Reviews tagging 'Grief'

かがみの孤城 by Mizuki Tsujimura, 辻村深月

35 reviews

tiriol's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Chronic illness, and Bullying

Moderate: Child death, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

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

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

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

The pacing and writing style were difficult for me but it's an important, clever story. A slow starter with a good, portal fantasy hook and great payoff in the last third.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

bookishxintrovert's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death

Minor: Abandonment and Car accident

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

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

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

lawsam's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Bullying, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Self harm

catching5tars's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Sexual assault, Cancer, and Suicide

honey_b's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Sexual assault

moonlitreading_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“I thought I could never be like everyone else. I was just a loser. So it made me so happy when you guys made friends with me, like you would with anyone.”

Seven strangers who are all in junior high suddenly have their mirrors turn into portals to a castle and are told whoever finds the wishing key and the wishing room will have their wish granted.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror was an interesting read for me. It's melancholy with a bit of mysteriousness to it. I think it was really beautiful. It gave light on how kids/younger teens deal with mental illness and how it affects them. As my reading progressed, I got to know these kids, their experiences, and their struggles. These kids who've lost hope for themselves found each other and became friends. The last 1/3 or so was what really made me enjoy this book because of the plot twists and revelations.

Thank you Edelweiss and Erewhon for my copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, Death, and Child death

Minor: Death of parent