Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

106 reviews

christinaanna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Child death

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

luckykosmos's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Focusing on the lack of emotional support for bullied children in Japan, the mystery and magic of the castle fades into the background as the children come to life around one another. The final act ramps up significantly from the rest of the book, but not in a way that feels inappropriate, just as a warning. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

amsters's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Child death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

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

sea_pier's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Child death

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