Mirrorland is a dark and unsettling thriller that brilliantly explores how children use fantasy as a coping mechanism. As children, mirror twins, Catriona and Ellice were discovered alone at night on a Scottish boardwalk, covered in blood with evidence of past injuries. They become estranged as adults but when Ellice goes missing, Cat returns home to uncover the truth behind Ellice’s disappearance. While staying in her childhood home and seeking answers about what happened to Ellice, Cat is thrust into the past and forced to process repressed memories of trauma. The author beautifully intersperses the past within the present as Cat’s memories are triggered by her environment and by the investigation. During the first portion of the book, I was slightly confused as I tried to discern whether Cat’s experiences were happening in the past or present; however, as the book went on, I began to see the brilliance in this writing style. The reader feels every bit of Cat’s fear, guilt, and confusion, which makes for an emotionally impactful, twisty, and compelling read.

I’ve been so disappointed lately by books with unique, intriguing premises, that just don’t deliver. This book was a wonderful surprise. Fans of twisty dramas will love this. To compare it to Gone Girl suggests many surprises in store for the reader, but I enjoyed Mirrorland so much more.

I loved this book from the first page. The character development was strategically thought out. It was a great thriller that I would love to discuss with my book club. It is creepy in places and leaves you constantly guessing. I didn't have a favorite character, but I kept wanting to find out more about each.

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. For one thing, the Mirrorland segments were overwritten and dense, at the expense of the rest of the story. I ended up skimming most of them. And that was fine, but there's also a last-minute twist that's just too much for me to buy.

This story started off a little slow for me but then picked up and once I got into it, I found it hard to put this book down! It was an original story and well written!

Mirrorand is a great mystery thriller that dives deep into repressed trauma and the effects it has on an adult life. The story is a very interesting one and I admire an unreliable narrator that can accurately describe how they willingly choose to be unreliable versus a narrator that just seems unreliable to the reader. The author does a really great job of setting each scene from the narrator's perspective and every sentence holds so much detail it's like watching a movie. I also really admire the flow of the story and how the author chooses to close each chapter in mild cliffhangers, making the reader eager to figure out what happens next.

I will say even though the flow of the story is great, its pacing is very slow and I found myself wondering when it would pick up again. The time frame of this story was also semi confusing along with some of the subplots. Some of the story is told from a younger perspective while most of it is told from a present perspective and it was kind of hard to differentiate between the two since the narrator has returned to their childhood home. I also had a hard time picturing Mirrorland and just what it was exactly other than a child’s playroom (?) underneath (?) their house. Despite the confusion, the story was great and I think the ending really made up for its lack of flow and fluidity, although the ending seemed to drag on and on. Every chapter in the last ten percent of the book could have easily been the last chapter and I would have been content with that. But, again, the actual ending was good and I was glad it finished up the way it did.

Overall, Mirrorland was a really cool read and I was glad I was able to read an ARC of it. The author did a fantastic job with creating a thrilling/mysterious atmosphere throughout the whole novel and even though the story seemed to drag on, it was very worth the read.

I had the wrong impression going into this book, which probably didn’t do me any favors. I had thought it was going to be a psychological thriller or suspense model but it was more magical realism and fantasy and just couldn’t enjoy it. The writing wasn’t my favorite either, I felt it was slow and it was hard for me to get through.

Haunting chilling a story that drew me in and kept me turning the pages late into the night.A book I will be recommending and an author bInwill be following.#netgalley #scribner

When I was trying to come up with just the right words to describe the experience of reading Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone, I kept coming back to these: fever dream. Mirrorland plunges the reader into a dark, psychological thriller that at times is hard to read, and the lines between wondering what is real and what is fantasy sometimes blur.

Mirrorland is a story of identical (mirror) twins El and Cat. When the story opens, the twins have been estranged for years over a rift caused by a man they both loved (and whom twin El goes on to marry). When El goes missing, Cat returns to the UK. The police, Ross (the husband)...they all believe El is dead, lost at sea during a solo sail. But Cat, spurred by the conviction that their "twin sense" isn't convinced .Then she started receiving mysterious messages that send Cat on a macabre scavenger hunt through their childhood home.

That's where the fever dream part comes in. El and Cat had the kind of brutal childhood that they created a fantasy escape in the home's basement they called Mirrorland. Hidden from the rest of the house, Mirrorland was where they and the boy next door (Ross) and cousin Mouse created elaborate games and fairy tales to escape from the dysfunction in the household where they live with their Mom and Grandmother.

Cat is convinced the messages are from El, who is very much alive and sending her clues to help find her. Along the way, we're fed breadcrumbs from the twins past, and the incident hat changed their lives forever - and how Ross eventually comes between them.

It's a story that is chillling, thrilling and keeps you guessing. And if there's one thing I love is an unexpected twist I did not see coming and the ending of Mirrorland serves up a HUGE one. This is a haunting book.

This book got a bit "out there" for me. I usually enjoy magical realism, but the fantasy on this book was too much for me personally. I enjoyed the mystery of the missing sister, but about 15% when it started to get into Mirrorland got a bit crazy for me. I also did not find any of the characters particularly likeable.

This was such a twisted, freaky psychothriller!! I was scrambling to solve the mystery all the way up until the last few pages of the book! But, boy, does this one need some trigger warnings in the front. I wondered the whole book who was real and who was a Mirrorland fantasy and whether there even was any fantasy to Mirrorland or if it was all just a coping mechanism for the childhood trauma the girls were suffering. The house was nearly as scary to me as the people!! Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and advanced copy of Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone!!

This book is well written and has good character development I just couldn’t personally get into the story and found it a little bit of a struggle to keep reading. In the end it does wrap up everything and answers the questions you have, just left a little lacking for me personally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ellice and her identical twin sister, Catriona, had an unusual childhood. .They lived in the UK in a museum- like house and were brought up quite in the old-fashioned way. Things changed when Ross entered the picture...

Now living in Los Angeles, Cat finds out that her twin (El) has disappeared from home in the UK (which she lives in with Ross). Worried, after 3 days, Ross fears that El is dead.. Yet, Cat feels strongly that her twin is still alive...
Even after not seeing either one of them for the past 12 years, . Ross and El now live in the twins' original home.. Cat arrives there and finds Ross in pieces. He is afraid that El is dead.. She went out in her boat 3 days ago and has yet to be found. Cat seems to think El is somewhere still alive.

A dramatic suspense thriller with great character depiction.

Recommend.

Many Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an entertaining story!

I didn't care for this one. I was excited for it because it sounded right up my alley. However, I did not enjoy how fantastical it was. I read from another reviewer that she didn't get into it because of how much pirates are incorporated, and I think that is part of the reason I didn't like it as well. Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for the copy in exchange for my honest review!
Follow me on Instagram @bookishmel94.

2.5 star review because I really liked a lot about this book- writing style, characters- but it was too long and it was hard for me to trudge through the make-believe world of Mirrorland because it wasn't interesting to me.
The amount of exposition at the end also made me lose interest. I don't regret reading it but I didn't really love it.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book and took several tries for me to finish it. I like a dark twisted book and this just wasn't it.

Dark thriller full of twists and turns. Beautifully written and compelling storytelling. Sometimes haunting but definitely worth the read !

A story full of twists, turns, and fantastical imaginings. The characters played their parts well and there wasn't one that had my sympathies about their life events enough to make me root for them to be the ones who it all works out for in the end. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and author.

Mirrorland was a dark story of love, betrayal, imagination, and trauma. There are so many twists and turns in this novel. The descriptions are easy to get lost in at first but once you get a grip on the author’s style, it becomes easy to follow. The descriptions are rich and vivid. The feelings of terror and hurt are so real it almost makes you ache. The comparisons to Room and Gone Girl were spot on. Honestly if you need a psychological thriller that keeps you up at all hours, this is it.

I had a difficult time getting into this book. When the cops discuss the twin sister missing on a boat, they use alot of boat lingo which made me space out a bit. I have my sailing license and thought I would enjoy reading about a supposed boating accident. Also, the book had pirate lingo and references. Again, I collect pirates and sail so I thought I would enjoy this. I pushed through the story and it just wasn't for me. I will read this author again because I did enjoy the actual story. I gave this 3 stars for the story, I just felt too many details weighed the plot down..