Peilimaa

by Carole Johnstone, Maikki Soro (Translator)

Hyytävää psykologista jännitystä tihkuva tarina kaksossisarista, molempien rakastamasta miehestä ja lapsuuden salaisuuksista, joita he eivät kykene unohtamaan.

Cat asuu Los Angelesissa, kaukana lapsuutensa Edinburghista ja komeasta viktoriaanisesta talosta, jossa hän ja hänen identtinen kaksoissisarensa El varttuivat. Lapsina he keksivät Peilimaan, portaikon alla sijaitsevan mielikuvitusmaailman täynnä merirosvoja, noitia ja pellejä. Mutta enää sisarestaan vieraantunut Cat ei juurikaan ajattele lapsuuskotiaan.

Mutta kun El katoaa salaperäisesti purjehdusreissullaan, Catin on pakko palata Edinburghiin. Vanha talo ei ole juurikaan muuttunut kahdessakymmenessä vuodessa. Se on edelleen täynnä pimeitä nurkkia ja Cat tuntuu joka käänteessä törmäävän vanhoihin salaisuuksiin ja menneisyyden aaveisiin. Kuin kaameassa aarrejahdissa joku on jättänyt hänelle vihjeitä kaikkiin huoneisiin. Johtolangat kuljettavat häntä takaisin Peilimaahan, jossa totuus väijyy odottamassa…

”Rakastin Peilimaata. Se on upeasti kirjoitettu ja sen juoni on punottu kellosepän tarkkuudella.” – Stephen King

”Psykologisen jännityksen ja kauhun kunnianhimoinen yhdistelmä, joka osoittaa vahvasti mielikuvituksen vapauttavan voiman.” – Publishers Weekly

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Horror, Audiobook, Suspense

373 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2021

About the author

Carole Johnstone grew up in Lanarkshire, Scotland. She has been writing as long as she can remember, and is an award-winning short story writer whose work has been reprinted and translated worldwide. She has been published by HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Titan Books, and has written Sherlock Holmes stories for Constable & Robinson.

MIRRORLAND, her debut novel, has sold in 13 territories, and has been optioned by Heyday TV and NBC Universal.

Her second novel, THE BLACKHOUSE, is a gothic thriller and unusual whodunnit set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems, and shocking twists lie around every corner. Out Aug 4 2022 in the UK and Jan 3 2023 in the US and CAN.

Carole now writes full-time, and lives with her husband in the Highlands of Scotland, though her heart belongs to the sea and wild islands of the Outer Hebrides.

See carolejohnstone.com for more information and giveaways.

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brain is on fire! My dear overcooked grey cells burned to ashes! Another stimulating, challenging thriller is out to surprise you with complicated twists!

We have an unreliable narrator on the board to tell us a creepy, delusional, blood freezing, complex story with a gothic, bleak, claustrophobic house theme dances with blended magical realism, psychological thriller, mystery genres!

Twin girls El and Cat created a world called Mirrorland till that world begins to threat them swallow whole. Once upon a time they walked hand in hand, scared, cold, crying in a Scottish harbor in Edinburgh to catch the latest pirate ship. At the very same night, their lives have completely changed.

We move forward in time : After 12 years later Cat who already moved on her life in California, is forced to return back to her childhood house. The place has been bought by El and her husband Ross because El always gets what she wants including taking Ross from Cat with her theatrical acts like suicide attempt threats.

The sisters stopped talking for 10 years and now El is missing, presumed dead which Cat doesn’t believe from the beginning. She knows her sister more than anyone and she has to find where she’s hiding and what she’s trying to do by dragging her back to the house of horrors.

As soon as Cat returns back to the childhood house, her torturous memories start to reappear on her mind. But the things she tells seem distorted, delusional. She gets threat messages from someone and as she digs out more she completely believes her sister might be alive!
We cannot decide if her words are accurate or she’s lying because her blurry mind barely differentiate between reality and dream. She finally realizes by coming back to the place where every nightmare in her life has started is the most dangerous choice she’d made and now she may pay it with her life.

Definitely complex, brain cell frying, mind numbing, layered, dark, smart, exhausting story made you feel like getting lost in labyrinths of your darkest fears with no accurate way out!

It was not an easy read: smoke clouds still rise above my head! You gotta pay attention to the details and the deep meanings behind the magical stories of twins. I cut some points because some parts and depictions in the book got me tired. My mind worked overtime to put the puzzle pieces at the right places.
I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 clownish, house of horror four stars!

Wow! My grey cells still hurt but I’m so sure after reading this book they won’t get rusted as Mr. Poirot advised.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for sharing this digital copy of this original book in exchange my honest opinions.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Identical twins, Ellice (El) and Catriona (Cat) live with their Mum and Grandpa in a large gloomy old house in Edinburgh. The house has lots of nooks and crannies, lots of places to hide, and that’s very fortunate, because when the twins retreat into their make believe fantastical world of Mirrorland, a place of swashbuckling pirates and mean and scary witches, they need to hide on lots of occasions.

When the twins reach adulthood, they have a massive falling out, and have no contact with each other whatsoever. Cat moves away from her twin and begins a new life in California. Then, some 12 years later, comes the shocking news that El is missing. Cat doesn’t think for a minute that El has really disappeared, she believes it’s another one of El’s games, and so she returns to her childhood home - to Mirrorland, something she never intended to do, because she knows all of El’s hiding places, and she’s determined to find her.

It’s difficult for me to review this one, because there were parts of it that had me really gripped, really wanting to discover what happened next, but at the same time, as the storyline veered off into the realms of fantasy (something which I don’t enjoy) I found myself skimming through. However, it has to be said, it did become clear as the story progressed, that there was a very good reason for the magical fantasy, and it then made complete sense. It was certainly unique, but not really my thing.

* I was invited to read Mirrorland by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange*

[Farrah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to read the books that Stephen King suggests, which is why I took a chance with this even though the premise.... ugh.... sounds so unoriginal.

𝘾𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨.

I thought 'oh ho-hum here we go again' but this book actually is unique. Mostly because of the magical fantasy world of Mirrorland that the sisters invented as kids. Through flashbacks we see how their make-believe games are a reflection (ha! MIRRORland!) of their reality.

What I really DIDN'T like was adult Cat and her ridiculous, OTT hysteria and paranoia. I mean, this woman was constantly freaking out and jumping at shadows. A simple doorbell would cause her to run screaming from a room. I think the author wrote her that way on purpose to try to infect the reader with a constant sense of anxiety but for me it was too much and I found myself rolling my eyes at all of her antics instead.

What I really DID like was that there were SO MANY great reveals and/or new twists throughout the whole book. So often they'd happen at the end of a chapter so whenever I flipped a page and noticed I was coming up to one I'd have to fight my eyes from skipping ahead to see what shocker was coming!

So again King pointed me to a winner but I'm not surprised he raved about this since one of his stories inspired it and is mentioned a number of times.

[Michelle]

DNF @ 16% - no rating.

This book sounded right up my ally but I was so very wrong. I have been reading this for about four hours now and I'm only at 16%. This is way too fantastical for me and I had no idea that pirates and pirate lingo would be such a big factor in the story. I have zero interest in pirates and, as it turns out, Mirrorland either. C'est la vie!

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

[Kaceey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twin sisters Cat and El have been estranged for years. Living in separate parts of the world trying to put their past behind them.

Until El goes missing….

Cat quickly returns home to Edinburgh from California. She refuses to believe that something has happened to El. But the investigation of her disappearance is underway. Could El’s husband be responsible? A man they both have a history with.

I admittedly had a hard time connecting with this book. There were parts I enjoyed such as the actual investigation. But when the storyline switched to their playhouse of Mirrorland I found myself lost and confused. The book included a bit too much emphasis on magical realism such that I had trouble following it.

There are a lot of mixed reviews for this book. I hope your connection with the characters and storyline will be stronger than mine.

A buddy read with Susanne.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an ARC to read and review.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-5 stars

36 Westeryk Road, Edinburgh contains Mirrorland, the escapist world of mirror twins Ellice (El) and Catriona (Cat) Morgan. Now in their thirties El leads Cat on a treasure hunt to unlock their shocking reality and discover truths.

It took me a while to get into this but its draws you into the original and creative plot and ultimately it becomes very difficult to put down. It is a very atmospheric tale, super creepy in places and the author fuses the childhood fantasy Mirrorland brilliantly into the nightmare of the present day. At times it feels so claustrophobic that it’s hard to breathe and as the truth emerges it’s shock after shock and some of it is brutal. The final twist is excellent and ends the book positively. It’s a novel about the root causes of their childhood fantasies and its impact on adulthood, family sacrifice, deception and extremely clever subterfuge and becoming free from the iron shackles of the past. It’s grippingly tense and harsh in places but overall is a corker of a psychological thriller. Take a deep breath and dive in.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, Harper Fiction for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Rachels_booknook_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stephen King endorsed this book and I feel betrayed

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going back to sleep ... DEBUT SKILLS SHINE!
Review to follow this weekend-
Gorgeous atmospheric experiences....
literary- psychological thriller ....
clever, beautifully written.... breathtaking descriptions...

REVIEW:

This is beautifully written debut.....(combo/ infusion mix of genres) > stunning blend of literary fiction and mystery thriller. I loved the book. There are a lot of descriptions— (which often can be too much), but I found the descriptions in this book exhilarating, birthed from a wonderful imagination.
I WAS THERE...TRANSPORTED....into the different rooms > spooky, eerie, dark....with stories of clowns, witches, and pirates. What’s sooooo unusual for me is I’m just not a witchie-clownie-pirate type of girl. BUT THIS WAS DIFFERENT....( very different)... balanced with suspense...love...betrayal...revenge...and redemption.

Carole Johnstone is a writer to keep an eye on....her talent is spellbinding noticeable. An author I might compare her to is Daphne Du Maurier.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE STORY....[ but NO SPOILERS]
“Cat lives in Los Angeles, about as far away as she can get from her estranged twin sister El and No. 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing Gothic house in Edinburgh where they 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”.

Cat returns home to the grand old house - after El had mysteriously disappeared after going out on a sailboat.

I loved the contrast descriptions between modern city condo living in sunny Southern California, (Venice Beach), and the grand old house, in Edinburg...with it’s landscape, windy swaying of the green orchard surrounding the mansion...
and the old house (a main character), itself.

At the beginning of the story, we get a photo of the layout of the house in the UK...
On the ground floor we see the kitchen, the pantry, the drawing room, The wash house, the exercise yard, and the orchard and grounds that surround the house.
On the rear end of the house,
there is a Princess Tower, The Clown Café, The Kakadu Jungle, The Donkshop, The Landing, and a bathroom.

THE OLD HOUSE .....LIVED LIKE A MAIN CHARACTER FOR ME

The story begins with the prologue September 5, 1998
An enchanting tidbit that tickled my pleasure bone right away was that El, was the nickname for Ellice.
I loved it.
With my name being Elyse...
I think I would have enjoyed friends calling me El sometimes ( god knows my name was dissected in so many other ways growing up)

Ok... back to our story...
I was hooked immediately!
Teeth chattering, bodies shivering, choppy waters, a loud splash, chilly winds, a sweater, a smell of blood?, a smile....
El and Cat smiled at each other. They said they would never leave each other.
“We will not leave each other”.
It was the day that their second life began.

I WAS CURIOUS....and/but....as I said before ‘because’ the descriptions were so interesting themselves ...( very creative storytelling)... I never felt rushed to need to know the final result to ‘the mystery’.... but OMG....I’m sure no reader saw that ending coming. I enjoyed being surprised....but it was the ‘entire’ crafting-storytelling I enjoyed.

So.....
After a long flight from Los Angeles to the UK ( lots of wine for Cat while on a seven hour layover)...
Cat is back home. She is greeted by Ross, El’s husband.
Ross was in London - when El took the sailboat out alone.
Ross, a clinical psychologist, was at a psychopharmacology conference. By the time he got back home, El had already been missing for at least five hours.

It was definitely odd - with mixed emotions—Cat being back in her old house - filled with childhood memories.
“The Clown Cafe was solely El’s invention: a richly imagined roadside American diner, with walls of red and white and glass tubes of pink neon. An Old record player was a jukebox playing fifties Elvis”.
As kids, Cat and El played in the Clown Cafe. It was their their favorite hiding places in the world—they played dress-up, made up stories, ate fried donuts.

As Cat looks around the house all these years later— many memories come strolling back.
Their grandpa was deaf enough that’s the entire house new every single football result by the end of a Saturday afternoon.
He listen on a radio
There was never a TV in the house only their grandpa‘s radio.
“Mum had many rules, but that we should read, that we could learn everything we ever needed to know in life from Books, was absolute and never wavered”.

Ross thinks El is dead. The search team thinks she’s dead. Cat knows she’s not.
Cat knew El ( her twin) in ways nobody did. Cat would have felt it — if she was dead.....(?)

A few facts...
....El hasn’t accessed either of her bank accounts since she disappeared.
....she hasn’t contacted anyone or turned on her phone.
....Ross found El’s passport exactly where it always is.
....El, Ellice MacAuley, was first reported missing by the Royal Forth Yacht Club’s Bomann at approximately 6:30 PM on April 3rd.

There are more few ‘questionable’ facts:
....El loved both her sister, Cat, and her husband, Ross.
....Neither shame or grief can erase Cat’s memory of El’s cleverness, her sometimes casual cruelty. Cat doesn’t trust El.
....many more ‘questionable’ to untangle.

There is an investigation. We meet Detective Inspector Rafiq ( Kate), and detective sergeant, Logan.

We contemplate Cat’s thoughts about El, often wondering if she is reliable character or not.

This is a very intelligent mystery thriller....very atmospheric & visual....
One, I think would make for a great movie.

A couple of excerpts:
“The house was more than old memories. It was like a museum, a mausoleum. Or a moment of catastrophe, preserved like a body trapped under pumice and ash”.
It’s where Cat, El, Mum, and Grandpa lived.
“I’m smiling as I look around at the wonky beige wood units. At the old boiler, it’s silver flue plugged into a hidden chimney that was forever trapping birds. Are used to listen to them, scratching and flapping, that sounds muffled as if they were underwater. Beneath the old hanging clothes rack, there’s a new Smeg fridge-freezer, an incongruent sapphire blue. I am beyond the towering Georgian window, with its many small glass panels framed with hardwood glazing bars, the old apple trees sit and sway”.

Bedrooms 12345
Every room in the house apart from the kitchen had a bell pull: a brass-and-ceramic lever connected to long copper wires hidden inside the walls.
Whenever El or Cat wanted to guess which room’s bell pull had been pulled by the other, they would stand inside the entrance hall instead.
“A rudimentary telepathy test that convinced no one because each bell also had a distinctive peal”.
They had their, “There’s a monster in this house”, games.

Towards the beginning of the book there was a quote by Alexandre Dumas from his book, “The Count of Monte Cristo” ( on my list to read this year)....
“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”.

5 very enjoyable stars
Thank you Scriber, Netgalley, and the talented Carole Johnstone

[Susanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review published on blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Smoke and Mirrors, Fiction and Fantasy.

“Mirrorland'' is a world created by Identical twins, El and Cat as children growing up in a Manse in Scotland. It's a marvelous, outlandish, and wondrous world where El and Cat could hide, safe from harm, even though it was inhabited by clowns, witches, and pirates.

Call me crazy, but I personally would have been hiding from Mirrorland, not the other way around!

Once best friends, the two sisters had a falling out as adults with El staying in Edinburgh and Cat moving to California. Now however it’s too late to make amends. El has gone missing and Cat must return to Scotland and the one place she swore she’d never return to try and find her: “Mirrorland.”

Cat’s apprehension about returning and being home is palpable and had me wondering if Mirrorland would swallow her whole. Admittedly, her stepping foot into a room called “The Clown Cafe” was enough to give this gal pause.

As the police investigation into El’s disappearance ensues, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems.

Suspenseful, tense, and truly fantastical - there is a whole lot going on in this dark, atmospheric tale. While parts of this story involving El’s disappearance were truly gripping, some of the fantastical elements were a bit too much for me. The ending however was stupendous!

A buddy read with Kaceey that gave us much to discuss.

Thank you to Mimi Chan and the team at Goodreads, as well as NetGalley and Scribner for the arc.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

No 36 Westeryk Road is an ordinary house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, or is it? For what lies beneath is Mirrorland, a vivid make-believe world that identical twin sisters Cat and El created as children. A place of escape, but from what? Now in their thirties, Cat receives the shocking news that her sister El has disappeared. Forced to return, Cat finds herself irresistibly drawn back to her childhood. Because El has a plan. She’s left behind a treasure hunt that will unearth long-buried secrets, and to discover the truth, Cat must confront the reality of her childhood.

Well... this book has just gone and blown my mind! This is the kind of book that makes me re think every other 5 star rating I’ve ever given. You all know what I’m talking about. I don’t even remember how I found out about this book I just remember reading the synopsis and thinking it sounded really different, plus Stephen King rec’d it, so I bought it and put it on the ever growing tbr pile stacking up in my office.

Fast forward to 3 days ago, I’d just finished another amazing thriller and I didn’t know what to read next. I happened to be chatting to a friend that afternoon and I mentioned it. He told me to choose 5 random books from my pile, take a picture, send it to him and he’d pick for me. Well, low and behold he chose Mirrorland and I am forever grateful!

Ok, onto the important stuff. This book was so addictive! It drew me in straight away and I couldn’t put it down. I knew with absolute certainty, I was going to love this book, when on page 2, I read:

“What are you two lassies doing out at this time of night, eh?' His torchlight made me blink, but when I could look, he was just like Mum said he'd be: leathery and gapped-toothed, a white and bushy beard, an old Salty Dog”

From there on in, I read this entire book with a Scottish accent 😄 which just made it even better!

Mirrorland was magical, fun and wondrous, but it was also dark, twisted and claustrophobic. It was part thriller, fantasy and horror all mixed together and when the reveals came they were shocking! I LOVED it!! There are pirates in this book, witches and clowns! It’s incredibly atmospheric and so creepy! Everything I want and crave in a book. The ending, oh my goodness. It was spectacular! I did not want this story to end! I laughed, I gasped and I cried. The writing was so beautiful and mesmerising.

What a phenomenal debut novel. I can’t wait to see what Carole Johnstone does next 🙏🏻

This one’s going straight to the pool room! 🙌🏻😍

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve years ago, Cat crossed an ocean to get away from her home in Scotland and her twin sister El, and she hasn’t looked back. But when El goes missing after being caught out in a storm while boating, Cat finds out that no matter how long she’s been gone and how far she has run, her past has always been right there waiting for her. In Cat’s absence, El moved into their childhood house, married their only childhood friend, and now she’s missing from the very same pier where Cat and El were found more than 20 years ago after running away from that same childhood house. 

El’s disappearance brings Cat back home, quite literally, and just stepping foot in the house produces a flood of memories about “Mirrorland”, a fantasy world the girls created as an escape in their youth. Nearly as soon as she arrives, Cat begins to receive ominous threats and cryptic messages reminiscent of a game the twins used to play. Is El still out there, and if so why would she want to torment Cat? And if it’s not El, who could possibly know so much about her long-buried past? 

This was so creative, fun, and different. Carole Johnstone really did what I think so many who read the mystery/suspense/thriller genre are constantly asking for: give us something new and unique. There is very little introduction before the reader is dropped right into the fantastical and intricate world of “Mirrorland”, and the way the book opens is weird enough that it’s almost disorienting. It took me a little while to feel like I had my bearings, but it was so worth it. This definitely won’t be for every reader, and that’s okay. Sometimes part of a book’s appeal can be how polarizing it is. This is the pineapple-on-pizza of books.

Mirrorland will have you constantly guessing what is real, what is imaginary, and what the imaginary is hiding about the real. There were twists and reveals galore. I had theories while reading and it was really fun seeing which were right and which were way off base. This is a rare instance where I think I’ll actually re-read a book in this genre. Usually once you know the twist or ending a lot of the fun and intrigue is gone. Not so here; I want to jump right back into Mirrorland. There is so much to unpack and I’m sure not only that I’ve missed things, but that the reading experience will change and deepen upon further review. 

I do have a few criticisms though. Cat is an extremely frustrating protagonist. You know that clueless character in a horror movie that you’re yelling at to not go up the stairs? That’s our girl. She knows what a pirate ship flag is, but has she heard of a red flag? Clearly not! She’s also just really bland. If we were playing an icebreaker game and you had to share three things about Cat, you’d say she was a twin, she created Mirrorland, and….. well, then you’d be stumped. I get the rationale for her disposition and behavior, but it doesn’t make it any less exasperating to read. Get a personality and a clue Cat!!! 

I'm also going to just go ahead and pretend the last few chapters don't exist. If Cat can make-believe, so can I. Other people might love the direction the ending took, but I didn't care for it, and it was the one very derivative thing (though clearly intentionally so) in an otherwise really unique book. Then again, it's rare I do like endings, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. If you can keep it spoiler-free in the comments, I'd love to hear what others who have read this think. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it’s a solid 4 stars.

CW: This book does contain child abuse/depictions of a very traumatic childhood. 

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread)]

DNF.. way too out there for me. It is hurting my head and I am not even sure what is happening. Too many other books that I could be enjoying.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens with 12 year-old identical twins El and Cat being found on the Granton docks on the Forth of Firth near Edinburgh, asking for a pirate ship to join. What lead up to this point and what happened next makes for a suspenseful tale.

El and Cat grew up in a house in Edinburgh with their mother and grandfather. Together they created an imaginary world called Mirrorland full of clowns, jungles, princesses, cowboys, pirate ships and even a prison block. Their mother fed their fantasies by reading adventure tales to them and telling them they must learn to be brave and clever.

As young adults, Cat and El had a falling out over a boy called Ross who they both loved and Cat moves away to LA where she establishes a successful career as a freelance journalist. El would later marry Ross and move into their childhood home. She and Cat loose touch until 10 years later Ross phones Cat to tell her El went out on her boat and hasn't returned. Disbelieving her twin could have died without her feeling something, El flies back to Edinburgh and back to their childhood home.

For me, I found the first half of this book to be very slow reading. There was so much information about El and Cat's imaginary world and it really wasn't gripping me. However, about half way through, all that changed and bang! I was hooked into what was under the surface of the twins' childhood fantasies and also what came afterwards. The two make for a twisted tale provided you can make it through the first half of the book, and the ending may just make it worthwhile. Overall 3.5★

With many thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for a copy to read

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Mirrorland in return for my honest review. When I read its description, I thought this would be a book I would enjoy. I regret to say that was not the case. I plodded through until the end. I think the concept was good, and the twists were surprising and unforeseen. It was a mixture of several genres. It was a mystery, a crime story, a psychological thriller, crossed with a large fantasy element.


For me, the fantasy part did not seem well integrated with the rest of the plot and seemed convoluted and disjointed. I can understand why it was part of the story but found the fantasy detracted from the rest of the plot's flow. I found the Mirrorland (fantasy) sections overwritten and overblown. The secret rooms were given overly detailed descriptions, but I had difficulty visualizing them even with the accompanying map. The fault may be entirely my own. I regret that I struggled to maintain my interest, although I was baffled about how this would all play out by the end.

Twin sisters, Cat and El, spent their childhood years in a gloomy old house in Edinburgh. It was a house with many rooms where they carried out their games and fantasies and a secret room under the pantry they named Mirrorland. Mirrorland was a place to hide and escape a miserable childhood. Much magical thinking permeated their games, including pirates, witches, clowns, and the tooth fairy. The twins had a close bond, but after they escaped the Gothic home, they had a huge falling out and have had no contact for years.

Cat moved away to California and never wanted to return. El married a clinical psychologist, Ross and in the meantime, they bought and restored the old home to its former appearance. Cat reluctantly returns to Edinburgh and the childhood home when El is reported missing while sailing during bad weather. El's distraught husband, Ross, believes El is dead, but Cat feels strongly that her twin is alive. As an identical twin, she would be aware if El had died. The police are involved, and a body is eventually recovered. Cat identifies the body and realizes she was wrong and that Cat is, in fact, dead. This is confirmed by DNA analysis.

Cat narrates the story. She is an unreliable witness with repressed memories. She starts getting messages and clues that she thinks may have been written by El, but she is suspicious of everyone. This leads her back to explore the old rooms where once they played out their fantasies. Her narration shows anxiety, dread, and even verges on hysteria. I felt the story was overwrought, over-written, and longer than necessary. While exploring the old rooms, some of her blocked memories start to return, but are these reliable? The police think El either committed suicide or was murdered, and Cat is determined to learn what really happened. Ross insists El would have never resorted to suicide, but who murdered her?

The truth about their grim childhood is eventually revealed, and why the twins fled from the house. The final twists were so over-the-top and incredible that I believe many readers will be surprised and enjoy the shocking conclusion. I feel the author has a good future in writing twisty crime stories with stunning endings but needs to tone it down a bit for my liking. Prospective readers should not be deterred by my misgivings but should refer to the many positive reviews for this book. It just wasn't for me.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down.

What the heck did I just read? That was some crazy ride for sure! This was a psychological thriller with a richly developed and dark atmosphere, a whole bunch of unreliable narrators, dark secrets, a toxic love triangle, hatreds and betrayal and revenge. It is the story of identical twins El (Ellice) and Cat (Catriona) and the house they grew up in with their mother and grandfather and returned to as adults and their secret playground in Mirrorland where even reality could be bent.

Ok sure, it started a little slow as there was a lot of childhood reminiscing, setting the scene and describing Mirrorland and all its wonders. I noticed that some readers gave up before the 20% mark. So I couldn’t give it the five stars the rest of the book deserved but if you persevere you will be rewarded with an epic story where nothing is as it seems and anything is possible. It even felt creepy without actually being creepy. I was totally transfixed and riveted by this book.

Cat returns to Edinburgh after hearing of her sister, El’s, death. She took out her yacht one day and never returned. Cat had been away in California for 12 years. She fled Edinburgh in acrimony after El had won the battle for Ross’s heart. Ross lived next door to them when they were children and would drop in to Mirrorland and play with the girls, inevitably they both wanted to be his special friend.

When she returns, Cat insists that El is still alive. They are twins, she would FEEL it if El was dead. But she does have a strange sense of unease in the house. Something terrible had happened here when the girls were 12 and Cat can’t understand why El would return to this house. She is also receiving anonymous cards with cryptic warnings and then the emails start. Cat is convinced the emails are from El (even when she is assured by a friend of their’s they are not) and they lead her on one of El’s famous treasure hunts where each clue leads to a page from El’s diary. The revelations lead Cat to question everything she believed was true about her childhood. But will she heed the warnings in time?

This story, well the last 80% was simply magical, fantastical, sad and very suspenseful. The revelations, when they came, were shocking and transformed the nature of the story into something dark and twisted. I absolutely loved it and will be very keen to see what Carole Johnstone comes up with next. Thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and Carole Johnstone for providing a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

A couple of quotes that made me laugh about dealing with problems:
“Chuck it in the fuck it bucket” and
“I tried to drown my sorrows but the bastards learned to swim”

[JaymeO · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY TO A THRILLER YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS!!

“Because in Mirrorland, anything—everything—is possible. In Mirrorland, you are safe. Fear is never to be feared, horror is only make-believe, and escape is inside every bone and vein and breath and brick. And all it asks for in return is one thing. Only ever one thing. That you have to be brave.”

El and Cat are estranged twin sisters, one living in America and the other in Scotland. When El mysteriously disappears, Cat travels to Scotland to help with the investigation. After returning to her childhood home where El and her husband Ross still live, Cat finds clues that lead her on a treasure hunt. She must remember the past and Mirrorland in order to figure out what happened to her sister.

I absolutely love everything about this debut psychological thriller. It is best to go in blind and lose yourself in the magic of Mirrorland. You will meet a mouse, pirates, cowboys, Indians, clowns, the tooth fairy and a witch. While I have to admit I was confused for a good third of the book, the reveal was everything and more. Just when you think the twists can’t get any better, they do...and then again and again...and again! It’s so surprising that you want to go back and reread the book with new eyes to see what you missed. There are very few books that I want to reread, and this is one of them! While it can be compared to Gone Girl, it also reminds me a lot of The Girl in the Mirror. I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s clever, disturbing, fantastical, mysterious and very surprising. Please experience Mirrorland’s unique magic. You won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner publishing for the ARC of Mirrorland in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars

[Debra - can't post any comments on site today grrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to make of this book from most of it. My main thought while reading this was that it was bizarre. I kept wondering what is real and what is not? Is this all a childhood fantasy carried over to adulthood? I was scratching my head. But I kept reading....

This was a highly original, creative, bizarre and imaginative novel. I struggled with it. I had trouble connecting with it but I enjoyed the feel of it, the originality, and even though I struggled, I still wanted to keep reading.

I agree with other reviewers who wrote that they thought this book would make a good movie. I do think this would play out better for me in movie form. This book is atmospheric with an uneasy sense of claustrophobia. I wondered for most of the book what was going on and how the plot would unfold. It is unsettling just as it was for Cat when EL went missing. Believing her twin was still alive as she would know if she were dead.

This was a thought provoking and original book. I cannot say that I have ever read anything like it. I can't say that was blown away by it. But I did appreciate the creativity and imagination that went into the writing of this book. Many are enjoying this book more than I did so I encourage you to read their reviews as well. I believe those who enjoy fantasy will connect better with this book than I did.

Even though this book did not wow me as I had hoped, I wonder what the author will think of next! She is very creative and imaginative.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Virginie Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atmospheric and mysterious

The premise of this book was really interesting, but in the end I thought it was a tedious read... This one just wasn't for me, but I still enjoyed some parts. I would be ready to try the next books of this author and see if they are a better fit for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

Publication date: April 20th, 2021

[Alan Cotterell · Rating 1 out of 5]

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…

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mirrorland is a dark and twisted thriller about estranged twins. After El mysteriously disappears, Cat returns to their childhood home where El now lives with her husband. Cat is trying to figure out what happened to El. Her sister left clues throughout the house that only she will understand. El’s clues remind Cat about the past. Cat is forced to question everything and everyone. She can’t even trust her own memories. I enjoyed Mirrorland and was invested throughout the book. Cat will do anything to figure out what happened to her twin even though they haven’t talked in years. I didn’t always agree with Cat’s actions but found her a fascinating character. Cat is determined and won’t give up. I always enjoy books with twins because I have a twin sister. I recommend Mirrorland to thriller fans.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Katie Leung and she did a great job. I loved her accent and she was a great voice for Cat.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio, Libro.fm and Edelweiss for Mirrorland.

Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book where the author tries to outdo herself with improbable twists and turns. I got bored with all the talk of childhood fantasies and skipped to the end. This plot is ridiculous. I don’t think that I would try this author again. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mirrorland is an incredibly layered and intriguing debut thriller where protagonist Cat has to revisit her childhood home to uncover the mystery of her missing sister. A peculiar past that is slowly unveiled through flashbacks and revisiting a fantasy land called "Mirrorland", Johnstone perfectly captures childhood nostalgia and complex sibling relationships.

Already one of my favorite thrillers of the year, Mirroland is a remarkable debut with infinite potential from the author. Setting is always really important for me when I start reading, and "the house" and all of its furnishings and creepy rooms is what constantly kept me gripped. Along with suspicious neighbors, hinting emails, and threatening letters, all leading up to a well-executed twist.

A lot may struggle with the fantastical names and characters that Cat uses to illustrate the flashbacks of her as a child. While maybe being outlandish or overwritten, they do really give the book a lot of atmosphere and unease. What first sounds very nonsensical and ridiculous is later revealed to be a lot darker and sinister.

In a weird coincidence after just finishing Her Last Holiday, with a similar concept, I enjoyed reading Mirrorland's fresh and original take on a plot that could've ended up as mediocre. Out of all the books I've read about twins or siblings I think this novel near-perfectly captures it. Cat's and Elle's relationship isn't anywhere near perfect and Johnstone perfectly writes how a bond can be competitive and toxic and yet both deep and caring.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Labyrinthine, haunting, and fantastical, like the house at its center, Mirrorland is about a broken childhood and the stories we tell ourselves as kids to heal the pain.

This is a tremendously original and compelling book. It is hard to describe the plot, but basically, two identical “mirror” twins, Cat and El, grew up together in a house where every room told a story like a fairy tale. Cat comes back to the childhood home when her twin (from whom she has been estranged for years) goes missing at sea. As Cat tries to put together what happened to El, she must first return to her childhood for answers.

The book is beautifully written and has a mystical, fairy tale quality. I wasn’t sure how this would work for me, because I’m not usually a fan of the fantasy genre, but I ended up liking it very much because all the fantasy elements were clues to solving the real-life mystery. Cat’s voice is original and very compelling, and her backstory is complex and one of the most interesting character arcs I have read in awhile.

The book is great. I’m still working through my feelings about the ending, and whether it had one too many twists for me. But overall I really loved this twisty, complex, deranged fairy tale of a book very much. 4.5 stars, rounded down only because of my slightly mixed feelings about the ending. Expertly written book. Stephen King’s recommendations never fail me!

Many thanks to Scribner, NetGalley and the author for the ARC of this really neat and very consuming book.

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a unique mystery thriller. My friend, Kim @itsallaboutthethrill, read it shortly before me, and she gave me a heads-up about the world building and to be patient. She was absolutely right.

Early on in the book, the author introduces us to Mirrorland. It’s a world made of the imagination of twin sisters, Cat and El, to escape their childhood realities. The creativity that went into this was outstanding. I grew up in coastal North Carolina, in an island area near where Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, was discovered after it sank there. The legend of Blackbeard in the area is strong, as a result, and so it was interesting to have Blackbeard and Bluebeard included in this storyline.

Once the world is built, things begin to happen because El, as an adult, is missing. Cat travels home to Scotland to search for her alongside El’s husband. Will they find her alive?

If you can suspend disbelief a little and are looking for a unique and creative thriller with twists you’d never expect, this is it. I can’t wait to see what’s next for this Carole Johnstone!

I received a gifted copy.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mirrorland is a creepy thriller portrayed through the eyes of children and their imagination and a sad escape from a dark childhood full of physical and emotional abuse. When Cat and her twin sister El wanted to feel safe, they created from their imagination a place called Mirrorland located behind the cabinets consisting of different rooms with pirates, witches and even scary clowns. Sometimes it was confusing as it allowed you to float between the walls of fantasy and the real world.
As young adults, El captures the heart of Ross and marries him, although he had also been seeing Cat. The two have a falling out, so Cat moves away to California never looking back, until her sister El is missing from an apparent boating accident.
Cat returns to the dark scary house she grew up in to inquire about her sister's disappearance, which she feels is just an act, as El was known to do before. While the search is on, Cat immerses herself into a shady scavenger hunt, and she thinks it is courteous of El. While receiving threatening messages asking her to leave, she finds a rekindling comfort in Ross. A deep dark story of deception and betrayal with nothing as it seems. Look for redemption and revenge to play out in this psychological thriller, immersing yourself into some crazy technique of writing. Good job, Carol Johnstone.
Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I start? OMG this book had my brain in a whirl with its gripping twisting plot!!

In 1998 Ellice and Catriona are twins, as children they created their own world called Mirrorland. They both leave home as they want to join a pirate ship.

The twins are now grown up but have not been close for many years.

El has disappeared whilst out on her boat. She is married to childhood friend Ross and they live in her childhood home in Scotland.

Cat who is now living in California returns to see what has happened to her twin. She is adamant that El is still alive.

I loved how the story goes back to when the twins were young, living in their fantasy world where they were safe and happy.

This is such a gripping thriller, I felt like my brain was in a maze as we came to the ending, with me desperately trying to find the light of day!! I love a book where you have to concentrate or you will miss a vital clue!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

[Irena BookDustMagic · Rating 2 out of 5]

As soon as I started Morrorland I could see the signs the novel wasn't for me, but I hoped the little voice that was telling me to give it up was wrong.
After all, the book was phraised by Stephen King. Because of that thing alone I assumed something mind blowing would happened.

And I would lie if I said there wasn't a mind blowing revelation somewhere in the middle of the story. The only thing is... the whole package was delivered in a kind of dull way, boring and to be honest, exhausting.

I guess I wasn't the right audience for this story. Or the way the story was written just didn't click with me.

Allegedly this novel has only 320 pages but I swear it is more like 800. Never ending story with love triangle from hell.

At first I was confused which isn't a bad thing. But the confusing part kept going on and then was the first time I was thinking about dnfing Mirrorland.
It seemed like the author created a parallel universe I couldn't understand and I got impression she was having a good time doing it, but I was wrong.
Then came the part when I was glad to keep reading because the revelation was heartbreaking and the whole parallel universe, confusing Mirrorland finally made sense.
Then the story kept going and I liked it less and less until I finally lost my interest completely.
The only thing that convinced me to finish the book was someone else's review that said that the end was the best part.

So I finally read the end and thought to myself "these 12 hours I spent on this story I will never get back and I hope the next time when I want to dnf a book I don't connect with at all I hope I will remember this experience."

[Dannii Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating 2.5/5 stars.

Cat and El are twins who were once as close in body and soul as they were in looks. But that was a long time ago, and Cat moved far away for twelve long years without once coming back. Now, however, she has been forced to. El has disappeared and the police are involved in hunting for her body. Cat thinks El is still out there somewhere, still playing games with the sister she dominated over, after all this time.

I remained sucked into this thriller throughout, especially as the concept of Mirrorland was introduced. This was the world of make-believe that the twins created to help them cope with the trauma of their home-lives. For me, the execution of this other world remained a little confusing and I might have perhaps preferred the focus to remain on the real-world, even if the chronological order continued to skip from childhood to present-day. I guessed at one of the major reveals but remained invested and intrigued with the events unfolding, regardless of this.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Carole Jonhstone, and the publisher, The Borough Press, for this opportunity.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pitched as Gone Girl meets Room, Mirrorland tells the story of identical twin sisters Cat and El, who survive a bizarre, insular childhood in Edinburgh by inventing Mirrorland, an imaginary, Narnia-esque world that lives under the pantry stairs. Years have gone by and now we follow Cat, who’s estranged from her sister and living in Los Angeles, until she gets a call from El’s husband, Ross, begging her to return to Edinburgh as El has gone missing, which involves returning to the house they grew up in, as Ross and El are now living there.

That this is the author’s debut novel is very apparent; most of the problems are with its poor pacing and its inexpert synthesis of the mystery and childhood trauma narratives. Flashback passages are shoehorned into the present-day narrative with an abruptness that almost feels deliberate, almost feels like a commentary on trauma, but which mostly ends up feeling poorly written. These flashbacks were so detailed and so repetitive that I mostly found myself skimming them as they failed to advance the characterization or the present-day narrative in any way; they did, ultimately, contain clues that tied into the mystery, but I ended up guessing most of the twists anyway, even without giving large segments of this book my full attention.

I’m struggling a bit to rate this one as I weirdly did enjoy reading parts of it — once it really got its momentum up, around 50-60% in, I couldn’t put it down — but the negatives far outweigh the positives of this reading experience. I’d skip it unless there’s something unique about this premise that appeals to you.

Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.