Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Kastel Terpencil di Dalam Cermin

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Kastel Terpencil di Dalam Cermin by Mizuki Tsujimura

12 reviews

tofuwater's review against another edition

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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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bookishplantmom's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

I went into this book pretty much blind. I was hoping for something lighthearted and cozy. This was close to what I’d wanted though it didn’t have the quirky folklore tone I’d wished for. The writing is rather introspective. I tend to find translations a bit clunky especially with dialogue but overall it was easy to read. This is definitely in the « no plot, just vibes » category. It took me a while to get on board with the characters and to accept that they were just chilling for most of the book. I found that the pacing was quite slow for the majority of the time. Things picked up at about 60% at which point things rapidly come together. I predicted some aspects of the story while other reveals surprised me. I thought the author handled certain topics well enough while other I felt were glossed over a bit. Generally an enjoyable viby read.

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catwhisperer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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tiriol's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

5.0

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

this is def a mindboggling case of "what the hell went wrong???" i should be all over lonely castle in the mirror but im simply not, despite its fantastical elements and supposedly high emotional impact of friendship and empathy.

ultimately it boils down to a few things. first, the writing: nothing wrong w/ sparse language normally, but im not a fan of how tsujimura uses it in the novel. it feels like sth's missing, and the overuse of short sentences and the start of new line breaks rly irritate me, as more often than not there's literally no reason for that and it cheapens the impact of moments that truly warrant it. i dislike the translation thats riddled w/ typos, frequent awkward phrasing, and inadequate copyediting as well.

the book feels too long for me too; some scenes could def be cut out or shortened. the first half is hair-wringingly slow and i almost dropped the book. i also feel a puzzling disconnection w/ the characters. we spend so much time in kokoro's head and only learn abt the others at the story's climax. moreover, the scenes we see of the young ppl who spend time in the castle dont rly do much, often theyre repetitive and dont further the characterization. each of them keeps up such high walls over themselves it's hard to connect to them - tho it doesnt render one immune to their plight - thus what we see of them is an incomplete picture that doesnt fill itself in until the very end, and thats way too long of a wait.

as a result of said disconnection, this story has little emotional payoff for me despite the huge potential. this book def has very relevant and important themes, and each piece of the puzzle comes tgt nicely in the end, w/ the last scenes of rion + the wolf queen, him + kokoro, and her w/ aki being well-plotted and a lil touching. the problem is, i wouldve been touched so so so much more if only what precedes those scenes thru much of the book were better. it's like what shouldve resulted in a beautifully flowing fountain turns out to merely be a few measly drops of water from a tap.

tldr: im not surprised this book's liked by many, but its deficient execution leaves me unsatisfied and bemoaning over its wasted potential.

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

The pacing and writing style were difficult for me but it's an important, clever story. A slow starter with a good, portal fantasy hook and great payoff in the last third.

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sofiadanielle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A good read, honestly. The story may seem slow in the first half of the book, and while that may make you want to quit it, I think the book as a whole is lovely.

The book doesn’t shy away from the effects of bullying in Japan, specifically, how other characters respond to the child being bullied (ranging from not taking it seriously to those who sincerely want to help.) The author’s note at the end makes a point that bullying, and children’s mental health should be focused on.

I wish I knew Japanese fluently, as to read this book in its original print, as the translation seems to lose some of the effect and emphasis of the story in its wording. Even despite these awkward moments, I still found myself thoroughly enthralled in the book.

Whimsy, in a way, and while marked as ‘young adult,’ I think the book is a lovely read, speaking as someone who is in their 20s and sometimes finds the YA genre to be a bit too ‘light’ or ‘childish’ at times. Lonely Castle in the Mirror feels substantial in its storyline and in the topic it covers, would definitely recommend :)

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