The Follies of Our Choices

Choices govern nearly every facet of our lives. Life is a series of decisions we must make. Choosing not to choose, unfortunately, is not an option. From the mundane—like deciding which shoes to wear—to more consequential matters, such as choosing a career path, we are constantly required to make decisions. Some choices are simple, made in the blink of an eye. Others afford us time for reflection. When pressed, we often make decisions based on the wisdom available to us in that moment. Yet, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Ironically, we only come to understand the full weight of a decision after we’ve made it. And sometimes, when the outcome doesn’t align with what we had hoped for, we are left with pangs of regret.

Unfortunately, there is no undoing the choices we’ve already made. But what if there were a window of opportunity to trade in those regrets? This is the premise behind Samantha Yambao Sotto’s latest novel, Water Moon. In the heart of Tokyo, hidden behind a ramen restaurant along an obscure alleyway, stands a mysterious and unmarked pawnshop. Managed by Toshio Ishikawa, this magical shop deals in a most unusual trade: it accepts human regrets in exchange for peace of mind—or even happiness. But there’s a catch: the pawnshop doesn’t reveal itself to just anyone. It only appears to those who are truly lost. Those destined to find the shop unwittingly step through the doors of the ramen restaurant, only to be transported elsewhere—to the pawnshop itself. Once there, Toshio collects their regrets, which are transformed into luminescent birds—fragile, glowing manifestations of the choices they wish they hadn’t made.

The touch of fantasy is a constant reminder that Toshio is not of the human world. He is bound by rules that govern his realm. The birds—representing regrets—must be kept safe, for their destruction carries a heavy price: death. Enforcement falls to the Shiikuin, rotting, soulless creatures tasked with administering justice in Toshio’s world. Toshio himself is forbidden from freeing the birds or stealing them for his own purposes. These constraints give him the solemn bearing of someone deeply aware of the responsibilities he carries. But time catches up with everyone, even Toshio. As he prepares to retire, the task of running the pawnshop is to be passed on to his twenty-one-year-old daughter, Hana. For years, Hana has watched her father serve customers with precision and compassion. Now, she must step into his shoes and inherit not just the business, but also the weight of the choices—and regrets—that pass through its doors.

A cartographer can craft the most detailed map, include every landmark, and draw the clearest roads. His map can help you get to almost anywhere you wish. Bridges. Parks. Libraries. But not home. You won’t find it labeled on a single map in the entire world. You can live in the same place for years and memorize every bus, bike, and walking route back to it and never really know your way home. Maybe that’s why you can’t find it on any map. Because it doesn’t exist.

Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon

The crux of the story was when Toshio disappeared. On the first day she was about to take over from her father, Hana woke up to discover that the shop was in disarray. It was ransacked. Her father was nowhere to be found. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. The shop’s vault – where the luminescent birds are kept – was open. To her horror, one of the birds was released. To Hana, the disarray was curious. Things were not adding up. For one, it was highly unlikely that her father would leave for the world opposite the pawnshop door, the “real” world where their clients are from. Even if the bird was stolen, Toshio will not hastily run after the thief to retrieve the bird. Entering the “real” world will also entail death. With the Shiikuin due to arrive in three days to collect the captured regrets, finding her father and the missing bird is of paramount urgency.

Just when things were about to get hopeless, a prospective client entered the threshold. Minatozaki Keishin enters the pawnshop believing he is entering a ramen restaurant. Upon seeing the mess before him, he immediately offered his help. Keishin has newly arrived in Tokyo. He wanted to reclaim his childhood memories, particularly the time before he and his father were abandoned by his mother. Hana was initially apprehensive about Keishin’s offer of help. However, she found herself gravitating toward him. Her apprehension was also shared by Keishin, who did not expect to be swept into a magical world. It was a world detached from the real world he knew; he was a physicist who rationalized everything based on science. Despite scrambling to understand and find a logical explanation for everything that Hana was telling him, he was nonplussed. Keishin was also drawn into Hana.

Together, Hana and Keishin jump into a pond and emerge into a temple in a magical world where everything they believed and thought they knew and understood was about to be dismantled. For Keishin, he had to suspend belief and his scientific brain to process the seemingly whimsical chain of events slowly unfolding before him. For Hana, it was the discovery that the things she thought she knew were not what they always seemed. In the other world, Hana learned that her father entered the other world to find his wife, Chiyo. While he was running the pawnshop, Toshio remained faithful to the memories of his wife, who disappeared when Hana was still a toddler after she stole a choice. Hana was raised by Toshio, believing that her mother was executed by the Shiikuin for this crime. Instead of killing her, the Shiikuin sentenced her to a life of longing, which is a fate worse than death. Nevertheless, learning that her mother is alive gave Hana hope and more reasons to locate her parents.

In a way, Keishin and Hana share the same quandary. But as they try to unlock the answers to the questions lurking in their mind, they slowly find themselves embarking on a magical adventure across the magical landscape to locate Hana’s parents. They were picking up their scent, collecting the clues they left behind to know their whereabouts. Tracing Hana’s parents’ whereabouts proved to be no easy task. They had to decipher clues that they had to eke out from characters who were reluctant to lend a helping hand. Further, danger lurked in every corner. The Shiikuins were hot on their tail, equally determined to capture them and punish them for their crimes. While he was fascinated by the magic that they encountered at every turn, Keishin was horrified by the Shiikuin. Keishin’s presence in the other world is in itself a violation of the rules that govern it.

There is something beautiful about autumn that makes things more beautiful. Out of all the seasons, it is the most honest about time. Summer and spring blind you to its passing with their colorful displays. Winter paints over everything in white. But autumn is not shy about things coming to an end. It welcomes it, waving leafy flags of red, yellow, and gold. It celebrates its sadness.

Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon

Each adventure the two main characters found themselves in—and every obstacle they faced—only deepened their understanding of one another. Their attraction was instantaneous, but their proximity and the urgency of their quest drew them even closer. The palpable chemistry gradually intensified as the story progressed. Recognizing the danger posed by the Shiikuin, Keishin begged Hana to leave her world so they could start a new life in the mortal realm. Nevertheless, Hana’s world served as a vivid and magical backdrop to their growing love story. The romantic overtones were hardly surprising—almost expected, even. At times, the novel loses some of its luster to the instant yet blossoming romance. However, Water Moon never reduces itself to a mere love story.

Its overarching theme is the interplay between the choices we make and the pursuit of happiness. Whether we like it or not, choices are inevitable. As one character reflects: “College. Marriage. Kids. These were the big decisions that people believed mattered. They were wrong, of course. In reality, it was the choices that people didn’t even realize they were making that set the course of their lives. The shifts were small, even minute, but, by the tiniest of angles, they pointed one in the direction of what was going to happen next.” Yet some choices lead to regret. Every decision carries uncertainty, and regret is a natural byproduct of those uncertainties. This sense of regret is one of the things that makes us human. Many are haunted by the question: What if I had chosen differently? Would my life have changed? Such doubts are common when outcomes fail to meet our expectations.

The consequences of these decisions weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of the novel’s characters—especially those who enter Toshio’s pawnshop, willing to trade their choices for the peace of mind they so desperately crave. Their pursuit of happiness—and by extension, healing—resonates deeply. We all yearn for it, if only to soothe the unease caused by our own decisions. But it isn’t only the pawnshop’s clients who are searching for happiness. Hana, Keishin, and even Toshio each yearn for a life more fulfilling than the one they have. For Keishin, it lies in reliving cherished childhood memories and in his dedication to science, which provides him with a comforting sense of order and logic. For Toshio, it is in his longing for Chiyo. Hana’s yearning, however, is more complex, as her story is intertwined with the novel’s exploration of destiny, tradition, and freedom.

Hana had little agency in the choices made for her by those around her. Once she came of age, the management of the pawnshop would be passed down to her—an inheritance she was never allowed to question. To remind her of her predetermined path, a map was tattooed onto her body in childhood. From a young age, she was taught not to desire happiness. Even in matters of love, she was denied the liberty of choice. Hana was born into a world governed by fate rather than will. And perhaps the only choice she made was to comply with what had already been written for her. Further complicating her story is her arranged engagement to a man named Haruto, whom she and Keishin encounter during their quest to find her parents. Rather than asserting control over her, Haruto kindly encourages Hana to accept her feelings for Keishin. In a selfless act, he even helps them by pointing the way to the subterranean field where her parents are hiding.

The library guards everything and nothing at all. Books do not find value when they are written. They find value when they are read. Every book here is both worthless and priceless at the same time. It depends on who you ask. As I have not yet had the pleasure of reading half of the library’s collection, I can say that only the books that I have taken from the shelves and stored in my heart are truly precious.

Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon

Water Moon also subtly explores the intricacies of families and familial duties. Both Hana and Keishin were raised in dysfunctional households, marked by absentee mothers and incomplete family structures. Toshio, though a steady pillar of the pawnshop, was an aloof father. He embodies the archetype of the stoic patriarch—shrouded in mystery but diligent in fulfilling his responsibilities. His devotion to his wife, daughter, and the shop nevertheless humanizes him. He even gifts gyokuro, the highest grade of green tea, to his clients as a gesture of care and respect. Meanwhile, Hana feels trapped by familial obligations and is ill-equipped to navigate a system that has shackled her to the ground. Her arranged marriage is also an offshoot of the weight of tradition. Toshio—and, by extension, Hana—are bound by their duty to continue running the family pawnshop.

Beyond the nature and reality of choices, the novel also explores redemption in contrast to regret. The concept of sacrifice is another central theme. In Hana’s story, we see personal sacrifice, while Toshio’s arc highlights familial sacrifice. These themes are woven into a lush tapestry by Yambao’s immersive lyricism. Her writing transports readers directly into the pawnshop, making them feel part of the scene. We overhear the hushed confessions of Toshio’s clients, prompting us to want to comfort and reassure them. We also accompany Hana and Keishin on their adventures through the magical world. Yambao’s light, lyrical prose complements her resplendent worldbuilding. The magical realm of Hana stands as one of the novel’s most ambitious achievements, redeeming it from its more predictable romantic elements and loose ends.

While the novel does have its flaws, they are largely superficial. Yambao was resplendent in her latest novel. Water Moon is a beautifully written and immersive read. Playfulness and magic are skillfully interwoven with lyrical storytelling. At its core, it is a story about the nature and follies of choices—about the pursuit of happiness and the confrontation of regrets born from decisions we’ve made. It subtly underscores the role memory plays in our lives and the sacrifices we make along the way. Under its expansive thematic umbrella, the novel delves into the complexities of freedom, familial dynamics, tradition, and destiny. Multilayered, magical, and lyrical, Water Moon is a delightful read.

Living without a dream made things simpler. Routine was a good substitute for anything life lacked. If you planned it well enough, it could whisk you from the moment you opened your eyes in the morning to the second right before you drifted off to sleep without leaving any room for daydreams, yellowed wishes, or dusty thoughts.

Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon
Book Specs

Author: Samantha Sotto Yambao
Publisher: Del Rey
Publishing Date: 2025
Number of Pages: 372
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Magical Realism, Romance

Synopsis

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only 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 its 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 – by way of rain puddles rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a 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 that she will never be able to take back.

About the Author

Samantha Sotto was born in Manila, Philippines. When she was a teenager, she moved to the Netherlands, where her father worked as an expatriate. In the Netherlands, she took up marketing at the Leiden campus of Webster University. She later returned to the Philippines and earned an AB Communications degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. Before taking on writing as a career, Yambao pursued an almost decade-long career in brand management.

Yambao grew up surrounded by stories. However, it was not after she left her career in brand management that she took writing seriously. To nurse a heartache from Audrey Niffegener’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, she attempted to take the pen. She would write while waiting for her son’s school dismissal. The result of this endeavor would be the manuscript for her debut novel, Before Ever After, which was published in 2011. Her sophomore novel, Love and Gravity, was published in 2017. She followed it up with A Dream of Trees (2019) and The Beginning of Always (2020). Her latest published work is Water Moon (2025), while The Elsewhere Express is set to be released in 2026.

Yambao is currently residing in Manila.

But no one ever really dines alone, do they? Our thoughts share our meals with us. They keep us company whether we invite them to or not and are especially noisy when they are the only ones at our table. They chatter about all the things we cannot say aloud. In your case, I would guess that they like to reminisce about a time when you were not the woman you are today, a time, perhaps, when you liked to share your table at the ramen restaurant with someone else.

Samantha Sotto Yambao, Water Moon