Reviews tagging 'Death'

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

67 reviews

charcha01's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death

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

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

randomly_reading_13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Fatphobia and Toxic friendship

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

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

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

crows_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fatphobia and Death of parent