I did not get very far into this book before realising I had made a mistake in choosing this title. I had not realised that it contains a large element of fantasy, which I personally do not enjoy in a book.
This was a DNF for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

A large house in the suburbs of Edinburgh.
Nothing to set it aside from any other house but once inside Cat and El, twin sisters, have created a make believe world underneath the house. Mirrorland. It is an escape but from what?
Thirty years later and Cat has turned her back on Edinburgh but she receives news that her sister has disappeared. She has sailed away in her boat leaving her life and her husband but Cat doesn't think she is dead. She returns to Edinburgh and finds that El has left behind a treasure hunt for Cat.
However, this will involve facing the past and all its secrets and danger.

Mirrorland is a twisted Alice in Wonderland story where fantasy and reality blend together so well that you don’t know what to believe. Illusion, lies and truth are woven together in this dark mystery by Carole Johnstone.

Ellice MacAuley has disappeared while sailing in the Firth of Forth. Her sister Catriona, her mirror twin, has returned from Los Angeles for the first time in twelve years. She is staying in the house where she and El grew up, now owned by El and her husband Ross. The twins were raised by their mother and grandfather in a house full of make believe. There was no TV, little radio and many stories about princesses and pirates. The rooms are all named for the specific play and games that take place there: The Clown Cafe, The Princess Tower, The Kakadu Jungle and more. The girls’ favorite place is the secret Mirrorland that only they know about.
Cat refuses to believe that El is dead. Her desperate search to discover what has happened to her sister lead her into a confusing imaginary world where her memories of her childhood are mixed with animal characters, monsters, fear and violence. Before she can discover what happened to her sister, she will have to confront her past.

It is hard to believe that this vivid, atmospheric thriller, part psychological and part dark fairy tale is a first novel. The world of imagination, imagination that covers pain, that she has created is addicting. It pulls you in from the first pages. 5 stars.

Thank you yo NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and Carole Johnstone for this ARC.

When I first read the storyline of “Mirrorland” I knew I was in for some thrilling reading. I expected it to be twisted in a way, following this strange treasure hunt one sister left for the other. I never really expected it to be that good!

Ellice and Catriona, El and Cat, are identical twins, a mirror image of one another. Every time each of them looks at her sisters, she sees herself in a mirror. How odd could that be? But the two of them have sworn to love each over for eternity. To never leave one another. They have a special bond only identical twins could forge. When one hurts, the other feels the pain. They are unique and special as their mother keeps reminding them.

The two girls grew up in an imposing flat-stone house right outside Edinburg. Scotland is full of stone houses, but theirs is different. Their grandfather bought this house, out of the compensation he took for his wounded leg. It’s his pride, one he’ll have forever. The four of them inhabit the rooms of the two story building. El and Cat, their mother and their grandfather. They live happily together, or at least that is what they mostly think they do and they have their own imaginary playground at the basement. Mirrorland is their safe place, their playground out in the Caribbean sea, where their pirate’s ship, The Satisfaction, scours the seas, casting off towards The Island. In there, the girls set their imagination free and live the moment as pirates, with their own crew, pirate ships hunting them in the vast ocean and the law of the pirates followed all the way.

Now in her thirties and while being thousands of miles away from Edinburg, Cat receives shocking news. Her sister has disappeared. Her sister’s husband and childhood friend has been trying to reach Cat, but she hasn’t returned his messages. She makes up her mind, no matter how badly she doesn’t want that, and returns to Edinburg and 36 Westeryk Road. But as she get’s there, she finds herself more and more drawn back to Mirrorland and everything that happened there in the past. And she has to, because El has a plan. She planted a treasure hunt for Cay aiming to expose long buried secrets and to trigger her sister’s memory back to life. All the horrors of the past must return, for justice to be served.

The book starts with the sisters being at a harbor in the midst of the night on September 5th, 1998 looking for a pirate ship to join. As odd as it might strike to you, this is referring to a past timeline, one of the girls’ childhood and their fantasy world of Mirrorland. As the pages turn, the reader comes to get to know of the past and this fantasy world, as well as of the present. The two different timelines serve their own purpose. The present is to give an outline of the current situation and relationship between the two sisters as well as the ongoing police investigation of El’s disappearance. The past timeline is there to provide all the clues we need to look for into the past to understand of what may have happened that triggered current state and current reactions. What went down in the past, that led to the girls standing that September night at the harbor and what may be connected to the present date and El’s disappearance.

I really enjoyed the fantasy world that the mother build for the girls and how they evolved it. It is more than clear that these two had a far more vivid imagination by any other child. They actually lived in their fantasies and their mother feeding them with fairytales and imaginary stories really helped them on that front. When I read the books that she read to the girls at a very early age, the terror that she instilled in their souls, I knew something was off, though I could never have thought of what. As the book progressed, bit by bit, I came to understand some of the points, some f the hidden messages and the reasoning behind. But I never thought of the whole extend of the past, all those hidden secrets, all those skeletons on the closets.

Carole Johnstone has created a horror house as the main stage for her first full length novel, mixing fantasy and mystery into one, ending up with a terrifying psychological thriller. The different names of the rooms, the descriptions of each section of the house, even the room bells added to the gloomy atmosphere. I could have never imagined little children living in a place like this, just like nobody else did. As the horrifying secrets come to the surface from some point on and until the very last page, the reader starts making scenarios of what might have happened. Some may be thought of, others not and for sure the very awful of those never come to mind. I hadn’t read such a hair raising thriller in a good while!

“Mirrorland” comes out on April 1st in UK. Keep your eye out for this one. You don’t want to miss out!

Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.

It has been a constant fight between being very gripped and beyond curious, and bored out of my mind and skipping entire paragraphs. The thriller bits and the fantasy bits are well crafted, but put together they just don't work. The story of child abuse, with the fantastical world of Mirrorland at its core, paired with the story of the house, was truly fascinating in itself. It is amazing and heartbreaking at the same time how the human brain tries to shelter victims. I would have loved to read this story in a different book. But as one half of a this novel it was just too detailed and boring and I cannot say it added much to the overall narrative. The second part, the physiological/thriller part of the novel really had me on the edge of my seat, eager to know more and frustrated when not enough was delivered. It felt to me this part was cut short(probably due to extensiveness of the fantasy) and it left me unsatisfied.

It starts off slow, full of make believe monsters, pirates and fairy’s in a magic land created by young minds but why what terrible truths are they hiding from? It really picks up the pace in the last few chapters and as the secrets come out you understand just how important mirrorland was.

I enjoyed this book many twists and turns sometimes what we think is our past may not always be the same as reality this book will definitely make you ask that question

This is a superb book and should not be missed
I would put it on a par with (or perhaps better than) Gone Girl and Girl On A Train.
You are never certain how it will finish although for once I actually guessed correctly.
Before I finished the book I looked at the NetGalley Readers Views and was pleased to see that the two newest reviews both made the same point as I was planning to make - you might find the book hard going in the first chapters primarily, for me, because of a detailed long chapter about Mirrorland. However on reflection the reader does need to know about how El and Cat saw Mirrorland as you need to be able to work out what is fantasy in the childrens' minds and what is actually real. So please don't give up.
The book gets better and better and you do gradually find out about what really happened when they were children.
So, I think this will be one of the books of 2021. I hope Netflix comes along for a series as I'm sure it will make a fantastic mini series

It took a while to get into this book and understand what was going on, but it was very unusual and worth persevering. I enjoyed the book much more in the later stages, when it was clear what was what and I could sit back and enjoy the story. I pretty much guessed the denouement about Mouse, although I had reached the conclusion in a different way - had the mothers also been identical twins? Anyway, I thought it was not obvious as twists go, therefore good in my book. I like my novels twisty and unusual, so this book suited me fine, and I recommend it to you.

Initially I found this book difficult to get into but when I did, it grabbed me by the throat. It was filled with twists and turns and it was hard to know what was real and what was made up fantasy by the twins. An excellent read. I’m so glad I persevered.

'Mirrorland' is a beautifully rich and detailed novel. I loved sinking into the imaginative lives of the girls in the past. As the story goes on, the past and present get closer and closer until they collide with a bang. Some parts really surprised me and others I could see coming, creating a lot of tension as I waited for the inevitable to happen. I loved how the past became clearer and clearer as we rollercoastered towards the end. Great book.

I have just finished reading this book and would like to say that I thought the story line and plot with twists were great. However, the fantasy and back and forward style I found difficult to follow. I also found the descriptive narration too much for me. To be honest I was going to give up about 20% through but persevered to the end. I am glad I did although I did find it a bit slow and repetitive in places.

Like I said before the storyline was great.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper for the ARC for which I have given my honest and unbiased view.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read the synopsis and on Netgalley and was instantly hooked and have been eagerly waiting to read this ever since. That was the fantasy. The reality is I have been trying really hard for almost 3 hours to get into this book, and failing miserably.

Looks like I may be in the minority here, as many other reviewers are rating highly. I can’t do that as I DNF @ 18%, and struggle to award 1 star.

Next…

Unfortunately this was one of those 'not for me' books. And I can't offer prospective readers any guidance on why, other than the author's voice did not engage me. This is a story of twins, one of whom dies, and the surviving one cannot accept her death. It inhabits fantasy, psychological thriller-dom. The synopsis intrigued, but I failed to be engaged, and in the end abandoned this, without really finding a coherent reason except 'not for me'

I always feel ungrateful when I leave negative feedback without coherent reasons. Sorry author, sorry publisher, I looked my ARC gifthorse in the mouth, but not even for long enough to count the teeth

A psychological novel in the true sense of the word. The story is told not only in the present, where Cat has returned to Scotland from the USA as her twin sister is missing, but also in flashbacks of when the children were small. It is a complicated tale (sometimes overly so) and occasionally difficult to follow. The idea of the novel was good but it was not a style of writing that I found easy to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper fiction for the advance copy of this book.

I picked up this book because it was set in Scotland but I continued to read it because it was so much more. When you step into Mirrorland it feels different from the very beginning immediately setting the scene for a mysterious psychological thriller and you get the feeling you are in for something special. The storytelling is amazing, the twins imaginary childhood World is so real, the atmosphere is intense, dark and slightly gothic. This story is really well paced, all the characters are well written, but you never know quite enough about them so you are on edge and never quite trust anyone. The writing creates this edgy atmosphere so you always have this sense that you are missing something until the story gradually reveals itself but not right until the end! I can’t sing the praises of this book enough. This is my book of 2021 so far and definitely one to look out for if you love psychological thrillers.

When Cat’s twin sister El disappears, she heads from her new home in America back to Scotland where she grew up. There she stays in the house from her childhood, where El and her husband still live. Then someone begins to send clues for Cat to solve and somehow they all lead back to the past..

This was so much better than I imagined! The premise immediately drew me in with the concept of the make believe Mirrorland. I loved the mystery, the clues, the digging for the truth, and how nothing was as it seemed. The house had taken on a life of its own, with its own personality and secrets. 

I didn’t really know what was going on at the beginning. Honestly, I didn’t know what was going for at least the first half of the book, but slowly the truth emerged. It was hard to know what was imagined and what was real, but I actually liked that (and I’m pretty sure that was the whole point) and it made the truth even more shocking. 

The writing was special and by far my favourite thing about this book. It was lyrical with so many beautiful descriptions, without it bogging the plot down. It fitted together and moved the story along in such a stunning way. 

The ending was perfect - honestly there wasn’t one thing I’d change. There was twist after twist and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. The truth was darker than I could have ever imagined, but it was woven together so perfectly. I finished the book and knew immediately it would stay with me for a long time.

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone is a dark, clever, twisting thriller that really grabs you and doesn't let go!

The disappearance of Ellice (El), identical twin sister to Catriona (Cat), provides the backdrop for this twisty story which is rooted in childhood imagination and perception.

Cat returns from Los Angeles to Edinburgh when she learns of her sister's disappearance and is immediately transported back to her mystical childhood fantasyland. Meanwhile, El's husband Ross is distraught as the search for El's boat fails to provide any clarification as to what has happened to her. Cat's childhood recollections reveal more concerns as police become suspicious of everyone.

I was totally surprised by Mirrorland; it is much darker and mysterious below the surface.

This story was a bit hit and miss for me. I struggled with the fantasy of Mirrorland in the beginning until I really started to understand what had happened in the family's past. Identical twins El and Cat are the central characters who seem to have lived their childhood in a fantasyland as a way of dealing with what is happening in their lives. Falling out as they got older resulted in Cat moving to L.A. only returning when El goes missing on a trip out in her boat. Foul play or suicide is the question asked when the boat is discovered scuttled with a body inside. Fingers are pointed at El's partner as domestic violence is hinted at and Cat is thrown once again into Mirrorland as emails and notes with clues force her back.into the past. Such a gripping, enthralling read that I found I could not put the book down. I thought I knew what had happened and then a twist would throw me off course. The ending however was not what I expected and I felt maybe the author was struggling to come to a conclusion as it seemed to drag on. Personally I would have been satisfied with what I thought was the ending several chapters earlier but for a debut novel the whole thing was stunning.

This is a book I really struggled with there was so much to like about it but I just didn’t seem to be able to connect with the characters and storyline. The premise of the book was fascinating and very different but I felt myself losing interest at times and I was never quite sure of the fantasy elements and I did find myself skipping over those parts.
There is a lot going on in this book and it’s certainly unique and beautifully written I particularly liked the the police investigation side to the book and it had good twists and a most satisfying ending. I have a hit and miss affair with fantasy and I think this was part of the reason I struggled with the book and I think many others will enjoy it more than I did.
My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction, The Borough Press for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.