May 2021: Lonely Castle in the Mirror: Discussion Questions

[Alison]

1. I liked it, but I thought the pacing wasn't great. (I wrote a mostly positive review for Asian Review of Books.)

2. I'm not sure what issues are especially timely this year. For me, Tsujimura's most striking insight was about Kokoro's desperation to be liked. It consumes almost every thought.

3. LCitM is unique because it is the fantasy world that is the safe place. In other books where the protagonist escapes into another reality, that's usually where the danger/drama lies.

4. As an adult reader, I wanted to shake Kokoro. For her own sake, I also want her to have the perspective to care less what other people think.

I am not victim blaming. The bullying is awful and not her fault. But I wish she could see the positive feelings about her from the other kids in the castle.

5. Probably the climax. The "mystery" was pretty obvious and the denouement, though cute, was also pretty predictable. But I still thought Tsujimura's writing really stood out when it was finally Kokoro's time to be a hero.