Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Book Fort Rating: 5 stars, no notes

Is it building the book fort? Absolutely 1000x yes!

It's difficult for me to put into words how much I loved Water Moon. I'm sitting here, still attempting to process what I've read, and I'm left utterly unravelled. From the very first paragraph, I was left utterly spellbound by Yambao's visceral use of language. She has such a way with words, as if her goal is to evoke a sense of uncanny valley in the reader as the story slowly unfolds.

When Keishin was introduced, I just knew, deep down, that he was a character that was going to make me feel seen. And boy, what a journey that was. Hyperlexic, sharp, hidden from view. So full of yearning. Keishin aside, all of Water Moon's characters feel so vibrant and real, with flaws and struggles, and with a light side underpinning their responses to every struggle they face. Even the brief characters mentioned off-hand to keep the story rolling felt like fully-fledged people. I cannot praise this more highly!

This book is for dreamers who feel like choices have been stripped from them. This book is for thinkers who feel trapped in their own minds. But most of all, this book is for those of us who are overflowing with sensitivity to the world around us.

Pick it up. I promise you that it will not disappoint you. Water Moon was an absolute pleasure to read, and will remain shelved as one of my favourite books for a long, long time. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us, Samantha. I'll be reading your entire backlog now that I've become aware of your gift for writing.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House, and Samantha Sotto Yambao for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.