Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Hopefully a temporary quit - I just couldn't get into the story after two attempts. But sounds like something up my alley.

A popular Japanese YA novel about 7 children who visit a mysterious castle via a portal that suddenly opens in their mirror. The one thing they all have in common - they all are not attending their local middle school.

The main character Kokoro is introduced to us as someone who refuses to leave the leave the house due to anxiety. Although her mother does try at first for her to attend an alternative school, she also seems pretty willing to let her daughter sit around at home all day. (Which works well for the story, since it gives Kokoro plenty of time to visit the castle).

I'm not sure if whether we are supposed to empathise with Kokoro or pity her? But she doesn't start off as much of a likeable character. The book continues along for over 6 months as the children get to know each other and reveal their backstories, while knowing that the castle will close before the next year school year begins.

I read a lot slower in Japanese, and I felt like the middle really dragged on which put me off from finishing it for months, but things finally picked up towards the end and I got through the last third in one day while on a long-distance plane trip. There was one twist at the end which I did see coming, and another one that I didn't - which I feel did a pretty good job of wrapping things up neatly.

I think it's not a bad one for language learning, but personally not something I'd recommend if I was reading it purely for the plot.

What an incredible read to start the new year off! The emotional roller coaster this book put me through was intense. It's so relatable and touching to watch each character devolope. Seeing what each brings to the table and how they grow with each other and become more confident is heartwarming.
The writing is fantastic and kept me wanting to just keep reading and not put the book down. 
I found that there is an animal movie based on this book as well and now that I'm done reading this I'm definitely going to check it out!

Haven't cried this hard reading a book in a long time... if you were bullied in school this is a gut punch of a read, but in a good way?

This book, I know, will forever hold my heart.

It’s a hot Saturday, and I started this book at 7 in the morning. From then on, it’s been a day devoted entirely to reading; now, I am down to 100 pages left.

Japanese fiction has always struck me as fantastical and peculiar, blurring the lines between reality and imagination – and this book is no exception. As I immerse myself in its pages, I almost believe these characters could truly exist, convening at this mysterious castle. The narrative is captivating and refreshingly original, with well-developed characters that stir a strong sense of empathy within me. The exploration of mental health issues and the challenges of adolescence are skillfully woven into the story - I remain deeply engaged and able to relate even as an adult.

Damnit, the ending! It's delivered in such a beautiful way. While the major twists – the characters being from different times and the revelation about the wolf queen's herself being included in the list of characters with the 7-year age gap – didn't HIT me since I already had them figured out, the touching interaction between Rion and his sister, the wolf queen, left me with goosebumps. Learning the true identity of the kind-hearted teacher and the motivations behind her establishment of a school for marginalized children was equally moving. This book handles the delicate topic of mental health with grace and sensitivity. I'm grateful to my friend for recommending such a gem.

I loved everything about this book and I'd rec this book to basically anyone and everyone

A great read. It's a portal story where kids travel to a magical castle, make friends, and deal with their trauma.
I love this story so much, and if you are debating on whether or not to read it. Debate no more; pick it up. I am almost certain that everyone can take something away from this.

I will never be able to move on from this book. One of the most beautiful stories i've ever come to read

Kokoro is a character that I loved instantly and I'm glad we had her as a main character. I really liked that as the book went on she opened up to her mom – I think that relationship will improve (after the book is finished). I'm also very happy that her parents didn't force her to go to school – I think that helped me to like them more. She (Kokoro) was a great main character to follow because she fit the essence of this book so well.

It's a slow-paced book but the author writes it without making it seem too slow. Sometimes it felt like the story was dragging a bit but the author quickly managed to bring it back and therefore keep my interest piqued.

I definitely did not predict the plot twists that happened in the book and I think I can predict about 60-70% of plot twists in books? So the fact that everything here took me by surprise was a joy to read. Especially because it meant that I could just sit and enjoy the book without being (somewhat) annoyed at where it was going because I could predict the plot.

The other characters in this were also slow to get to know but I think as you delve deeper into the story you really get to know them. And I hope that, just like they made me cry, that they'll leave you in tears – or at the very least, wanting to hold the nearest thing to you tightly because you feel sad.

4.5* C'est un roman magnifique. Pas aussi fantastique que laisserait penser le résumé et probablement un peu trop lent pour certaines personnes. Mais il s'y dégage une ambiance douce et chaleureuse, de même qu'une certaine angoisse. Ce qui n'est pas surprenant vu qu'on suit des enfants déscolarisés qui ont souvent été intimidés.

Je pensais le savourer et le lire en 3 jours, mais non, je l'ai fini en 2! Je voulais suivre tous ces jeunes au château, j'aimais cette ambiance conte de fée moderne, tout comme j'aimais le côté réaliste de la vie de tous les jours. Pauvre petite Kokoro, je voulais tellement aller crier sur ses intimidatrices et son professeur idiot!

Concernant justement Kokoro, j'ai trouvé sa peur bien rendue. On la ressent avec elle.

Pour finir, j'ai aimé les twists et les révélations de la fin. C'était une fin très touchante. Sur certains aspects, l'histoire m'a fait penser au roman Les miracles du bazar Namiya, que j'avais aussi aimé.

I'm having a hard time deciding how to rate this book. I did really enjoy the story, but I felt like it lacked depth. It would've been a four star read, but I decided to lower it to 3.5 (3 on GR).

3.5

This is one of these books that pulls you in and gets better and more compelling as it progresses. It deals with some very serious issues (all the protagonists are Japanese teenagers who for one reason or another do not go to school), and is part fairy tale, part YA fiction, part magic realism, part fantasy, but really quite hard to categorise.

It's very cleverly plotted, with a number of plot twists that come thick and fast towards the end, and involves a truly moving denouement.

CW: bullying, panic attacks

I don't know if I would have decided to add this book to my tbr if I didn't have my goal of the year to read more translated works. But the premise also instantly captivated me and I just knew I had to read it. The publisher was very kind enough to send me both an arc and a finished copy closer to the release date and I had a very lovely experience annotating a book for the first time.

On first glance, this is not an easy book to read because we mainly follow Kokoro who has been through some intense bullying experiences at her junior high and is now almost unable to get out of the house or be among people. Her loneliness and being unable to articulate her feelings with her mother and just the sheer sadness permeating through her initially is a very heartbreaking to read. But once she gets into the castle and meets the others, that's when things start changing a little.

Even though the trajectory is not straightforward because every one of these children has their own issues, it's heartwarming to see them struggle and open up and understand each other. There are issues in between, they all have setbacks within their dynamics, but they all come to find joy in their friendship. What we mostly get is a slice of life story of each of the kids trying to bond with each other, and some times try to solve the mystery behind the castle.

But what it ultimately is is a tale about the necessity of friendship and support in the lives of young kids. It's about the loneliness and bullying and so many other issues they can suffer through in their life, but all they need to push through them is someone to listen to them and understand them, and give them the confidence to stand up for themselves. I loved reading this book and my only gripe at the end of it was that I wanted more. I just wanted to know more about what happened to the kids next. I wanted to see them all be happy and thrive, and I can only hope they all are.

Just perfect! ✨

Don't mind me, just going to be hugging myself for the next few days.. and possible cry.

Seven Japanese kids all suffer from issues, so they all decide they just can't bear going to school. It's a different one for all of them, but they don't seem to fit in.
Until one day, they can enter a magical castle through their mirrors. This sounds all too convenient, until they learn the rules. They have to leave by 5 pm or the ruler of the place the Wolf Queen eats them. They have a year to find a magical key, with with one of them can have a wish come true. The catch is, if they do that they get their memories of the castle and each other erased and the place disappears. If they last the year without a wish, the castle still disappears, but they keep their memories.

Man, I enjoyed this one so much. We see the events through Kokoro, a girl who got bullied by a gang of popular girls so much she gets panic attacks if she has to go to the convenience store.
Now, your milage may vary, but I found so many moments and feelings Kokoro had to be so very accurate. So many things that the author put to words that are so familiar. The way she described the feeling when bullies can feel they are perfectly justified and are not doing such a bad thing was profound, like the two parties are supposed to make up, but the offending party can't seem to understand that they were wrong.
All in all, I think the way the author portrayed certain things was just very honest. The resolution also didn't involve a miraculous “everyone was misunderstood, the mean kids realised they are wrong or even we discover they were hurting themselves”. The solution is much different. The characters change through themselves and each other.
At one point someone even says something that many YA-aimed books seem to ignore; there will always be people who have an issue with you. Mean people. Conflicts. But you can get through it all with your own resilience and that's just it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a depressing book. It's hopeful in a way that achievable, even if the story is magical realism, with fantastical elements. The message still stands.

Now I feel magical realism has one thing that isn't a hit with everyone; somehow the dialogues seem just a bit... odd. Dreamlike, I guess. Probably the fact that it's translated from Japanese also plays a part in that. If you don't like that, you won't like this. I personally don't have an issue with it.

The magical elements are present from the get go. The reason why the characters meet is magic, but it's more prominent in the second half. There is one big plot twist, which I could guess accurately. It's pretty clever, I liked it a lot, but I could piece it together.
It also means some bittersweet things for the characters. So if you expect a 100% happy ending, you won't get it. It won't be a flawless, Disney type of win. But it will be lovely and leave all the characters changed for the better.

I would definitely recommend this one.

‘'You are all Little Red Riding Hoods.''

A lonely castle no one defends, a castle standing alone. A young girl is being bullied by her classmates as children turn into monsters in the blink of an eye. So, Kokoro (meaning ‘'heart'' in Japanese) retreats, closes all doors, abandons school and its teachers who have lost touch with reality, and finds herself drowning, too terrified to speak up and tell the truth to her mother. One day, the mirror in her room starts shining. A way out of her despair. An entrance to a strange castle where 6 children are waiting, invited by the strange Wolf Queen. This is how a treasure hunt starts. A peculiar search for the Wishing Key, the one way to fulfil your wish. To forget what you have left in the real world.

But which world is real?

It saddens me to say that I don't have positive things to say about this novel.

The premise was extremely enticing and Kokoro's story was a parallel to classic fairy tales and to our times when bullying has become a severe issue to be solved. But the amount of cruelty from children to children was too much. It was terrifying, yes, but it was not convincing. Obviously, I am not familiar with this aspect of Japanese society but it struck me as lacking, exaggerating and caricaturish.

With all due respect to the writer, I felt that the novel was too long, it dragged and dragged and, at times, the writing felt dry and uninspired. I slowly began to lose interest and I was more invested in Kokoro's personal story than in the exploration of the castle and the Wishing Key. The way the Wolf Queen was presented was intriguing and eerie, initially, but her interaction with the children was laughable. Was it a translation issue? Possible but Philip Gabriel is an excellent translator. Whatever it may have been, the result made me bored to tears.

In addition, Mr Ida has to be the biggest arsehole in the whole entire History of our whole entire universe and I don't think that there are many teachers who would behave in such a manner out there. One more caricature.

When elements of Science- Fiction started kicking in, I was totally out. In the end, this was a story that left me cold. It shouldn't have but it did. I just stopped caring. I can see the appeal it may have on many readers but, unfortunately, and unexpectedly, it wasn't for me.

Many thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/