Lonely Castle in the Mirror

So apparently I read this in English three years ago, and I'm glad to see I gave it five stars then. If anything it's even better second time around. The narrator is excellent, btw, and really brought Kokoro to life.

Genuinely moving, involving story following seven junior high students in Tokyo who have stopped going to school. The early part of the book may seem a little slow-paced, but I think it's just laying the groundwork and developing the characters, ready for the intensity to pick up with a wild twist in the middle and an ending that's both heartbreaking and yet, strangely, hopeful.

CWs: bullying, cancer, death, sexual assault