Wow! I do love a good thriller and this book kept me on the edge of my seat!
Very well written and the plot was great.
Those who want a good read you really need to read this book.

The premise of Mirrorland really is out of the ordinary. It plays on the theme of twins having a secret way of communicating and living in their own special world but that’s only the half of it. From the blurb, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect, whether what I was about to read contained some element of the supernatural or fantastic. It turns out that Mirrorland is a gripping exploration of how reality and memory and fantasy can become intertwined so that a troubled mind can’t distinguish them.
I really like the Edinburgh setting, at once gentrified and sordid. Having Cat return home from LA after 12 years provides a neat way of describing the environment by what has changed and what has not. And the house at 36 Westeryk Road appears to have changed not one jot.
It’s clear that El and Cat experienced something traumatic there as children but the details are kept close, carefully parcelled out for maximum impact. When I thought I understood the extent of what they had endured, another layer of horror was revealed and I was led another step down the dark staircase. Never mind the baddies in Mirrorland, there are plenty of monsters up top in the real world.

'I wasn’t there when my sister died. Because she isn’t dead.'

I finished Mirrorland earlier this week and I can’t stop thinking about it! An exploration of memory, trauma and the power of imagination, this exceptionally crafted debut novel is dark, twisty and utterly gripping.

'The most dangerous stories are the ones we tell ourselves.'

The story follows Cat who is forced to return to her childhood home in Edinburgh when she finds out that her twin sister has disappeared. As she attempts to untangle the mystery of El’s disappearance she’s also faced with the demons of her past, haunting her from within the walls of the house she grew up in, a house of curving shadows and crumbling grandeur. And underneath the house is Mirrorland: a vivid make-believe world the twins created as children. A world of darkness but also a place of escape...

'Perhaps everyone’s childhood memories are the same: part truth, part fantasy. '

Carole Johnstone masterfully blends the fantastical with reality, making us question what is real and what is an invention from the twins childhood. The past and present collide as Cat unravels the mysteries and secrets from her ‘first life’ that she has suppressed. The portrayal of memory throughout the book is fascinating, how we can misremember and choose to forget.

The characterisation and relationships are phenomenally written. The intensity of Cat and El’s childhood bond is fierce and unsettling. They love each other, but there’s an underlying cruelty and darkness ever-present. Their relationship with Ross, El’s husband and a childhood friend, is complicated and volatile. Their mother is paranoid and sharp, but is also playful and full of love. There are no simplistic characters in this story, each is multifaceted and complex, making the narrative rich and thrilling.

'It’s easy to be tricked. Especially if you want to believe it.'

Atmospheric, captivating and haunting, Mirrorland will stay with me for a long time.

I was immediately gripped from the prologue. What happened to the twins when they were children? Why are they so fearful? El and Cat promised to stay together forever, but something happens to change that. Years later, El has disappeared and Cat has returned to find out what happened. This felt a bit like a modern flowers in the attic. Lots of fantasy mixed in with reith. It was easy to read and fast paced. Addictive with plenty of twists and turns and hooks to keep the reader interested. Loved it.

An absolutely blinding novel., Dark, claustrophobic, and tense. Everything that seems good and wholesome in this tale shows it's rotten core eventually and that's one of the things I found so interesting. A look back at what appear to be normal lives yet the further you read and the deeper you dig the darkness starts to seep though the pages and you won't be able to put it down. It's not a feast of violence and gore it's far more subtle yet so evil and twisted, well planned and executed that it's sure to be on everyone's "To Be Read" list.

I can only hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.

A fantastic psychological thriller that will have you turning the pages. You start off thinking you know what has happened but you soon realise it's far more complicated than the story first suggests. This is a story of twin sisters, a disturbing childhood that will never leave them and a man they both love. Reminiscent of Gone Girl in the way it will have you changing your suspicions with twists and turns aplenty. Highly recommended.

The first part of Mirrorland is a little difficult to get into, however I’m glad I persevered as the second half is thrilling and kept me guessing and changing my mind up until the end.

A fantastic novel, full of twists and turns that kept me guessing till the very end.
Mirrorland is a psychological thriller/mystery I loved the unreliable narrator and the fact that there's a major twist toward the end

When I read the blurb for Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone, I knew straight away that I had to read it. It sounded so intriguing and different from what I had read before in crime fiction. But I was slightly worried, would the book itself live up to the exciting premise? I needn’t have. Carole Johnstone has written a really good debut novel, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Cat hasn’t returned to her home in Edinburgh for years since she moved out to America. The reason she has returned is because her twin sister, El, has disappeared. El’s husband is distraught and desperate for news, but Cat appears cold. She believes El is seeking attention and faking her disappearance. But things soon take a shocking turn for the worse. Is there a link between El’s disappearance and the game they used to play as children to help cover up a dark secret?

I was intrigued by the idea of Mirrorland, and I thought it was very creative. I wanted to learn more about the world El and Cat had created for themselves and what it really meant. What were they trying to cover up? When we are first introduced to Cat, I struggled to like her, initially. I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t taking her sister’s disappearance more seriously. It made me wonder what she knew about El that El’s husband and the police didn’t.

The mystery in this book becomes quite a complex one as Carole Johnstone unravels the secrets behind the game El and Cat used to play when they were children. There are some dark secrets which come to light as the novel reaches its climax. This is what makes this book such a dark and twisted read. Carole also explores what families will do to protect one another and what they are willing to do to make sure that their loved ones survive. It makes for some very intense reading as more secrets about El and Cat are revealed.

Mirrorland is an intriguing, original thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. If you’re looking for something that is a bit different in the crime fiction genre, definitely give this book a go!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction and Carole Johnson for the ARC of MIRRORLAND.
A complex, tightly woven story with a horrific treasure hunt. The atmosphere is very dark, a little depressing to be honest, playing on our fear of childhood horrors and nightmares; a story where it's almost impossible to know who is telling the truth. Extremely well-written and plotted. This is quiet horror at its best.

I really did not enjoy this book. I read a wide variety of books and I am very open minded. I found it to be very dragged out and far fetched and struggled to relate to the characters. I very nearly gave in and stopped but I do not like to be defeated by a book and I continued to the end. I was very disappointed and would not recommend this. The re-living of the childish memories of playtime and adventure and the whole plot was just too much.

A psychological thriller that shifts between present day events and a twin’s memories of her childhood. Initially I struggled to find my comfort zone with this but it did eventually become easier.
Trying to recall images and memories from your childhood can be difficult enough but when you include the complications and mysteries of the twins’ lives to date, the story becomes even more complicated.
Johnstone certainly succeeds in creating a confusing mish-mash of half remembered events that slowly become clearer as the story unfolds. At first this appears to be purely about the mysterious disappearance of one of the twins but then we enter their childhood world of Mirrorland and it soon becomes evident that their past was a tangle of terrifying events that must be fully relived if they are to be laid to rest.
The mysteries in this are compelling enough to pull the reader in and attain a level of suspense but, for me, events in Mirrorland were sometimes a bit difficult to follow – perhaps this was the intention of the author?
As always I yearned an eventual happy ending but this conclusion just seemed a bit too convenient.
Probably a definite read for those who like their psychological thriller to have that element of confusion built in.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Borough Press (Harper Collins Publishers) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mirrorland is a smart debut. Twisty and well written, it has some of the most tense plotting and dialogue that I’ve come across in quite some time. It really does grab you such that you need to unravel the whole tale over a couple of chunky sittings.

It does however have some flaws. The first third is a little heavy with tales of childhood ‘games’, which later have context but initially come across as bordering on magical realism (which isn’t for me). Once I had a grip of where we were headed, I enjoyed the book a lot more. It also maybe takes the plot and it’s journey a couple of steps too far, but the ending very much brings the strands together.

It is a hugely enjoyable read and very sure footed. A rounded up 3.5*

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an advanced copy in consideration of an honest review.

Took me a while to get into this book. The story had a touch of fantasy and mystery. Cat returns home from America as her twin sister El has gone missing and she refuses to believe she is dead. The story goes back and forth to the past and present and is centred round their childhood home they left as kids. The house called Mirrorland, is in Edinburgh and the book has the floor plan of the house with oddly named rooms. The house was Cat & El’s childhood home and she was surprised to learn El and her husband Ross lived there. Hard to determine what was reality as Cat slipped into the land of make believe as she goes on a hunt with clues that El has left. The writing is good and builds up to a good climax. Lots of twists and intriguing make believe character, Clown, Witch, The Tooth Fairy & Mouse. Interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this advanced copy of this novel. I found once I started this story that I could not put it down. It was a real page turner in the true sense of the word. Totally gripped from the first page to the last. Thank you for an excellent read, thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this book.

It took me a very long time to get into this book - the Mirrorland scenes didn't really grab me. But I'm glad I persevered as I enjoyed the second half (which reminded me of Gone Girl) a lot more.

Mirrorland is one of those books that grew on me slowly. At first I found the descriptive writing too dense, the flitting between present, past and imagination too confusing, the first person present (my absolute least favourite tense) too meandering and self absorbed as it so often is (hence my least favourite tense). But, much like Mirrorland itself, the book grew on me until I was absolutely absorbed and the second half of book was unputdownable.

Cat is an exile in LA. She left Edinburgh twelve years ago, doubly heartbroken when the man/boy (late teens) she loved chose her twin sister El and El made it clear Cat was in the way and very much unwanted. A jobbing writer, Cat moves from rented condo to rented condo, fling to one night stand, one drink after another, a half life lived without her mirror twin until hearing El is missing presumed drowned she reluctantly returns to Scotland. She hasn't felt El's death, so believes her sister is pulling a dramatic stunt, just as she did when they were teenagers.

But when she gets back to Edinburgh, she finds her sister and husband live in the house she and El grew up in, a house of nightmare and make believe, a house they fled when they were twelve - and the house looks almost exactly the same as it did back then including their make believe land of mirrorland in the basement. And Cat's attraction to Ross, her sister's husband is as strong as ever...

But as Cat learns more about her sister's seemingly perfect life more and more questions demand answers. Was El's marriage as happy as it seemed? Why do El's friends think she was being abused? Who is emailing Cat and sending her on a treasure hunt around the house leading her to pages of El's own diaries, opening up long buried memories and taking her back into the heart of Mirrorland itself?

Darkly imaginative, and full of twists and turns, Mirrorland is a high octane compelling debut.

Ok so I am a rare four star reviewer ,as it takes something truly unique or original ,clever and imaginative .
This is unique it is original it’s clever and so imaginative .
Now don’t get me wrong it has clearly and unashamedly been inspired by so many ,mainly Stephen king but also of themes from childhood like pirates that we all envisage and draws what’s in our imagination so well and old fairy story’s . I was super impressed how the mirrorland was conjured up and created in that house and recalls ones own dens with boxes and blankets .I was so moved and almost in admiration for the mother for creating such a land to escape to and feel safer in though there may be other choices she did her very best to ensure they had a world of their own .
It’s very good ,I was completely drawn in to their world ,I was scared of blue beard , the tooth fairy and prayed for the clown room to give them a retreat ,ran with them to the ship and through the tunnels ,I too rocked on the boat with them and was flung side to side on the deck as the sea tossed us to and fro .
I felt I was one of them or with them ,I was invested and I am very exited about this authors next one .
It’s not a Donna tart or a literature wow ,it is though so incredibly imaginative the world she’s created I was just like this is brilliant .
Oh and at it’s heart is a sad scary tale and truly frightening controlling villains that haunt the pages as you flee with the girls .
I was almost breathless going through the tunnels with them desperately trying to escape from the terrors
It’s not gratuitous like some can be but u feel the peril ,u feel their excitement and joy they have in their sacred mirror land and are along for the adventure ,aware there is something lurking afoot and along with them throughout and therefor you .
Thank you netgalley and publishers ,I love taking a risk with new authors and I will for sure be looking out for the next one .
It’s a rare four stars for a moving involving story with a magical land created .smoke and mirrors in mirror land

Beware! Spoilers ahead!

This is the story of Cat and El, identical twins. Cat and El have been estranged from each other for 10 years when Cat is called back to Scotland following the disappearance of El.. Ross, El's husband, is distraught and both he and the police believe that El is dead. Cat, on the other hand, is convinced that El is still alive and just doing what she always does - manipulating people to get what she wants. Cat is bought back to the house she last left as a child, a place of memories, a place that she doesn't particularly want to be.

On the surface El and Cat were happy children who lived in a fantasy land called Mirrorland. This is the space beneath their house where they could live out their fantasies, playing in a pirate ship, walking through The Shank, and looking for pirate treasure accompanied by their imaginary crew; Annie, Mouse and the clowns from the clown cafe. However, as the story progresses we learn that their childhood was not so happy - they lived in fear of The Witch, The Toothfairy, Bluebeard and Blackbeard. At first these seem like more imaginary characters but as Cat slowly recovers her memories of the childhood she has repressed we learn that these frightening people were very real, and very close.

Soon Cat is remembering what happened the night she and El last left this house to run away from the horror within.....and then El's boat is discovered, with a body in the cabin. Cat's world is turned upside down and she and Ross cling to each other for comfort. But something isn't quite right. The lady from the corner shop warns Cat that El was afraid, and a kindly neighbour is posting warning cards through the letterbox to Cat...warnings that disturb and worry Cat, and just why does she always feel so tired and spaced out all the time?

This is definitely a book of three parts: The first part, covering Cat coming back, the police hunting for El and Cat beginning to remember what happened in the past is very confusing. The flashback style of the memories was disorientating and odd and I almost stopped reading. The second part starts to shed light on the past as this covers the aftermath of El's body being found and Cat starting to piece together the shards of childhood memory to reconstruct the night that she lived through. This helps to make sense of the first part and I was just about ahead of what was being revealed.

The final part of the story covers what happens during the court case following El's murder, and while there were things that needed wrapping up in this section there were parts that I felt were a step too far. For example, I get that Cat had to visit Ross to have her final say with him but I felt that following Cat to scatter El's ashes only to accidentally discover El alive, well and living a new life a stretch too far only for this to be followed by the revelation that Mouse was actually their other sister and that they had been triplets to be stretching credulity too much and this ruined what had been up until that point a powerful story of domestic abuse and neglect.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Twin sisters retreat into a world of their own to escape a bad abusive childhood . Their world consists of pirate ships , Indian Tepees and other things decorated from their imaginations . They have 2 friends play with them. Ross and a girl called Mouse . One of the girls , marries Ross and her sister moves to America . They are not in contact for many years until one of the girls disappears later in life on a yacht she has bought . A number of of clues are left in the childhood home leading to an unexpected outcome .