“‘What?’ I forget to keep my voice down. ‘Are you crazy?’
Eleanor grins. ‘Of course. Aren’t you? Aren’t we all?’”

I knew I had to read this after how much I enjoyed Sheinmel’s other book, A Danger to Herself and Others, and because of the way the synopsis promised to bring together my two favorite themes: boarding schools and mental health.

The characters’ issues are diverse- anorexia, kleptomania, selective mutism- and I was excited to see that the author devoted one chapter to each of the backstories. I was disappointed that some of the characters seem stereotyped, especially the characters with ADHD and OCD (ADHD goes deeper than being unable to concentrate and OCD is more than wanting to be organized). However, these stereotypes didn’t show up enough to take away from my experience. Plus, some of the characters seem very realistic in contrast (Eleanor is well done).

I was interested in the chapters where we got to see Moira (the protagonist) have therapy with Dr. Prince. I read a lot of books centered around mental health and most of them skip over when the character goes to therapy. Sheinmel most likely researched how a therapist would work through grief with a person. There are certain phrases/teachings I’ll remember from Dr. Prince (“move forward, not on”) (“this is what it is”).

I remember loving A Danger to Herself and Others because it showed the truth about how not everyone with mental health issues gets a happy ending. The Castle School showed that sometimes people with mental illnesses do recover. We need to see both things in literature.

Themes:
✅Boarding schools
✅Mental health
✅Therapy
✅Grief

Similar Books:
✅The Year After You by Nina de Pass
✅A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel
✅It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Content Warnings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was wholly unexpected. I thought I was going to get a dark psychological thriller, but ended up getting a messy, poignant analysis of grief.
This book was beautifully executed with smart pacing. I was compelled to read it in one sitting.
It dealt with a lot of heavy issues through the perspective of a teen really working through huge emotions and circumstances. I liked that therapy was woven into the story and thought the therapy sparked some interesting discussions and points.
I look forward to reading this author’s previous works.

Content Warnings

theartsybookwitch's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Tw // blood, tattoos, death, ADHD, anorexia, drugs, addiction, heroin, eating disorders, PTSD (briefly mentioned), alcoholism, depression, knives, razor blades, self sabotage, cutting, needles, self violence, OCD, food, selective mutism, forced to leave, mention of experimentation, cancer, car accident, brain cancer, drugs

Spoilers below

“Saying what if never helped anyone. You can’t undo the bad things that have happened. Pain can’t be avoided, but it can be accepted.”

YALL.

I went into The Castle School thinking it was a mystery novel, but what I got was so much better.

The Castle School took a deep dive into the taboo subjects ((grief, depression, alcoholism, to name a few)) and in my opinion turned it into something beautiful.

I loved reading the chapters of how all the girls were subjected to coming to The Castle School, and how each girl deals with her vice in their own ways.

I feel like this couldn’t have come to me a better time, as I am dealing with grief and death over half a year later. Sheinmel describes grief with a stunning outlook.

Moira’s journey and self discovery was dynamic and reflective of how she was feeling. I feel like Moira was good as a main character but I would’ve loved to see the others as main characters as well.

Overall, TCS has a slow pace but is so powerful and beautiful.

"For one second before I fall asleep, I think I hear music. But maybe I’m already dreaming."

"Natural beauty, Mei decided, was not a straight thing, not a right-angled thing. Beauty was alphabetization and carefully laid plans. Beauty was counting each bristle on a toothbrush, each slat in the blinds hanging above the living room windows. What was beautiful about something as random as the looks she’d been born with? Something over which she had no control, over which her parents had no control?"

"I always hated it that teachers got to choose what books we read during the school year—I firmly believe that what you read is a deeply personal choice—but I quickly realize why our English classes were structured that way. It’s very dull—not to mention confusing—to listen to eleven girls talk about books I’ve never even heard of."

"In stories, things always go wrong at midnight. That’s when Cinderella’s coach turned back into a pumpkin, when she was exposed for who she really was."

Content Warnings

thoranareads's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional 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

4.5

I didn’t know what to expect going into this book. There is a slight mystery element throughout the book, but this book is so much more about grief and mental health and I loved how it represented all different kinds of mental health issues. Being a mental health professional and dealing with anxiety myself, I’m always worried that books won’t fairly represent both treatment and actual disorders and Alyssa Sheinmel did a great job depicting both the setting and the mental health problems each of the 12 girls deal with.

I fell in love with all the characters, and enjoyed that the book gave us brief POVs about how each of the characters ended up at The Castle School but ultimately returned to Moria’s POV to tell the actual story. I think it helped move the plot along relatively quickly and also spoke to how what we perceive of other people’s issues isn’t always accurate. The characters all had their issues and flaws, but were quite loveable and I got very invested in their wellbeing. I highly recommend picking up this book, I think it can speak to just about anyone!

Content Warnings

cravebooks's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

PLEASE LOOK UP TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK. i will add all of the possible trigger warnings to my review bc there are quite a lot.

Content Warnings

More...