First published 2025
Hana Ishikawa becomes the new owner of a mysterious Tokyo pawnshop that only appears to lost souls seeking to trade away their life choices and deepest regrets. Most passersby see merely a cozy ramen restaurant on the backstreet. On her first morning, Hana discovers the shop has been ransacked, its most valuable item stolen, and her father has vanished. A stranger enters offering assistance rather than seeking to pawn something. Together, Hana and this unusual companion embark on a journey through a mystical realm to locate her missing father and recover the stolen choice. Their quest takes them through rain puddles, riding paper cranes, crossing the bridge that spans midnight and morning, and visiting a night market suspended in clouds. As they draw closer to answers, Hana faces pressure to reveal her own hidden secret and confront an irreversible decision that could reshape her destiny at the cost of erasing part of her past.
Genres: mystery, fantasy, magical-realism
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, quest
Setting: Tokyo, Japan
384 pages · Paperback · Penguin