Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Il castello invisibile by Mizuki Tsujimura

48 reviews

lambclown's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I mean...I understand the appeal and recognize that I am not the target audience for this book. It was feel-good, immersive, and mysterious. However, I had a hard time looking past the glaring plot holes that were conveniently ignored to drag out the big reveals.

You're telling me that after being together for a year, the topic of favorite shows, popular musicians, or even everyday technology never came up? No one noticed that each others' fashion styles were completely different or outdated? No one ever talked about current events?

One personal gripe I have with specifically the audiobook is that if the localizer/translator decides to write in a dialect (in this case, British English), I think it's best to have an audiobook narrator who also speaks in that dialect. I found a lot of the British slang to sound really awkward and stilted when being read by an American.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Terminal illness

imchelsi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Grief

madihancock's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

tofuwater's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

relliepi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Terminal illness

Minor: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

randeerebecca's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Grief

feejae's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

“you’re battling every single day, aren’t you?” such a lighthearted, whimsical, warmth feeling i get when i read this book. it’s a very realistic depiction of mental health and bullying faced by japanese students, and to have them showcase a variety of household backgrounds is insane. 

the unexpected plot twist took me off guard, and i was really eager to see if all of them get to meet in person (they didn’t). kokoro was an amazing main character, and the other six kids (fuka being my favourite followed by masamune, ureshino, aki, subaru & rion). the last few chapters were the best in terms of character development as we get to delve deeper into each of the characters’. (although i wasn’t a big fan of having rion’s sister as the Wolf Queen, as i would’ve liked it if Wolf Queen was like the sister’s guardian angel or spirit or something). 

my favourite chapter had to be the epilogue, and my heart feels so hollow reading it through as i realised how all 7 of them from the different time frames were all interconnected and how kitajima happened to be akiko and the special connection she had with kokoro makes me wanna cry. 

7/10 would recommend this book to people who struggle with mental health everyday 🥹❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

moonadjacent's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Found family from a bunch of outcasts has got to be one of my favourite tropes in fiction. The heartfelt sincerity with which the kids come to regard each other is so touching to witness evolve. 

I cried for Rion. It was so heartbreaking for him to lose the chance to wish for his sister to come back home.

My only criticism would be that as much as I loved getting to know each character's backstory, the lead up to each discovery became quite formulaic.

Kokoro runs, touches X, views memory, vows to save friend, rinse, repeat. Sort of like a video game, which, meta!

Apart from that small section, I did enjoy the writing style and pace. 

But I must admit I was quite shocked at how the parents didn't just force the kids to go to school to be honest. Personally, the idea that a child could just not go to school for a year was more fantastical

than being eaten by a wolf in a castle accessible by mirror.

Great story though, really enjoyed how all the puzzle pieces came to fit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sophiemag's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual assault

laurenvoice's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Lonely Castle in the Mirror had a slow start, but the whole story came together in the final chapter. This story was quite sad, but hopeful at the same time. It is quite hard to put my thoughts into words to describe how I feel after reading this book; however, I know it will stay with me for a long time. I hope Kokoro and her friends will all meet again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Grief