EXCERPT: 'Will we be all right, El?'

We looked out across the Firth, past the small green islet of Inchkeith and that far away tanker. Shivering, still holding hands, close enough to feel each other's heartbeat as that red sky moved in from the North Sea, spreading like a bruise. El didn't look at me again until we could see it creeping over the breakwater.

And then she smiled. The wide, terrible smile that I knew she'd wanted to smile even along all those endless empty streets. She didn't stop, even when we heard the first engine, the first siren. Or when the warehouse door creaked open and slammed shut again.

She smiled, smiled, smiled. 'We will not leave each other. Say it.'

Footsteps crunching towards us. Another, louder curse. Enough lights to blind us so that we could no longer see the Firth at all. Only each other.

'We will not leave each other,' I whispered.

She gripped my hand even tighter and I swallowed, watched her smile get sharper, darker, watched it disappear. 'Never so long as we live.'

'You'll be okay,' a man who wasn't the Old Salty Dog said.

And a woman with kind eyes and softer torchlight stepped between us, held out her other hand. 'Everything will be all right now.'

And that was the day our second life began.

ABOUT 'MIRRORLAND': Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues in almost every room: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting...

MY THOUGHTS: Delicious. Just absolutely delicious. A twisty, dark, thrilling story where the fantasies and terrors of childhood meet the reality of adult relationships.

I couldn't stop listening to Mirrorland. When I wasn't listening to it, I was thinking about it. My heart raced and pounded. My mind was looping the loop. This is a cleverly crafted novel about familial abuse, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and redemption. It is the story of mirror-twin sisters El and Kat. El, the elder by four minutes, is charged by their mother with being 'the poison taster', Kat's protector. Kat is told by her mother to be fearless and brave. El and Kat make a childhood pact that 'we will not leave each other'. But, of course . . . And beyond that, you're getting nothing. Because this is a book best gone into with no information other than this is the best audiobook that I have listened to in probably forever. Narrator Katie Leung is unbelievably magnificent.

Mirrorland has been described by Stephen King as “dark and devious…beautifully written and plotted with a watchmaker’s precision." I am not about to argue with him.

My intention to rush out and buy copies of everything ever written by this author has been scuppered by the fact that this is a debut novel.

I sincerely hope that someone is optioning the movie rights for Mirrorland.

Unreservedly recommended.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#Mirrorland #NetGalley

I: @carole_l_johnstone @boroughpress

T: @C_L_Johnstone @BoroughPress

#fivestarread #audiobook #contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #mystery #psychologicalthriller #suspense #scottishnoir

THE AUTHOR: Carole Johnstone is from Lanarkshire, Scotland though she spent much of her life in north Essex. Award winning short story writer and lover of islands and wine. She now writes full-time and lives on the Scottish coast in Argyll & Bute.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you, thank you, thank you to Harper Collins Audio, The Borough Press via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Apologies to netgalley as this has taken me an age to listen to- I was given an audio copy book but haven’t been driving much so it’s taken me so long to finish! It’s the story of Cat who returns to Scotland when her twin goes missing. Cat then gets drawn into the mystery of where is her twin and the twisty story of their childhood world: mirrorland. I really enjoyed this but I do find I get a bit lost with who the characters are in audiobooks which is worse with only one narrator. The narrator was pretty good though and the story quite gripping!!! Would recommend!

Really thrilling and awesome! I was hooked!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my feedback.

"Mirrorland" by Carole Johnstone is a slow burn, dark and atmospheric audiobook. Once you get into the story you are hooked and want to know more. The narrator Katie Leung, has a Scottish accent which adds to the story.

El and Cat are twins. The twins childhood situation is difficult so they create "Mirrorland", a imaginary place to hide, play, and keep their fears hidden. As an adult Cat is called back to her family home because her sister El is missing. At first Cat thinks El's disappearance is just El's way of escaping life and getting attention. Will it prove to be something more sinister?

This book is comp!ex, but if you keep listening you can understand it. It is a twisty mystery that will keep readers guessing. It will be published April 1, 2022.

Warning: Alcoholism, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence

A huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for allowing me to review this audiobook. I greatly appreciate 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.

The narrator was clear and easy to listen to. They brought emotion to their delivery of the story and I enjoyed listening to them.

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**

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.

The audiobook version does feature a strong Scottish accent, and while I appreciate that this was authentic for the novel it was at times difficult to understand and some words were mispronounced.

Mirror Land - Carole Johnstone

A very twisty story. You must stay awake! I must admit at the very beginning I got lost a few times. Further into the book where it starts to make a bit more sense it was great. There were 2, then there were 3, then there were 2 again.

I was happy to listen to the audio version of this story- beware if you are not used to Schottish accents ;) IMHO Katie Leung did a great job once I got used it!
This is the story of the twin sisters Cat and El. They do have kind of a twisted story- past and present and once you get to know them you can not stop until you know how they come to terms with their childhood and all the effects to their present lives.
This book touched a nerve and will stick with me for a long time!
Thanks #NetGalley #Carole Johnstone #HarperCollins UK Audio, The Borough Press for the listening copy of this book

El and Cat are twins, but they’re not just any twins. They are mirror twins! Growing up at thirty six Westeryk Road in Edinburgh, the girls invented Mirrorland. An imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches and clowns. A dark place where few others were allowed or even knew of it’s existence. A place where they could hide and stow away their fears in their make believe fantasy land. The twins find themselves fleeing to catch the latest pirate ship due to leave the Scottish harbour in the middle of the night … and their second life begins from there.

Twelve years later, Cat is living in California and hasn’t spoken to her sister, El in over ten years. El has gone missing and Cat is forced to return to Edinburgh and her childhood home – a house that El and her husband (their childhood friend, one of the few from Mirrorland) has since purchased and restored to it’s former ‘glory.’ Cat has a hard time believing that El is really missing or in any real danger, for two reasons; She knows her sister better than anyone, and El can be manipulative – especially when she wants her own way! Also, they are twins and in the past Cat has felt what El has felt. Falling out of a tree and otherwise feeling pain – Cat was right there with her feeling it too. Twin telepathy! Cat would know if her sister had died.

As things start to get more complicated with threatening notes, secret emails and a heated police investigation, Cat is left struggling to put the puzzle pieces together while snippets of memories from her past life in Mirrorland start to invade her present.

With an unreliable narrator and a mix of genres, I can imagine that this book isn’t for everyone. This is not an easy read! And I struggled at first. Fantasy isn’t typically my favourite genre but I stuck with it and am so glad that I did. I was transported into a different world in the moments we slipped into Mirrorlamd (think an 18 rated Peter Pan) and the present day was more of your typical Mystery/thriller. You really do have to concentrate but also just go with the flow with an open mind. This book really does take you on a journey – if you let it. The writing and storytelling was excellent, it was very atmospheric with lots of twists throughout and the ending wasn’t one I would have ever imagined. It has you playing detective right along with Cat and the actual detectives: Inspector Rafiq and Sergeant Logan. It’s one you definitely should employ your little grey cells for!!

“When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only dream forever”
Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

Four challenging, swashbuckling dark stars 💫
My thanks to the author and Harper Collins UK Audio for the gifted copy of the audiobook to review via Netgalley.

We follow Cat coming back to Scottland after 12 years, after her twin sister El disappeared at sea.
She comes back to El and Ross’s home, which used to be Cat and El’s home while they grew up. While the search for El is still ongoing, Cat is sure that her sister isn’t dead, against all odds. And then cards start to appear around the house, and Cat receives e-mail with clues to a treasure hunt only El could know about. So… what really happened to El?
Switching between present time and the childhood of the girls, we discover the love and hate of twin sisters and the world full of imagination they lived in.
It took me a while to get fully involved, but I really didn’t expect the way the story went and appreciated the twists. I liked the way the story developed way more than I anticipated I would to start with.
Oh… and if you crave for some Scottish accent, try the audiobook!

This is my second time trying this book. When I tried the paperback version I couldn’t get past all the mirror land descriptions, but I wanted to know what happened to El, so I thought I’d try the audiobook. I made it to the end this time and the ending is surprising and worth persevering, but the first part of the book is still really hard going.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to get involved in the story but once I did I really liked it. I also thought it ended in a pleasing way, so all in all a very nice read that I would recommend.

I have just finished the audiobook version of Mirrorland. It took a while for me to get in to and I honestly struggled at the beginning; however, I found the second half of the book really drew me in and I thoroughly enjoyed it from there.

Mirrorland tells the story of mirror twins, El and Cat, following El's disappearance. Cat is certain that her sister isn't dead and sets out to prove this, revisiting their shared childhood trauma along the way.

This story is dark and covers a lot of sensitive topics including alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse and more. However, I really felt as though I went on El's journey of discovery with her. She had gaps in her memories from her abusive past and, as the story goes on, those gaps get filled in and we start to see the full picture.

This book was well written and I felt as though I bonded with the character of El and was willing her to get to the bottom of the mystery of her missing sister.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.