Reviews
(4.15/5)Good book, especially as a relatively early book language wise.
*would give Overall 4.5 and Entertainment 3.5 if half stars were possible. It was my third full book that I read in Japanese, and I felt like the difficulty was very fitting for this :)
Arguably spoiler (pacing): It does take a while to get going and especially some of the middle parts were slow
It took me a long while to read this, so I can't say I was absolutely absorbed by the story, but I did enjoy it and never considered dropping it, which I'm not against doing if I do
So far the best Japanese story I have read
The story could have easily been sliced in half and have remained the same in its plot sequence. Despite the book's length, this is an excellent title that raises reader awareness on the social issue of futōkō (不登校), or school truancy in Japan. Specifically, it delves into various students' lives and the psychology behind their decisions to stop attending classes. When the 7 middle school students end up in a solitary castle in a realm behind their shining mirrors, they may receive one granted w
Patience is key
This is one of my favorite books that I have read. Unfortunately, (as other reviewers have mentioned) that mostly has to do with the specular conclusion of the story has. Regardless, if you have the patience for it, I think it has high payoff.
＋Positives:
- Interesting, well-developed characters.
- Dialogue heavy (making it a fairly approachable N2 level read in my opinion).
- Strong conclusion.
- Unique story concept.
-Weaknesses:
- Very slow pacing (up until the
Conflicted emotions
If I were to rate this book on the first 25%, I'd give it 4＊
If I were to rate this book on the last 25%, I'd give it 5＊
If I were to rate this book on most of what's in between, I'd give it 3＊
Some parts in the middle 50% were good, had lots of emotional impact and character growth, but some of the parts are simply bad writing. It's really hard to make it sound like I'm not just being grumpy without spoilers though. Among other things, there were some oddities/inconsistencies in character be
Kokoro is avoiding going to school when a light shines from the mirror in her bedroom. She can enter through this mirror into a castle where 6 other middle school students are assembled. They are told by a wolf masked little girl that within the castle is a hidden key, and if they find it their wish will be granted.
This is a slower developing story because it's about human relationships moreso than it is about fantasy. Really enjoyable though. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook as it'
To be fair, I'm not the target audience for this book: I don't particularly care for middle school problems, nor am I a fan of fantasy settings. So my low enjoyment may partly stem from that fact. I was however prepared to give the book a fair chance. If you asked if I would buy the book for a fantasy-loving middle-school kid, my answer would still be no.
My biggest gripe with the book was that it was too sentimental (and the audiobook made it even more so). My second biggest gripe was that it
Upon enrolling in the local middle school, Kokoro loses the courage to actually attend. While isolating herself in her room, her bedroom mirror begins to glow, allowing her access to the mirror castle, where she meets six other children who are supposed to be in school and a younger girl in a wolf mask.
Early on, the novel places the pieces that will be set into motion later on. As a result, the actual story builds very slowly in the first half, but once all the pieces slowly fall into place,
A somewhat slow slice of life fantasy story about school problems.
As others have said, the language in this book is easy to understand. The kanji used are also pretty straightforward. As for the story, some of the situations made me feel actual anger, worry or happiness, so there's that. People have said the ending is amazing and unexpected. I don't know about that. Without spoiling anything, I must say that I guessed almost all the plot twists around page 150, so the ending was... , well... , as I expected it would be. It's a good book, though.