Cat fell out with her twin sister several years ago and moved to America to make a clean break. However, El has gone missing, and Cat heads back to her childhood home to support her frantic brother-in-law. Has her sister died? She doesn’t think so, but as she learns more about the circumstances of the disappearance, she also remembers more about the childhood she left behind.

Initially, I found this book quite hard to get into. The writing seemed stilted, which I either got used to or the author used to indicate Cat’s state of mind at the beginning. However, I soon became engrossed in the twists and turns, most of which I failed to guess.

This isn’t the book I thought it was - it’s very much a mystery/thriller, but there’s a large dollop of fantasy in the way Cat and her sister played in Mirrorland, which was right up my alleyway.

“Enjoyable” isn’t the right word for this book, but once I got into the story, it was a page turner. 4/5

Cat and El are twins who were brought up in an inposing, if slightly crumbling house in Edinburgh. We meet them as 30 year olds when El disappears and Cat come back from her life in California, for the first time in 12 years. El's disappearance is not the only mystery in the story and, as it unfolds , we realise theirs was no ordinary upbringing. The boundaries between fact, memory and imagination are blurred. What unfolds makes for a very good read.

A tricky book to navigate, one I struggled with but nonetheless gripping. The utilisation and juxtaposition of the twins along with the unfair husband.
The notion of children locked up in unforgiving basements, yet using that as a narrative tool is used well.
Well done I just did not connect with it unfortunately

Creepy and compelling

Twin sisters, one old house and tons of memories mixed with fantasies and time gone by. What is real and what isn't? What happened to the missing twin sister? Could the other one really sense where she is and what happened to her?

This is a novel that grabs and then locks you in. Concentrate though as there's a lot to take in.

I know Leith well where this book is set and that make it all the more freaky to me!

This was just not one for me and a real lesson on me to properly read the synopsis of books fully before requesting to read it. If I had then i'd probably have guessed this one wasn't for me; this is really centred on the imaginative storytelling with a lot of make believe play and it just didn't work for me. It was hard to keep track of what was actually real and what was make believe; it wasn't helped by the fact that we get a lot of flashbacks that are just shoved straight into the narrative with little clarification of what was now and what was past. I just felt so confused the entire time I was reading it.

The ending of the book and the final chapters were honestly just far OTT and you have to suspend your disbelief so far; it was like the author just kept wanting to add twists in but couldn't figure out where to stop with the twists, so it just ended up being a bit too much for me.

If you like immersive imaginative play, this is probably a story you'd enjoy, but it just wasn't for me. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an eARC of Mirrorland.

I found the start of the book a bit slow but once you realise where its going its a really good story.

This dark and disturbing thriller took me on a wild ride. This is one hell of a page-turner. Id recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers and being on the edge of their seat. Buckle up and get ready for a wild ride!

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and Carol Johnstone for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Set in Edinburgh my home City was a bonus. Mirrorland a make believe world created, as children, by twin sisters Cat and El . When El disappears Cat is stunned and so begins a treasure hunt to find the truth of what has happened. Ingenious in its construction this is a poignant and compelling tale. What an imagination to have crafted such a story which I couldn't put down. Sad, touching and a brilliant read.

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 Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to the grand old house, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. No. 36 Westeryk Road is still full of shadowy, hidden 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 all over the house: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting...

For some reason, I failed to connect with this book. It was more a gothic horror for me, which is not a genre that I enjoy reading. However, the book was full of suspense and it was engaging.

For a debut novel, Carole Johnstone has created a page-turning thriller. If you can bear with the first third of the novel, the rest of the ride is a compelling storm that you have to navigate by dedicating your valuable time in order to fathom the depths of this mystery. Not peppered with pointless red herrings, every element has been painstakingly crafted, and it will disturb, horrify, and induce you into reaching the satisfying climax. Bravo Ms Johnstone. A triumph!

Interesting tale but not really my thing took a lot of time to try and get to the bottom of the plot.Did not really figure out what the story line was meant to portray,so left off before completing the book.

The world of Mirrorland is so comprehensively detailed that the reader can imagine themselves as the young twins, Cat (Catriona) and El (Ellice) in this fantastically crafted novel, hiding away from the fears of the adult/outside world. Both safely united in their imaginary world.
However, reality must intrude on their imaginary world and the story begins when the twins are found cold, scared and alone late at night at a Scottish harbour in Edinburgh. Repeating only their (first) names and that they are waiting for a pirate ship, there is much confusion about what has happened to Catriona and Ellice.
The story then jumps forward twenty years and Cat is returning to her old childhood home, long since purchased by El and her husband Ross. Unfortunately, her return is not for a pleasant but rather tragic reason – El has gone missing while out at sea on her boat and is now presumed death. Cat refuses to believe that this is the case. Although, not having spoken in over 10 years, Cat recalls how El supposedly attempted suicide previously in order to keep Cat and Ross apart and she refers to the dramatics preformed by El on a regular basics. From here on, we learn of Mirrorland – a magical world as invented by the children and inhabited by them on a daily basis. Along with Ross and several friends who may or may not also be invented. As the novel continues, Cat’s memories become increasingly twisted and tortured, leading the reader to wonder if these memories of the past can be trusted and now if she is actually imagining her encounters in the present day with the locals.
With Cat continuing to insist that El must be alive, there is someone determined to scare her away by sending numerous threatening notes, all while she is receiving messages that tell her El is alive. Could El be sending these or maybe Mouse? But surely Mouse was only a figment of her imagination? When Cat realises that her memories cannot be trusted, she starts to realise that she is in far more danger that she could ever have imagined and that Mirrorland is not the safe haven she thought.
When imagination, fantasy and deeply rooted fear combine, the world of Mirrorland is the result, a haven and hideaway. What a wonderful world has been created by Carole Johnstone is this novel. A novel that is part psychological thriller and part gothic novel, I kept turning and turning the pages – I just could not put it down!

Dark and disturbing with a large dose of childhood fantasy, this unusual story is clever and complex. Cat has lived in America for 12 years after falling out with her twin sisier, El. El is now missing and Cat returns to their childhood home where El now lives with her husband, Ross. A creepy, imposing house that immediately puts Cat back into her childhood and memories of their imaginative, fantasy world of Mirrorland come flooding back. A lengthy story filled with their childish games and dramas that infiltrate Cat’s memory and threaten to overwhelm her as she struggles to differentiate between fact and fiction. As the search for her sister continues, real memories of her feelings for Ross also come to the fore. As she vows to get answers, Cat finds herself getting in too deep and discovers that she herself could be in very real danger. A good story that I’m glad I preserved with, my only criticism is that the details of their fantasy world of Mirrorland dragged a bit too much but I understand its importance to the book. It was slightly far fetched but then that’s exactly what fiction can be. I am sorry to say I had guessed two of the main twists but this didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment.

With nods to Perter Pan and treasure Island, this is a heartbreaking story of twins, Cat and El, growing up in the confines of their large house where the basement is their play area and is transformed by their imagination into Mirrorland where they rule the high seas and the prison in Shawshank Redemption. The story opens with the news reaching Cat that El has died. They haven't spoken to each other for years and the story unfolds to reveal what went on between them in Mirrorland.

It's quite a dark and disturbing tale with very well written character and plot twists which I did not see coming. Very good book.

I’ll start saying that this book is not easy to review, there are so many twists and different layers to the story that is quite difficult not to make any spoiler, but I’ll try.
The story is told in different parts, the first one is quite slow and full of memories and characters, which causes that the reader doesn’t know which part is real and which part is imagination. The second one is more fast-paced, twisted and dark; but is the one that kept me more intrigued and turning pages to know everything. The ending? Maybe not surprising, but I really liked it, with a couple of twists that leaves the reader with a good sensation.
I’ll say from the beginning that is not an easy read; there’s child abuse, rape and mental health issues. I don’t say this to keep anyone away from the book, it’s not told in detail but it’s there and I think it’s really important to the story, so I prefer to warm before.
This is the story of two twin sisters, almost perfect twin sisters, how they were inseparable when they were young but now they haven’t talked for years and it’s too late to make amends, El has passed away. Cat decides to return home and discover what has really happened to El, she had the perfect marriage and husband, why she decided to kill herself?
This is a trip to the past of El and Cat, a dark and dangerous journey that will make El rethink all her memories and discover that Mirrorland was not a game but her scary reality.
This is a book that will keep you awake all night fearing the shadows of your room, and making you wonder what part of your childhood memories were real or fiction.
Ready to enter to “Mirrorland”?

3-4 stars. I was really excited about this book, as the synopsis had it sounding like it would be a book I would love. While, I don’t think it was a unputdownable love for me, I was able to finish it. I found it to be a bit odd and confusing, so it took me some time to make my way through it, I think overall, I would recommend to those who like fantasy or historical fiction with some thrills thrown in, as it was more of that in my opinion. I am a moody reader though, so I would say give it a chance; as maybe you will love it in ways I did not! One thing is for sure, it’s different, which is always a good thing (well for most)!

An immensely enjoyable read with a plot that twists and turns and never lets go! I found the writing hugely compelling and I found the entire book officially unputdownable. Really great storytelling, will definitely be on the lookout for more from Carole Johnstone!

This is a psychological, emotive and gripping novel that opens with Cat; a woman in her thirties being notified of the disappearance of her twin sister El with whom she has had no contact since leaving Edinburgh in her late teens when she left Edinburgh for New York. Reluctantly she returns to her childhood home where her estranged sister lives and immediately repressed memories of a very complex childhood including Mirrorland - an imaginary world under the house where the girls could escape real life. El’s disappearance elevates into a murder investigation and while Cat is not a suspect El’s husband is. I did find it a little difficult to get into the flow of this novel initially as it flips from present to past times, but it was well worth persevering. This book was totally different to other psychological thrillers I have read, and I absolutely loved it!

Mirrorland was an excellent psychological drama, imaginative and cleverly twisted it is an absolute page turner of a story.
Tense, twisted and with some highly engaging characters, Mirrorland takes you on a brilliantly atmospheric journey towards the truth with a beautifully written narrative that holds you enthralled from first page to last.
Highly recommended.

I absolutely adored this book. An adult fairy tale, a domestic noir and a heartbreaker, all in one. I cried my eyes out at the end of this book and just couldn't put it down. Easily in my top 10 reads this year.