Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao:

In Tokyo, Hana takes over as the owner of her Dad’s pawnshop, which is the beginning of a mystical, magical journey through strange worlds.  

It’s the basis for an excellent fantasy book and I can see what it is aiming for here: a prose representation of a Studio Ghibli book, or the more fanciful side of manga that doesn’t involve exploding heads or teenage girls.  It’s got the semblance of that,  it is hidebound by it’s didactic narrative - barely a page passes without some life lesson, which often obscures the fantastical nature of the writing.

It’s the second book from the Far East I’ve blogged on this year (after The Marigold Mind Laundry) where the brilliant concept; is polluted by the ‘life lessons’.  More imagination and less illumination would have made for a better read.  It’s published by Bantam on January 16th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview.  #watermoon.