Book Reco # 20: Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Seven children are invited to play a game by the Wolf Queen and the winner gets a wish granted.
While I was reading this book, my boyfriend kept asking me if I was okay because I kept sobbing and gasping for air as I turn page after page. Six hours after reading this book I was still not okay. I was crying while washing the dishes. Tears keep falling while I stare off in space. It will be a long time before I forget this book.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 stars
One day, Kokoro enters a mysterious castle through her mirror with six other children who all do not go to school. Even more mysterious is the Wolf Queen who invited the seven children to play a game. They have a year to find a key to the castle's wishing room and whoever wins gets their wish granted. Eventually, friendships bloom and bonds are strengthened even though nobody really knows why, out of all the children in the world, they were selected. With that, the castle becomes the children's refuge from the real world and from their own struggles.
The only caveat when somebody wins the game, though, is that the castle, will be closed and all their memories of the castle will be erased. Is it worth giving up your memories of the castle and your friends for one wish? What if somebody wants to get their wish granted more than keeping their memories of the castle?
I've been wanting to read this book for a long time because I found the premise interesting. I thought this book will entirely be plot-driven but I didn't expect it to be more character-driven and focused on the character's relationships with each other. The story starts slow. Mysterious even, as we figure out why these children are out of school or why they were chosen by the Wolf Queen. Then, around the last 1/3rd of the book, it's just plot twist after plot twist. We discover how all these children are connected, what's the purpose of the castle, and who is the Wolf Queen. The revelations are both sad and heartwarming. The ending is so beautiful and wholesome. You just want to envelope everyone in a blanket of clouds. Even the sarcastic Wolf Queen.
The book taught me how adolescence can be isolating and why friendships are important during this period. It discusses mental health, bullying, grief, and how one's actions affect another.
I really love how the title perfectly describes the story and I love the feel of it on my tongue. Lonely-castle-in-the-mirror. The way the words bounce and the roll of it on my tongue is just lovely. Plus, I love the melancholic and foreboding attachment to it. I love pretty titles.
What I’m Reading This Week
I’m back to reading The Turn of the Screw. I stopped reading it a while back because I was alone in the house and I’m a scaredy cat.
Wow ‘Lonely Castle’ sounds epic! It’s been on my radar for a while but I haven’t picked it up yet, but now I will immediately! Thank you for the review, such high praise!
oooooh i need to read this