LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR by Mizuki Tsujimura
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you want to know where you are? You could be on the brink of an adventure, and you’re telling me you really don’t care? Use your imagination for once in your life!”
TITLE—Lonely Castle in the Mirror
AUTHOR—Mizuki Tsujimura
TRANSLATOR—Philip Gabriel (Japanese → English)
PUBLISHED—orig. 2017 (English trans. 2021)
PUBLISHER—orig. POPLAR Publishing Co. [English trans. Doubleday, Transworld Publishers (Penguin Random House)]
AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR—Sarah Skaer
AUDIOBOOK PUBLISHER—Tantor Media, Inc.
GENRE—YA spec fic
SETTING—Tokyo, Japan
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—
“A hypothetical reality seemed preferable to present reality, and the more she fantasized about how great it would be if certain things could come true, the more reality that world seemed to take on.”
Summary:
“As they struggle to abide by the rules of the game and each other’s emotional boundaries, a moving story unfolds, of seven characters trapped in a cycle of misunderstanding and loneliness, who are ultimately set free by the power of friendship, empathy and sacrifice.” (from the backcover)
My thoughts:
This book was so beautiful & moving. I’ve never read a book that depicts the experience of childhood social anxiety, agoraphobia, & the experience of being bullied so painfully accurately. The seven child characters were also so well crafted, complex, & their stories were all equally heart-breaking & heart-warming. At times this book was a bit stressful to read because I was always so worried about all of the children & there were even times when I doubted the author’s ability to possibly give this story a happy ending but I’m glad I trusted her because the ending was beyond perfect. I did guess two of the “plot-twists” but was still flabbergasted by the elements of the story that I didn’t guess. I’m still choking up a little thinking about how perfect that ending was… 🥲
“What sort of reality did this girl face that made her feel it was preferable to be eaten, for it all to be over?”
I would recommend this book to readers who have ever experienced social anxiety, bullying, agoraphobia, or trouble relating to other folks their age, or especially readers who have or know children or young people currently dealing with these things. This book is best read on audiobook if you’re a non-Japanese speaker because Skaer’s pronunciations of all the names & honorifics really helped immerse me in the worldbuilding with which I am otherwise quite unfamiliar.
“Heave-ho!”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
CW // social anxiety, agoraphobia bullying, fatphobia, pedophilia, death of child (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Season: the School-year
Music pairing: your favorite video game soundtrack
Further Reading—
THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE by Nagabe—TBR
HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Dianna Wynn Jones—TBR
MOONFLOWER by Kacen Callender
Victoria Schwab’s City of Ghosts book series (Book one: CITY OF GHOSTS)
My reviews for books 1 & 2 were like one sentence each bc it was before I started really writing longer reviews so to read more check out my review for book 3 in this series ↓
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