found that works fascinating. I keep thinking about the people waiting for the train, some for their whole lives, and they just accept it. That’s tragic too.

Mother of god. I haven't disliked a book like this in ages. It genuinely just is so bad in my opinion, from the clunky wooden writing style--why are the characters speaking as though they're reading from a health and wellness pamphlet about grief management and life changes--to the most dreadful case of insta-love that I've ever come across. Insta-love usually doesn't bother me, but Keishin was down bad literally instantly and for no reason? Why is this man acting as though it'll be the worst thing in the world if he's parted from this woman he's known for five minutes?

I feel like saying this book has Ghibli-vibes is a disservice to what Studio Ghibli really is. The aesthetic of this book feels like an AI-ification of what Ghibli is believed to be--purely just vibes and weird whimsy with no reason behind it. Concepts and settings that are pretty and dreamy and absurd for the simple sake of existing. But it lacks any of the emotional depth that infuses Ghibli films to their core. This book has absolutely no strength or substance at all.

This had potential, but the execution was so disastrous and the writing so bland that I could not even bring myself to be entertained after a certain point. If Water Moon has no haters then I'm dead.

I really liked the world and the ambiance and how whimsical and personal each persons magic was. The world-building as a whole was stunning and I’d love to visit the land beyond the pawnshop. However, I didn’t feel like our main characters had much going on in their personalities or the chemistry between them to believe they were falling for each other despite fate. And the farther I got into the story I felt like the story beats got incredibly repetitive, especially the “we need an answer to one question, oh we found the person that can give it to us but we have to pay a steep price before they do… oh well let’s pay it but then go somewhere private because nothing can be said in public I guess” sequence. But all that being said I did really enjoy the theme of choice vs fate and all the implications of a world where no one “has choices” (even tho they totally do).

I enjoyed this, it took sometime in the beginning because it seemed very slow, but it did pick up.

The world building and writing style really carried this book for me. Hana and Kei felt very forced and one dimensional to me, nothing about their connection felt authentic. I feel like the plot fell apart at the end and it almost felt like the author was just trying to outdo each previous plot twist. Maybe I’m dumb but none of the revelations in the last 15% or so of the book made any sense and felt like they came out of left field with no support from the text.

All that said I LOVED the world we got to explore in this book and I would love to read more in it but maybe with some more interesting characters.

Water moon is unlike any other book I've ever read. The creative prose of this book was incredible and so immersive. I could clearly picture the world that Yambao had created. The world building and the scenery were the stars of the show. I loved the theme of a person's choices having a ripple affect in our lives and those around us - how these might lead to regrets but they ultimately make us who we are.

I thought the plot was really well done, integrating appropriate flashbacks for more context while moving the story forward. Our story's villains were creepy and believable, and I thought the twists were so well done and I didn't see them coming at all! The only thing that I wasn't 100% sold on was the romance. As a personal preference, I would have liked to have seen them be platonic friends.

I thought this book was engaging and fun. I thought that Hana and Keishin were adorbs. This settles like a cozy fantasy in my brain, which I don't think is quite right for what a cozy fantasy actually is, but I wasn't overly stressed, I enjoyed the meandering, I enjoyed the other world, and I thought it wrapped up nicely. Is it a little forgettable? Maybe, but I still liked it a lot.

This was fine. I didn't love this book but I didn't hate this book. I think I liked it more than I didn't overall. Really for me there were just so many little things going on that I felt all tripped over themselves. It took away from the story for me just a bit.

It was fine. I didn't really care all that much about the characters by the end. I was surprised by the reveal that Kei was the son of the client at the start of the book. I honestly didn't understand the idea that Hana was created by the choice that her mother stole. I also just finished The Phantom Tollbooth last week, and some of the world building reminds me of that.

I’ve had a lot of school stuff going on so maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace for this book. It was fine but not for me.

I really did love the very airy vibes! But I felt like we didn’t get to really see the story really end? The plot finishes off screen

I’m probably going to be the outlier of book club this time. I read this as an ARC back in July/August and loved it. I read it very much at a time of my life where I really connected to the themes. I’ll put my review below.

This story starts in a pawnshop tucked in the inner-dimensional folds of a ramen shop in a parallel Tokyo. We follow Hana, a new proprietor of traded regrets, and Keishin, an unknowing customer, as they search to uncover the mystery of her ransacked pawn shop. It’s a fast paced novel—that while sometimes feels like we flying through (e.i. the romance)—has a great conclusion with that moment of clarity. It’s a fanciful whimsical world of floating markets, magical transportation, and paper cranes described with lyricism along the likes of Erin Morgenstern, Rebecca Ross, and Hayao Miyazaki.

But much like how the true nature of the pawn shop is revealed to a customer, this story has a rich complexity that earns its five stars. Water Moon is a tale about the choices we make in life, the selfish and the world-altering. The kind an anxious person turns over until polished smooth, like a river stone. It’s about finding yourself, fate, fear, and the choice to make life your own. It’s about the stories we create for ourselves and about others. Samantha Sotto Yombao creates a world in which we can question ourselves and our humanity.

How Do You Live?

Water Moon is a reflection of my soul, especially at this moment in my life. A 25-year-old who is questioning her career and life choices every day, is afraid of disrupting the stillness of water. Whose fear is seeping into the soles of my shoes and whose therapist echoed the exact themes of this book. I saw myself in the characters and the worlds. Something where I think in future rereads, I’ll continue to find meaning in the nuances of this book.

My two cons though while reading was some whiplash in action sequences where we would suddenly be transported away and that was it. Also the romance was a bit instant for me, wasn’t a favorite for me of this book.

I started this book intrigued by the Spiritual Pawn Shop premise, and I was so quickly frustrated when they left it behind within the first few chapters. Then, I was interested in other locations, and they left them behind just as quickly. Overall, I was just so bored. The twists toward the end were interesting, but there was no time to sit with them. No time for Kei and Hana to come to terms with what they were, and no time to explore their desire to live despite that. Then, all the action was glossed over and occurred off screen between chapter breaks. The whole book had a bunch of cool concepts, poignant lines, and potential, but the author just never gave any of it any substance. It felt like an outline of a book rather than an actual story. That, plus the annoying instant love trope, the worst "only one bed" situation, and the unexpected and unearned ghostly bath house scene...it just failed to balance the romance with the plot in a way that could make me care. Anyway. At least the cover is pretty.

Loved it. The imagery was so beautiful with all the places they went. The story was also beautiful and I cried at some parts, it was a very touching story.

Vibes alone cannot make a book and the pacing, descriptions, and storyline of this one definitely suffered for the vibes.

That being said, the world that was built was really interesting to read about. I just think if you want to keep these vibes and the writing style then novellas or an anthology would've been the way to go.

The book is easy to read and cozy. the narrative is straightforward and not complicated. I love the magic system and their exchange system using memory, regret, secret, and soul as a currency.

One thing about the book that seems off to me is just the relationship between Kei and Hana which seems like instalove? their relationship goes so fast in a blink of an eye, and we don’t see much background for the relationship. I thought it will revealed later in the story in some sort of plot twist, but it didn’t.

With this, I also feel like the story is too long. I love the adventure of going on a bunch of missions, but it just unnecessarily long.

The above reviews are shared here verbatim