Lonely Castle in the Mirror - Mizuki Tsujimura

 

About the Book

Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.

Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro’s days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground. 

The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle’s secrets and, tentatively, each other’s. 

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a mesmerizing, heart-warming novel about the unexpected rewards of embracing human connection.

384 pages
Published July 5, 2022

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The premise of Lonely Castle in the Mirror is one that I think a lot of bullied kids have thought about at some point in their lives. Escaping the struggles of day-to-day life with a little magic, finding people who are pretty different from you but you all generally become friends because you all understand what it's like to be different, to be misunderstood and outcast. They understand you, even if they don't always agree with you. As someone who was bullied to the point of school refusal myself, I can relate very easily to the setup this book provides.

Of course, the book might be cathartic but dull if this was all there was to the story. The sanctuary for the protagonist, Kokoro, and the other misfits who have also made their way to this strange castle, slowly becomes less of a sanctuary over time, with the strange rules that must be followed, and the threat of danger if they poke their nose where it doesn't belong. And yet, poking around is exactly what they must do to solve the mystery of the castle. They are only allowed to be in the castle between 9 AM and 5 PM, and anyone remaining in the castle after that point will be hunted and eaten by a giant wolf monster. They only have that time span, every day for a year, to find a magical key that will grant the finder a wish. And all of them, every single person who found the strange glowing doorway that allowed them access to the castle, has a deep wish that they want fulfilled.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is 1 half fairy tale and 1 half magical realism, combining to a deeply emotional look at the way mental illness is treated. Or specifically, not treated. Mental health services in this part of the world aren't great a lot of the time, but they're still a lot better than in Japan, where it seems like a lot of it boils down to, "Just try to not have a mental illness." The onus is placed on the individual to not be sick, rather than placed on the community to understand and help people who are sick. But even when some resources are in place, there can be a social barrier in place that prevents people from getting the help they need, or even recognizing that they need help. When we aren't taught good ways to express ourselves, a question of, "Why not try just leaving the house for half an hour?" can easily be met with a panicked shutdown when the person in question can't properly articulate why leaving the house is such a scary thing.

Growing awareness exists both in Japan and in the wider world about the issue of hikikomori, usually translated as shut-ins, adults who forsake the outside world and stay in their rooms or apartments indefinitely. Often supported by parents who feel that they have no choice but to care for their child, even if societally, that child "should" have gotten a job and be supporting themselves now. It's a multifaceted problem that has no quick fix. Maybe bullying at school or work has caused the problem. Maybe being on the spectrum made things worse. Maybe it's depression, anxiety, or a combination of the two. But very often, they and we see "the problem" as the person, not their circumstance. "The problem: is that they're not conforming to social norms, they're acting strange, they're a burden on their loved ones. Rarely do we ask or seek to understand what's happening from that person's perspective, rather than the perspective of those external to the situation.

Kokoro's school refusal stems from bullying, but because she's young, and the situation is complicated and emotionally-charged, she struggles to explain it to her parents, until everything spirals inward and not only can she not go to school where her bullies will be, but has difficulties even thinking about attending a different school, or going outside where she might run into people who know her. It's a relief for her, then, when she steps through that glowing mirror and into a new place where there are people who don't know her, don't pre-judge her, and who accept her as one of them. Flawed, struggling, and worthy.

I went into Lonely Castle in the Mirror expecting a particular kind of story. I expected a story of someone struggling to overcome anxiety, and then eventually doing so with the help of some new-found friend beyond the mirror. And that did happen, yes, but the story is so much more than merely that. It's complex and nuanced and compassionate. It understands, and it seeks to help readers understand, what it's like to experience that degree of anxiety, to feel disconnected from everything that's supposed to connect you.

And I definitely didn't expect to end the story nearly in tears from the raw emotion written onto every page, the story's conclusion bringing a bittersweet but hopeful ending. An ending only to this story, mind you. Not to the stories of nearly all the characters whose lives we learn about, whose struggles we see painful glimpses of.

I can't write a review that does this book justice. I really can't. You can't begin to understand the number of times I tried to do so and ended up erasing whole paragraphs because what I wrote felt either overblown or inadequate. Lonely Castle in the Mirror is an outstretched hand to those who feel unseen and unloved, a hand that comforts them and tells them, "Yes, it can get better. Not just for you, but for others. Especially if you try to help them." The ending was beautiful, the mystery of the castle, and the children who were called to it, was satisfying and emotional. Even through the sections that painfully resonated with me, I loved every moment I spent with Lonely Castle in the Mirror, and I hope you will too. From one bullied anxiety-riddled outcast to another, I hope a mirror starts shining for you, and you find everything you need within.