Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - かがみの孤城

I have one thing to say... Found Family.
Also Mental Health and Friendship.
Okay, that's three things.

This book CURED my book slump. I found the writing easy to follow, and the characters are easy to tell apart since they have distinct personalities.

Though, I feel as tho Rion isn't as developed as the rest of the characters. I suppose the Author hid some of his actions because of his relationship with the Wolf Queen. I still loved him, yes, but I would have wanted to see more of him.

On the tag of the book, it said that it was Slow-paced but I didn't particularly find it slow. I finished it in less than a day.

The ending of this book. omg. I did not FUCKING SEE THAT HOLY SHIT THE PLOT TWIST??!?! TO DIE FOOOOOR
THE ENDING WAS CRAFTED SO WELL I COULD HARDY SEE THE WORDS DUE TO ALL THE TEARS MWAH MWAH MWAH

I can't exactly rate this book yet since I feel that I'm not in the right mind to rate it yet. (in a book hangover due to all the crying I did) But I highly recommend this book. Especially If you're looking for escapism (so did they), and a friendship/Family to fall for.

+I recommend Listening to "Keep Holding on" From Glee in the Climax. (From the title of the song you should know I'm referring to), Also "Somewhere Only We Know" is Also from Glee (I just prefer the glee version, sue me).

Content Warnings

sarahjane1077's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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rhm04's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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chimera999's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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rubyhosh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

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jfield351's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

I read this from the 4th-6th of Feb, as part of the Dymocks challenge for book in translation. This was a beautiful book, and like nothing i’ve read before. It was originally written in Japanese and has been translated into english, so sometimes there were extra phrases clarifying cultural cues. It was also such an easy read! Though the chapters are very long, I didn’t feel like I was reading, but more like watching a movie. I will definitely read this book again. The characters were so lifelike, very very well developed. They are so real and portray that age group (13-16 years) very well. There are lots of struggles with mental health, which is so real and devastating to read about. In the beginning I was wondering if certain things would be explained, like why there were

baths and sinks but no water

, or if it would just be about the growing up of the characters. But no, all but one thing (

why the wolf girl was able to do magic

) was explained!! There were actually 3 twists in the book which I was not expecting whatsoever! I had no idea what the ending would be like, if they’d find the key and what wish would they make, but the ending surprised me and was beautiful. It did keep flashing to the past and the present in the same sentence though, which I found a little hard to understand. I also cringed when there was mention of the

adult/minor relationship

, because it was so lifelike and disturbing. I would call this book a soft fantasy rather than hard fantasy, the latter of which i usually prefer, but this was so good. there was a random part in the middle of the book, which was also the prologue, and I feel it made no sense being where it was.

The alternate ending where all the X’s were graveyards was so freaky, that last chapter was so tense and just wow! also the triple twist really made me stunned! because i thought it was also a parallel world, so finding out it was a different time zone was so wonderful. i guessed that someone might be another ones parent or something, but Aki being the teacher was unexpected and so lovely. it really tied it together beautifully. And finally, Rion’s sister being the wolf girl was a tragic yet beautiful ending, a sister just wanting one last wish for her brother. Also the concept of having the dollhouse be the castle, i’d subconsciously guessed at just because I’ve watched a Doctor Who episode like it, was really cool and tied up all the last plot holes. I don’t understand where she got that magic from, but i’ll accept it. i also don’t get why they couldn’t be in last 5pm? why were they eaten by the wolf? because it was time for her to sleep?

. anyways it was beautiful, i’d love to read it again. wonderful story!
After a few weeks I have decided to up it to 5 stars. such a beautiful and clever book.

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athomehangel's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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