Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

かがみの孤城 by Mizuki Tsujimura, 辻村深月

54 reviews

soots's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A brilliant 'coming of age' book that is timeless and should be read by school students and adults alike. It tackles school anxiety, bullying, mental health and parental support. It had a couple of loose ends

the ending did not wrap up the stories of a few of the children, and left it to the reader to interpret and decide

, but it didn't dent how amazingly written this book is, how beautifully fleshed out the characters are, and how moving the story is as a whole. I did not cry, but it definitely did cause an impact and somehow did a great part in healing my inner child.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Cancer, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

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

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Very sweet story about a group of teens who are struggling in some aspect of their lives and get drawn into a strange magical world. It moves a little slowly but the way it all comes together at the end is worth it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Cancer, Child death, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

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

alteirence's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

Japanese literature has always been a hit or miss for me, and this one is no exception. The overall story was okay. I feel like this story wants to bring dark theme to the fairy tale story, but the execution failed to meet my expectations. It lacks of depth both in the fairytale and in the psychological/social aspects. Or maybe this is because I only read the translated version I couldn't get myself indulged into the story except for the 1/4 part towards the end. I like the ending even thoughthe plot twist is predictable, I also like how everything and everyone is intertwined. Overall it's an okay read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Bullying, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

hungry_fiend's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

This was truly an amazing book, the only issue I had was down to it being a translation so a little hard to read at times but otherwise was so beautiful and hopeful. I couldn’t put it down till I finished it and not because it was a mystery but more because I felt that I was really there, experiencing every moment alongside the characters. Truly a beautiful book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Bullying

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

miak2's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

shmus's review

emotional hopeful

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Minor: Suicide attempt

georginainvisablestring22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting