
Member Reviews

One twin ran. The other vanished. Neither escaped…
DON’T TRUST ANYONE
I really enjoyed this dark thriller of a book, loads of twists and turns keeping you guessing the outcome. I took a while to warm to it then I was totally hooked. Carole Johnstone is a great writer and can’t believe this is only her first novel, can’t wait to read more of her books!
Thanks for NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
#Mirrorland #NetGalley

A grand old Scottish house, estranged mirror twins, secrets and a glowing review quote from Stephen King meant this novel caught my eye straight away. My galley request actually didn’t get approved for around six months, by which point I’d almost forgotten about it and the hype had died down, but I’m so glad I got around to picking this up earlier this year.
Mirrorland was a taught, twisty thriller which kept me guessing and had more layers than appear on the surface. It weaves in elements of fantasy and horror, but at its heart this is a psychological thriller and complex drama about the relationship between two sisters.
Cat and El are mirror twins. They grew up together and were close as children, playing secret games and feeling the other’s pain as if it was their own. But now, they live thousands of miles apart. Cat moved away to LA after an argument in their late teens, and tried to put her sister out of her mind entirely. Until, El goes missing and she finds herself pulled back to the old house where she grew up, and has to confront some past demons.
This may sounds like the blurb of a thriller you’ve read a thousand times, but it was actually a surprisingly original, imaginative tale which I don’t want to spoil too much. Some reviews I’ve seen talk about fantasy – but I wouldn’t class this as a fantasy novel, so don’t let that put you off if it’s not your cup of tea. The only fantasy here is a childhood fantasy, a magical world constructed by children to escape their every day life.
But, sometimes, the lines between what’s real and what’s imagined get blurred. It can feel a little confusing at parts, but stick with it and everything will come together in ways you didn’t expect.
The book is packed chock-full of twists and turns – the author drops an absolute bombshell halfway through which turns things on their head, and then after that the twists do not stop coming! Even when I thought this author could have nothing more up her sleeve, she’ll keep you guessing until the last few pages.

My first book, that I have read by this author, absolutely brilliant! Highly recommended, and I will definitely read others written by this author!

An excellent read! It’s very very dark, and the relationships are difficult and complex. It’s not an emotionally easy read.
For me it felt a bit slow at the start and I was enjoying it but it wasn’t all consuming….then it all changed. For me it felt like a book of two very distinct halves - the set up, and then it gets dark very quickly - to the point where I became really quite frightened and I had to go off and do something else to calm down!
An excellent read! My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the copy

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

This book was a slow burner, it had great character development and a great plot. The story did pick up pace if you persist. It was hard at times to keep track of the story. Overall an enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley

This book sounded so good and it is not often I give up on a book but I just can't get into this. There is so much description which I am sure some people enjoy as the author is setting the scene but it bored me and takes away from the story. I find it difficult to concentrate on the story because it. I apologise to the author

I'm torn about how to review this book. On the one hand, I absolutely raced through it and it kept me turning pages and guessing. But, on the other hand I think I tore through it because it lacked *the good stuff*.
It felt almost like popcorn. It's quick, easy to digest and good on the surface. But, you know deep down it isn't that great.
The story of El and Cat was compelling, but slid into murkier territory with the addition of Ross. I, personally, would have preferred a book more focused on their childhood without the hopping around. As it was, it felt a bit flimsy and often poorly paced.
Was it great? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But I can't help but think that in a few months time I will have completely forgotten about it.

I really enjoyed this book, I used both the ebook version and audiobook version for it, switching between both as I went through the story.
It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I was hooked. I’d say I had to get about a third of the way through as it was quite a slow-burner but once past that point things began to make sense and within each chapter I was finding myself more and more sucked into the pages. It has a fantasy-psychological element to it, which fantasy isn’t usually my genre I’d go for, but once the story gets going you are far too engrossed to notice the fantastical element.
This book is definitely worth a read, if like me you aren’t so keen on the fantasy element to it, preserve through and give it a chance. You won’t be disappointed!
**I received an advanced copy of this ebook and audio book to read and review. Thank you NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me this opportunity**

2.5 stars. This was a comp copy from Harper Collins UK. I am not sure it would have been one I chose for myself, except that twins do fascinate me. These twin girls are mirror images of each other, so not identical. Their childhood in Edinburgh with the boy next door, Ross, is fraught with dysfunction and tragedy. Cat has fled to America and no longer in touch with her twin El, now married to Ross. Then El goes missing and Cat is left no choice but to return.
Mirrorland was the play area of the children, full of clown and pirate imaginations. Fantasy is not my thing and thus it felt quite YA to me, to the point I was not going to finish it. I'm sort of in a rut now and many books are seeming only average, so it could be my problem, not the book's. I did think the writing was very good. My problem was strictly with the pirates and clowns. The ending twist was quite something and made me glad I did finish it. (I hardly ever DNF.)
I mostly listened to the audio and then finished with the ebook copy. Unless you're used to a thick brogue, and I am definitely not, you might not want to do the audio.

I found the first half of this book slow and very confusing. However I persisted as I felt the mystery was strong enough to keep me reading. From the middle of the book things began to become clear and I couldn’t put the book down. It reminded me in places of Piranesi and the blurred lines between reality and imagined truths. The way that our brains try to protect us from trauma is explored and represented effectively in this book. I ended up very much enjoying it.

A really solid addition to the genre; reliable, if a little predictable in places. Would recommend if you know what you want from this sort of book, as it definitely delivers that.

Mirrorland is a dark psychological suspense that focuses on the relationship between two sisters. The writing is addictive, I was captivated by the storytelling and how it weaves through the past and the present. There are secrets to uncover and a lot of questions hiding behind their family. The dark fairy tale aspect was fun to read. Mirrorland is a fantasy but it feels real enough to the characters, and how this affects their lives is where the conflict lies. I liked that there is growth in the main character, because her behaviour at first was not remarkable. This book deals with abuse and trauma, and how false memories can form as a defense mechanism. The ending is fanciful but I thought it's earned. This is a thriller with strong elements of fantasy so choose wisely!

Wow, this book definitely lives up to it's hype. I really enjoyed it, so atmosphere, dark and compelling.

For me the line between imagination and reality was too blurred in this book. I had to reread whole segments and still didn’t really know what was going on a lot of the time.
The story had a lot of promise but the execution just wasn’t right for me.

I have seen Mirrorland everywhere in the book community and had received so many positive reviews. It's such an embarrassment on my part to not be able to give a full opinion on this book yet. As the book is quite lengthy, I'll come back to it when I am back in good health and a sound mind. Till then. Thank you so much, publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity.

This is a very interesting book. I really couldn't decide how to rate it because although it was interesting, it was also far too slow and just a bit too unbelievable for me to truly feel invested in it. I went for 3 stars in the end, though I did enjoy this more than other books I have rated 3 stars.
There are aspects that are super clever. Such as the feelings of uneasiness and who do we believe and who do we suspect? That tension was built up very well. I felt the character of Cat was very well drawn and that we really knew her.
However, too much time was spent in Mirrorland prior to the reveal. Had this reveal come much earlier then I think the whole book and story would have worked so much better. I found the fantasy aspect in Mirrorland hard and not as interesting as the rest of the story but if I had known the reveal then it would have changed everything. Normally that works but this reveal is really needed to truly appreciate what we are reading. When we do find that information out the story quickly becomes more interesting but that isn't until over half way through..which was much too late.
There are 3 big story points within Mirrorland. The 1st one is awesome and should have been told much earlier as above. The 2nd one is ridiculous...there isn't much I can say without spoilers but how..how does that happen? It just stretched my ability to believe too far.
The 3rd one I enjoyed.
Just think the whole middle bit could have been missed out. It became like 10 stories in 1 and only 1 I was invested in and only 1 I felt was believable. Altogether it just became a bit far fetched and jumped from one implausible revelation to another...none of which were necessary at all as there was so much to work with already. It was already so clever and original and these other things happening was just reaching that bit too far.
There are flashes of pure brilliance and I will very much look forward to reading more by this author as she is obviously very talented.
Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cat and El are mirror twins - one in a million - or so their mother said. But the years passed and the twins drifted apart. El chose to stay at 36 Westeryk Road while Cat went to America. Ross, whom both loved at some point, is now married to El.
When they were children, the twins created Mirrorland, a fantasy land for them to escape into when they got too bored. Now, in their thirties, Cat wants nothing to do with Mirrorland. But El has disappeared inexplicably and Cat has to come back to 36 Westeryk Road - to the home she absolutely hates.
Then she finds clues to a treasure hunt El has arranged. But is Cat ready to uncover what is at the end of the hunt? And what can she do about the strong attraction she still feels towards Ross?
With an extremely unreliable narrator, this book hooked me right from the first page. The twists and turns keep coming and each one of them is as surprising as the previous one. The fantasy part was confusing at first but when I got to the explanation, my mind was blown.
There are some unbelievable things happening in the story. And Cat infuriated me. But all the other characters were written so well that I can forgive this.
Thanks to Netgalley, Carole Johnstone, and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.
4 stars.

This was a great, dark and twisty read. The author has done a wonderful job of keeping my attention throughout the whole book. I will say that Cat did get on my nerves a few times though! She came across as a bit OT at points. This is an impressive debut and very well written.

This is my first novel by Carole Johnstone and a completely different genre of books that I am used to reading. I did really enjoy this novel and it really is worth a read.
If you love a unique read that is tinged with gothic elements then do pick a copy of this up.
We meet twins Cat and El, the story is based around their old childhood home 36 Westeryk Road in Edinburgh, whilst they lived here they invented a different existence where they were safe called Mirrorland, but as the reader we ask "what were they safe from". Many years later, the twins have very different lives, El lives in the old childhood home whereas Cat lives in America. El is declared missing so Cat returns to try and find her twin sister.
The story really kicks in and wow the narrative literally blew me away. I finished this novel extremely quickly as I needed to know the twins back story and where El was. The writing from Carole Johnstone is captivating and extremely thrilling.
Thanks to NetGalley, Carole Johnstone and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my review.