The Woman in the Mirror

by Jessica Johnson

Nightmares. Visions. Death... what else awaits Abi at Blue Waters Asylum?

On the morning of her 25th birthday, Abi awakes to a strange voice in her bedroom, not knowing its the voice of her long-dead, Victorian ancestor Katrina.

Receiving messages and haunting visions that per her life in danger, she takes on the help of her neighbour and childhood friend Ben, paranormal investigator Jack and his partner Luna, who just so happens to be a witch.

Join Abi on her journey to Blue Waters Asylum, where she learns the truth about Katrinas horrific death and the family she had once lost, all because of one woman's jealousy.

A journey full of fright, love and death, all in aid to reveal the truth and help katrinas soul be finally free.

A debut novel by Jessica Johnson

Genres: Horror

202 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2022

About the author

Having joined QMP back in 2022, Her debut The Woman In The Mirror will be relaunched on 14th Feb 2023.
She is also working on 2 others books, The Girls Of Old Eden School, and The Bean Nighe, which she is hoping to also release very soon under 0en name Breanna Raine.

Reviews

[Maryann Larucci-Troche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

I am so pleased with this story!!!! It was fantastic!! It was exciting!! I’m a real sucker for ghosts in stories. Now a days, the stories that are supposed to have ghosts are superficial. Not this story!!!! It’s filled with good old fashioned ghosts. This is a must-read, especially if you love the paranormal!! This is so natural and realistic! I absolutely love this story and I know I’ll be reading it again one day!!!

[Brendon Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ive been trying to read books by independent authors who are not widely known and the premise to Jessica Johnsons first book had me intrigued. The story itself is quite good and it is paced and written well for a first time writer. Bar the few sex scenes it reads like a YA book and would be good for junior readers of horror or supernatural to read if those scenes were taken out. There are things that in time will improve as she progresses her writing such as dialogue or its simplistic way it tells the story and plot devices such as being able to google lots of information that would be impossible to find. I did really like this and its a massive achievement for any person to get there book out there so others to read.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro into paranormal!

First, warning, the formating for this one on kindles with dark mode is wrong. The font color changes in quite a few places. Obviously doesn't effect the story but I had to switch to my reader because it was driving me mad.

The plot, story, and characters are good! Even though its a paranormal ghost story, its original! The progression is faced paced enough to keep you 'one more chapter'ing. Some places are a bit rushed feeling, and some scenarios are a bit unbelievable.

There is SOME mature and graphic content but I would still recommend to people sensitive to such things. Also would recommend to people testing out ghost story/paranormal horror! I will be allowing my
Pre-teen to read, if he shows interest.

[Rachel M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is like a feel good cozy horror, I would sway it towards a YA’s. I did enjoy this one, I would have liked more story from the asylum side, but all in all a great ghost story.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bland ghost story with Hallmark Channel cut-out characters and a rehashed plot that lacks any teeth or danger whatsoever. Characters who are killed return as happily joking ghosts within pages even though they have been taken from loved ones and unborn children. A majority of the story revolves around pratfalls and visions that are then rehashed in dialogue to the other characters one after another, peppered with action scenes in which the characters describe everything in dialogue rather than just acting. A masterclass in telling, not showing.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spine tingling. This book sent shivers down my spine and gave me goose bumps pretty much the whole way through. It has all you could ask for in a book…. The thrill and excitement of an investigation as well as the creepiness that went along with it. It has some romance and good humour. I was filled with emotions reading the end. A very gripping storyline. I would highly recommend to all those who love a horror story.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of this story, but it definitely could use some polishing. The dialogue felt a little stilted and cringey, which kept taking me out of the story.
The characters were so so, but I didn’t connect with them.
Others will likely enjoy this story as it had more of a gothic supernatural vibe than straight up horror/splatter.
This is a debut novel so sometimes they can be a bit rough, but I think this author has great potential.

[Stephanie]

This book was not for me. I found the writing to be kind of amateur, with stilted dialogue and so much over-explanation of things that were not relevant to the story at all. I actually DNF'd at 40%.

[LZW · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the synopsis of this book made it seem exciting…the story was anything BUT exciting. It drug along at a slow pace, parts that were clearly meant to be tense completely missed the mark. Seemed like a YA book to me, and more of a slow gothic love story than horror. Very disappointed

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline is good and holding attention. But simplicity of writing makes it more suitable for YA readers and would definitely be 5* read for teens who are into paranormal/gothic stories.
Maybe because of that I didn't found it scary.

[Marie-France · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I hadn't been reading this for the Indie Authors Brawl this would have been a DNF. I did not jive with this book at all. I struggled with the writing style, found the dialogue to be stilted and there were a few continuity errors that, to me, meant the ending couldn't have happened the way it did and it's all I could focus on as I was reading it. This was not for me.

[Melissa]

Honestly, it doesn't seem fair to rate this book. I never would have chosen to read it if it was not included in the BOH Indie Brawl. This is a cozy horror, almost YA, story with quite a bit of romance. Not my style at all, but certainly could be for others who enjoy that. The story itself is fine, but it is definitely lacking in suspense and tension. The writing is clunky at times and could probably benefit from some additional editing.

[Princess Waifu · Rating 1 out of 5]

so so stupid, 0.5

Sigh. Where do I even start? This read like something I did in elementary or middle school writing class. While I was considered a great writer back then, I am not a teacher and Jessica Johnson is not my kid, so this was difficult to get through. With as much superfluous detail and over-explaining, you would think there would be an intriguing storyline or multifaceted characters, but you will find neither in this book. The characters themselves were dull and flat, their interactions cringe inducing, without an iota of development between them all. The story was predictable, like an AI was fed 300 hours of sub par PG-13 horror movies and asked to write its own but with ZERO plot twists insisted upon in the input prompt. I gave it a .5 because it is, in fact, a book. So...A for effort? No, probably a C. Minus.

[Siobhan Falen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good ol' fashioned haunted story, an ancestor reaching out for help, unsolved decades' missing person cases, a blossoming romance, creepy asylum, all the pieces for something traditional.

But it was really difficult for so many reasons. The editing is very rough. It feels like it's still in draft mode, which is distracting from the story. There is a ton of mundane detail that bogs down the story without contributing anything. Mind-numbing family details, for instance what her sister enjoys and her personality (told not shown), who never makes another showing in the story. A couple paragraphs on an uncle who again never makes a showing in the story.

The dialogue is used to dump tons of info without sounding natural. The ancestor characters talk a little more stiff and formal, which is fine to show the distinction... but the notes and entries from the same "old time" characters are not. It's inconsistent and distracting.

This is an easily predictable story because it brings in many of the classic tropes but doesn't bring anything new and original to it. There's something to be said for being inspired by traditional stories and it is very difficult to be original, but it's important to make the classic have something distinct to stand out. This story also has many forced convenient moments and feels too "wrapped up".

Classic, gothic ghost stories can be beautiful, creating that dark atmosphere and magic, and I think this might have the potential to hit that... But, it needs so much polishing and I have the feeling that if the unnecessary description fluffer and stiff info dumps are removed, that it would dramatically shorten the story.

[Chiara Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a paranormal story and I thought this was ok. I listened to it and I found the narrator Laura Greaves did a good job with all the characters and found it easy to follow.

The plot was enjoyable and I particularly liked finding out the story of Katrina little by little, with few twists (albeit predictable). I found all the characters very likeable and the description of the relationship between each other very genuine.

The writing style was very descriptive, which I like especially for an audiobook, as I can easily picture the images and events described whilst listening. What I did not like was that the dialogues were very superficial and the writing was repetitive at times, where often the same words was used in the same sentence.

Also, I think this is targeted to a YA audience and for those that enjoy a cosy paranormal story with sprinkles of romance (I don't personally enjoy the latter). All in all an enjoyable listen, but I would have preferred less romance and more paranormal background, especially of the asylum.

Thank you to the author for a code and this is my honest review.

[CC LovesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun cozy spooky book. I love a good haunted house story. Plus a haunted asylum! What more can I ask for!
Abi wakes up on her 25th birthday to a mysterious voice and begins having visions from her Victorian ancestor. Along with her childhood friend Abi searches for the truth behind the tragic story of Katrina.
Filled with a few tense and some creepy moments. I really loved the visions as they really added an eerie atmosphere to the book. The love story was cute and had me laughing a few times in the beginning. My favorite parts were the asylum scene as it was just creepy and just enough action for me. The characters were fun and enough detail was given to make you care about them.
The book does need some minor editing. It's not a big deal to me but I know it may bother some readers. For a debut novel it was great and I definitely would read another book by this author,.
Maybe we'll get more of Abi, it could be a fun series.

I recommend this for those who want a perfect for fall book that's a little spooky and you can get a cozy for.

[Sonia LeeAnn Hyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if one day out of the blue you began to have eerie visions of someone that looked just like you?  Would you try to unravel the mystery or run the other way?  The Woman in the Mirror was an excellent concept to explore. I enjoyed the pacing of the story and the thought put into the characters. I do feel some points were a little rushed especially at the end, but I would read this book again as well as recommend it to friends.   I think the author does exceptionally well at blending the past and present storylines together to create an exciting and creepy atmosphere. 

I was given a copy of The Woman in the Mirror for an honest review. I believe this is a solid book with a few minor errors, but a great concept. 

[Codylyn Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

😅Literally made me keep the lights on!😅

This book was a great ghost/paranormal mystery book! I got into it and it freaking rocked by world with the description and detail of all the scary parts!

Abi is celebrating her birthday when she sees a woman who’s not there in her parents home. Seeing her starts I spiral for her as she starts having these visions of Katrina’s past life and all the life events that happened to her. She’s asking for abi’s help to prove she was done horribly wrong while she was alive and to save her soul. Her friend Ben helps her along this trip with some extra help from his friend Jack and his girlfriend Luna. Finding out about Helen and the horrendous things she had done to Katrina and figuring out the story of her long past relatives. Will they prove Katrina was wrongly done, or will Helen prevail in shadowing everyone from the truth?

[Josette Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best kind of ghost story. There is a person with special abilities, a ghost who needs help and a evil spirit. From the beginning when Abi began seeing someone who looked like her, she would black out and see visions of someone being horribly mistreated. The more she researched her visions, she begins to find out how horrible people had it in the asylum, especially women. Mental health was not treated with proper therapy or medication instead patients were subjected to the whims oh ‘doctors’. The whole story was full of danger and tense moments. I was glad Abi was able to help Katrina move on.

[Kaylyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Woman in the Mirror features Abi, a 25-year-old woman, who begins having weird visions, and dreams, and hears voices calling her name. With the help of her neighbor and childhood friend, they investigate the suspected paranormal activity but not without consequence.

This novel was eerie, atmospheric, and jam-packed with everything you'd expect from a paranormal horror novel. The many locations throughout the book were well-described and spooky, it really set the mood. Johnson writes her characters so deeply that I made many connections with them and felt their fear, grief, and shock. All in all, this is a terrific paranormal novel, don't hesitate to grab it.

[Kimberley Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this one. The plot was great, I love a good haunting, and I wanted to know what happened next. But it was sooo descriptive, and to me, at least, it was stuff that didn't need to be. It made it drag and took me out of that great story.I believe this is the authors first book though, and the first books are always a little... eh. Great potential, and I believe the writing will only get better with time and practice. I'm betting they have some great stories to tell.

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, I really did, there were so many eye rolling cringey moments that it did start to put me off. This is the authors first book, and I hope she comes out with more, the writing style was not great but with time that will improve I'm sure. I do look forward to more from this author.

[Sarah Corwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh

This was kinda hard to get through. The writing seemed a little sloppy and details seemed to be on trivial things rather than the important plot points. Dialogue was weird and there didn’t seem to be any really great build up before the author threw in “twists”. Story wasn’t super original either…..sorry.

[P.K. Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, action driven and loved the world building (just enough, not too heavy). Really enjoyed the plot and Ben was so sweet. Dropped one star as there was a lil bit too much telling but it's authors debut and we all know they can be like first pancakes. I'm excited to read the author's second book!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. It bounced back and forth from present day, and Victorian times, and I have to say...I don't like historical fiction, or history, and especially I don't like Victorian stuff but this book was really good, and kept my interest despite those things! It was a really interesting and good read and I highly recommend.

[Nat · Rating 1 out of 5]

It felt like it took forever to read this and I strongly considered giving it the DNF treatment. This was not my kind of horror at all. The dialogue was stilted in a way that kept taking me out of the story. This was a ghost story in which the ghosts were not misunderstood scary apparitions but instead were people who were just like they had been alive but simply lacked corporeal bodies.

[Fran Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down! Full of suspense and mystery! For this authors first book it's very well written with the perfect balance between mystery, romance and horror. I can not wait for her next book and have no doubt it will be as much of a page turner as this one. Highly recommended

[Brittni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. A ghost story with a sprinkle of romance. A journey to find out what happened in the past at an abandoned haunted asylum. The characters were well written and I found this hard to put down. I finished it in a day. Can not wait for more from this author!

[Liz Hargrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great ghost story with an unexpected family twist. The story is action filled and I was captivated from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this book and the writing style. Highly recommended and I will be reading more by this author.

[Jenny Ramsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little ghost story

Spooky, mysterious and tense. A nice little ghost story about a woman haunted by  a long daed ancestor. But what really happened at Blue Waters asylum? 4 stars