Inspiring, heartbreaking, devastating, thrilling and lots of other words that end in ing. This is a modern classic, with the feeling of the books I grew up on, especially Narnia with it's theme of children escaping traumatic situations.

This story is set in Japan, but Kokoro's inability to go back to school and face her fears is one I could easily relate to, as I went through the same feelings as a teen. Pulled through the mirror in her bedroom to mysterious castle she finds she's not alone, as six other children have been struggling with feelings of loss and fear, struggling to fit in with their peers.

I loved how twisty this story is, with multiple plot twists towards the end that I didn't quite guess were coming. There was enough pages for each character's story to be fully established, and the story made sure we knew the characters were going to be okay at the end of the book.

Reading Kingfisher novels is just a way to pick up brand new phobias, but at least the horses were mostly normal in this one.

Imagine deifying the author you work for only to find out they've been stealing your dirty underwear

I didn't know this was a sequel going in, as nothing on the book states it. There's no vibe to the story that gave me any clues to this either. I appreciated that the author wanted to tell a story with emotional depth, but this often devolved into rambling about plants and stuff. I didn't really get it.

I get it, I wouldn't want to spend all day drinking sake with my grandfather either. The ending made little sense to me, there was a chapter thrown in where I felt the person Hisataro was talking to was very blatantly lying to him was lying to cover up something, but went no further.

The end of each chapter was an emotional gut punch and I just kept going back to get more.

This felt like a wacky sci-fi episode, and as a result would have been better as a series, it desperately needed breathing room.

I really enjoyed that this book seemed to hate men almost as much as I do.

Hanging around at King Arthur's Court (in a gay way)

What if Cinderella was a Queer ghost and also a house is absolutely a question more authors should be asking.

The horrors of the Revolution were really overshadowed by one woman who lost her mind every time a stupid man reached between her legs.

The first half of this story was the strongest for me. Showing both Lenormand and Caitlin's origins in France and Ireland and how they established themselves in Paris was really interesting, and gave me strong V.E. Schwab vibes in the writing style.

The second half was such a slog. Although Lenormand was a strangely uninteresting character, I appreciated that she stuck to her beliefs. In comparison, Caitlin seemed to be constantly flip flopping as to what she actually wanted, and I really hate woman who lose themselves over average men.

I feel like someone carved out my stomach with a dessert spoon.