Reviews tagging 'Grief'

かがみの孤城 by 辻村深月, Mizuki Tsujimura

42 reviews

taurusfeelings's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

In another world, we were already friends. 

This just has become one of my favorite books of all time. This story was unbelievable, I enjoyed every single moment - whether it be an amazing twist or a mundane little moment shared by the characters. It was beautifully written, and is gonna stay with me forever. 

I’ve never given 5 stars with such ease. Aki’s story broke my heart and put it all back together by the end. Also consider me a Wolf Queen stan!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death and Sexual harassment

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

laurevanaerschot's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence

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

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

As a kid who began refusing school around the same age as Kokoro, I found myself reflected in her story very often. Tsujimura’s writing had me feeling spots of my soul I didn’t realize were still tender. 

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a masterful portrayal of many different kinds of childhood and adolescent mental illness and the many ways adults can both further harm and alternately support their children through them. I loved everything about this book. Easily a new top favorite of all time for me. 

And also if you ever wanted to know exactly what it was like to live in my head specifically in 2006, this is it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Death, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment

chasinggrace's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

It’s difficult for me to rate this book, because for the entirety of it I was (and still am) in some sort of a reading slump. So how I feel about the book might also reflect how disengaged I am from reading right now. 

However, I want to say that this book is definitely YA - something that middle and high schoolers could and should read. Therefore, I didn’t find myself resonating with many of the characters. In addition, you don’t find out a character’s full story until the last 5% of the book, and feel quite disconnected from each of the seven children throughout the story. 

I will say, I enjoyed how the novel concluded. I liked the connection to the fairytale, even if the story isn’t one that I recognize. I also LOVED the connection to Rion’s sister Mio, and I LOVED how Aki became the Free School teacher. Those two points really improved my experience with the book.

I found that I had to force myself to pick up the book, because it was so slow paced. And even though I liked the ending, I was rushing through it just to finish the novel. I’m simply not the target audience for this story and I struggle with how to rate it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

dexkit10's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, 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

stefaniacg's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Grief

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