Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

11 reviews

kitkathw871's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This was a great read that makes you really not miss being in middle school. Eventually heartwarming while initially commiserable, I liked the way the mystery unfolded even if t he conclusion

felt somewhat rushed

. It has a magical, mysterious component while being readily grounded in everyday pains that most can relate to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Mental illness

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

writteninmagic's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide, and Blood

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual assault, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Misogynistic slurs

risemini's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

Graphic: Bullying and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

grace_r3ads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Physical abuse

chikin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

here_only_for_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

⚠️ TW - Bullying, Self harm, sexual assault, bereavement 

🔸 12 year old Kokoro is struggling to rejoin her school post a traumatic bullying experience. Her parents are unaware about it and think it is a passing phase where she is making excuses to avoid school. One afternoon, the mirror in Kokoro’s house shines brightly and when touched; Kokoro is transported to a lonely castle. Here she meets the ‘Wolf Queen’ and six other children who are more or less same age as hers and are also not attending regular school. Wolf queen has given all of them a quest to search for a wishing key and whoever finds it can fulfil one of their wish. But there are rules to be followed in the castle - like their departure time from the castle, the things that they can use within the castle, the time they have to find the key etc. The seven kids have got 11 months in hand to find the key but is that enough? And what connection do these 7 kids have with each other that they are in this castle together? And who is Wolf Queen after all? The story unravels  how their friendship blossoms, the trauma that each are going through and how their lives are intertwined. 

💗 This book is an award winner and tackles very sensitive topics of bullying, self harm, low confidence, death in family etc. It is not easy to discuss about these with children and convey to them to speak aloud when they fear someone/something. Author as well as translator have brought this out quite well. It’s the last 30% which was engrossing and where suddenly all the revelations are made and logic explained. My hitch is that all the action is too late in the game. Major part of the book just deals in Kokoro’s anxiety, depression and helplessness. 

💔 I found this book terribly slow. The story dragged a lot and I could not grasp why Kokoro and her friends wasted months & months on idling and playing games. They neither interacted much with each other nor were interested in finding the key which sounded strange. Also, how could Kokoro’s parents not sit beside her or connect with school or friends and check why their daughter was avoiding school so badly. Till 55% of the book, nothing significant happened and I felt like giving up all along.

💫 If you love fantasy, magical realism and can move ahead with trigger warnings; only then go for this one. 

Thanks @erewhonbooks and @netgalley for sharing the eRC in exchange of honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Grief

katiemack's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The message is heavy-handed, and I wanted more details about how the world worked. But this ends up being an emotional gut-punch of a book despite its lack of world-building, and while I anticipated one of the twists the second was a shock to me. Mizuki Tsujimura also illustrates the importance of mental health (particularly the mental health of schoolchildren, which--as she points out--is suffering in Japan) in an effective way. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

Minor: Physical abuse

parchmentdreams's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

The day was fast approaching, the key was still not found, and no wish had been granted. But Kokoro was fine about it. Memories were not the only thing she’d take away from here.

Overview

 
Lonely Castle In The Mirror is a character driven story of 7 junior high students that have chosen - for their own reasons - not to attend regular school. Some still attend classes, others barely leave their rooms. Our main character Kokoro, is one such student. After some traumatising clashes with her classmates soon after starting junior high, Kokoro barely leaves her room except to eat. When her mirror starts glowing one day, she touches it and is dragged into a castle ruled over by the Wolf Queen.
 
Kokoro and her 6 fellow students are given the opportunity to have one wish granted if they can find the Key to the Wishing Room, however they are only allowed to visit the castle between 9am and 5pm… and only one wish will be granted.
 

What I Liked

 
I really enjoyed the premise of Lonely Castle In The Mirror, and the development of the characters throughout the novel. Kokoro was a relatable and likeable character, and the group of “Little Red Riding Hoods” all had their own unique personalities and stories. I loved watching them all grow to trust and befriend each other, even though they struggled to find friends in their own realities.
 

What I Didn’t Like

 
The pacing of the novel was a bit off, it was slow for the first 60% then rushed through the end. This worked well with the plot and allowed for a large amount of character development, however it did tend to drag a bit over the first half.
 

Other Impressions

 
While I did guess some of the twists, the main one that I didn’t get was the identity of the Wolf Queen, and I was pleasantly surprised! I wasn’t expecting for us to actually see the Wolf Queen’s identity, and the girl behind the mask was surprising yet believable.
 
Overall I really enjoyed reading Lonely Castle In The Mirror and would rate it a 3.5/5. If you love reading about fairytales, friendships, and finding the courage to be yourself, then you’ll enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
 

Content Tags

 
bullying, physical assault, sexual assault (mentioned), mental health, depression, anxiety, suicide (mentioned), violence, friendship, found family, mystery, absent parents, character death, hospitals
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Stalking, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail