Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - かがみの孤城

This book had some interesting concepts and some great characters. I found the main twist to be a little too predictable and the second twist just did not pay off for me. Overall, I enjoyed the main theme of the book but it was a bit of a downer to start the year on.

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chikin's review against another edition

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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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miak2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

"You're battling every single day, aren't you?

4.5 stars

Words can't express how much this story touched me. I'm well out of middle school, but I really felt the pain that these students were going through every day. It was such a beautiful reading experience to get to know these kids, especially Kokoro, and watch their friendships and their confidence grow. I'm not a parent but I feel like these are my children. I just want the best for them, they deserve so much better than the hands they were dealt.

It was a quick and easy read. The simple writing didn't always work for me - I'm not sure if that's from Tsujimura or the translator, but I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't mind. Sometimes the book would skip to a different scene and it wasn't super clear (I think because the extra line breaks didn't show up in my kindle version). And Tsujimura sometimes employed flashback sequences that would have made for a great show but could be confusing in book format.

BUT all that said, the story was so lovely and charming that I can absolutely overlook those things. I love books based on fairytales, and this might be my favorite read of those yet. I thought all of the pieces of the story came together really beautifully. While I accurately predicted one piece of the puzzle (although Tsujimura did a commendable job of misleading me), I couldn't have foreseen how she'd weave it into the larger story. It was like knowing where a puzzle piece goes without knowing the image you're trying to create. The ending had me tearing up, it all just came together so beautifully. I love these kids, and I'm so happy they got to meet each other and experience this together.

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vneusc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

3.0

lovely story about the hardships of adolescence shared by seven beaten down but hopeful youths with a dash of magical realism. despite crying, it did not particularly resonate with me. i really wish it did. regardless, i definitely enjoyed reading it and finally dragging myself out of my year long reading slump.

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catching5tars's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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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ynotlime's review against another edition

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3.75

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katiemack's review against another edition

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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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bealmg's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.0

A heartbreaking story about the consequences of bullying, anxiety and trauma on young teens in Japan, a country where children and teens rank really low on mental health surveys. It serves as a cautionary tale in a way, but it also delivers a message of hope.
Although I struggled for tha majority of the book, the ending came together in a really satisfying way, with all the pieces of the puzzle joining each other neatly. However, the first 2/3 of the book were almost painfully slow and a bit repetitive. And although the clues eventually made sense, most of the time I felt a bit clueless as to where the story was going. I did like the growth each character went through as well as the way their relationships grew over time. But I was expecting, maybe due to the blurb or to the glowing reviews, a story with more fantastical elements, even if grounded in reality as this was.
The ending was beautifully written, so sad and heart-warming at the same time, and it was worth the wait, even if I struggled to get there.

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