Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This is by far the best book I have ever read. It’s twists and turns where unreal. The storyline was a bit weird to be fair, so entertaining and sometimes dark. I found it a bit confusing at times only because it jumped from memories to reality with no in between. The ending was not as I expected but it was so much better. Very well written book great storyline and all characters where brilliant too. So worth 5stars and more. I look forward to reading more from the author in future.

I found the start of the book very confusing but it did get a little clearer and the twists at the end were exciting. Overall it was quite repetitive.

Mirrorland is a psychological thriller/mystery and it definitely had me confused at first. Even towards the end, I thought that oh it's finished now, but there was still more to surprise me.

Thank to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this advanced copy.

A creepy yet fascinating tale of twin sisters and the make-believe world they used to inhibit back in their less than idillic childhood is the opening shot of this story. The real trouble starts when one of the twins disappears and the other realizes she never really knew her sister... Highly recommended!

Cat is returning to Edinburgh, to the childhood home she and her identical twin El escaped from one blood-soaked night as they fled from their terrifyingly claustrophobic life to safety. After several years in a children’s home where they refuse to reveal any of the details of their past they haven’t spoken since a serious fallout and sent Cat running to America while El married Ross and moved back into that same house where she bizarrely recreated Mirrorland, the fantasy world of their childhood complete with the Clown Cafe and the ship in the cellar where they roamed the high seas hiding from Blackbeard the pirate. When El disappears Cat returns to the house and as the police investigation runs out of steam she starts to remember more of that strange fantasy life and realise just how much danger she’s in.
Gripping novel, switches backwards and forwards in time and between fantasy and reality revealing more and more of the terrors of their childhood which Cat has buried so deep in her sub conscious she struggles to remember what actually happened. Lots of satisfying twists, none of which took me by surprise but they still led to a satisfying conclusion.

I am not a fan of the magical realism genre, which this novel seems to resemble, so I really struggled to engage with the storyline. However, the writing is excellently atmospheric, imbuing the novel with that pervasive sense of other-worldliness to be found in dreams - or is this a nightmare? Either way, it is a very intriguing first novel.

This as a story of identical twins and what happens when one of them goes missing - is she dead or alive? They seem to have lived in a fantasy world as children and strange things happened to them. Catriona returns from her life in America to support Ross, Eli's husband in trying to find her. There are a series of emails and strange clues which Catrionsa tries to decipher. She also drinks a lot and has only a hazy memory of what really happened when she was younger. I found this to be over-complicated and thought the character development was sacrificed to the plot. I really could not be bothered to engage in the intrigue. I skim-read to the end and did not really care what happened to the women.

This was a very artfully written mind-bending book. If you liked and understood the movie “inception” you will really enjoy this. It’s full of weird and wonderful concepts that make you think. It was absolutely ingenious!
I will definitely be recommending this in book club as it’ll be interesting to see how other people perceive it.

A very confusing and contrived story which never quite took hold. I was never sure who or what I was reading about, whether it was a story within a story or the past or the present! You know there will always be confusion when twins are involved and there was certainly plenty of that! Imagination ran riot to the point where it was difficult to tell truth from fiction within the fiction!

Every once in a while you know you have read something special, something original, something so overwhelmingly beautiful and sad that you feel like your heart is breaking. Mirrorland is that something. Dark and unsettling, the more you read, the more you cannot imagine what the next chapter holds. It’s like holding your breath underwater, afraid to surface, yet more afraid to remain.

I’m not going to say it’s for fans of… or for those who like…. because this book is like no other. It twists and surprises and then twists again, till you no longer know who is telling the truth or even who is who.

Catriona and Ellice lived out their childhood in a world of their own invention. A world called Mirrorland. Populated with pirates, clowns, adventurers, Belle, Mouse and The Witch, the only other child allowed into their world was Ross. That is, until the girls are found wandering, bloody and wretched at the dock, waiting for a pirate ship to take them away.

Many years later El has gone missing from her sailboat The Redemption and Cat still remembers nothing of that fateful night when they were both 12 years old. Having spent the rest of their childhood in care, El eventually marries Ross and Cat has gone to live in California. She hasn’t been home or spoken to El since the day she left. But now Cat is forced to come back. She is certain that El is still alive, because as mirror twins, she would know if El was dead. Except no-one believes her.

Once Cat is back in the old house where she and El lived with Mum and Grandpa (El and Ross bought it back), she is forced to face her worst fears and discover the truth. But is the truth really the truth and who is leaving cards on the doorstep and emailing her clues? Convinced it is El, Cat is drawn into a nightmare world where only returning to Mirrorland can save her.

To say this book is fantastic would not do it justice. It’s just brilliant and amazing and every other adjective I can think of.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An absolutely mind blowing novel. Completely different to any I have read before. Telling the story of identical twins El and Cat and Ross the man they both love. As children they spent most of their time in a fantasy world called Mirrorland. I loved the way it is narrated and the depth of secrets which slowly emerge as the story unfolds. I didn't see the ending coming at all. Absolutely fantastic

I found this a strange story. It is a story of loss and abuse and a search for a life which is free of the past but I found the endless breathless repetition of similar scenes from that past rather wearing. The story of the present is tense and full of uncertainty as the main character tries to make sense of the situation and the reader is pulled along with her search for the truth. As she does this, she remembers and revisits the past.
The truth of the past is revealed almost as an aside and many of the implications must be imagined by the reader.
Recommended

I was blown away by the imagination of the story and the atmosphere it contained. A psychological thriller with elements of fantasy, but above all totally gripping. The suspense mounts throughout and only relents at the very end. Is 36 Westeryk Road in Edinburgh haunted? Is Mirrorland just a figment of the imagination? Finding out is an amazing journey. I found it totally original and hadn’t read anything quite like it before. I recommend it for anyone who likes a mystery, a thriller or even a well written, well plotted book!

This is all sorts of twisty turney,with difficulty knowing what is the truth.
Mainly as our main character can't tell what the truth is,having been brought up on stories and myths.
The house is beyond creepy,and as the truth finally emerges,it's stranger than I was imagining.
This book is dark and suspenseful,and a blinking good read... having me puzzling over the who's and the why's far after I'd put the book down for the night.

I’m really grateful for the opportunity given to read this arc and thank the publisher for the personal invitation to read and review, but having read 20% of the book, I am struggling to engage with it and have to admit that it’s not for me. That’s not to say that the writing isn’t good (it is!) or that the story line isn’t a good one. So I’m really sorry, but I’m going to admit defeat and give up.. 3 stars for the quality of the writing.

A complex book, with many plot twists and turns, that is enjoyable and reads well. I would recommend it to those who like a good thriller and a mystery as well. Cat is searching for El, because she is her identical twin. What she discovers is memories that she thought she had forgotten, and a whole lot more. I don't want to spoil the ending, so the reader will have to read it for themself, especially if they enjoy a complex thriller.

This is a well conceived, carefully written book. The description of identical twin sisters, Catriona and Ellice, varies from reality to the amazing other world they created for themselves as children to escape from the realities of their upbringing. In the mix is the boy, Ross, who figures large in the story. Cat as she is known leaves El to hide in California from all that is troubling her. She returns when her sister disappears and that is the theme of a gripping, compulsive read. Bit by bit, the truth emerges to take the reader to a rewarding climax. This is not just a story of a damaging childhood and later pursuit of a missing person. The context that has been created is psychologically impressive and testing of the imagination. Set in Edinburgh mainly, the author uses that setting to advantage. I recommend this book strongly. It is a very significant achievement and contribution to fiction.

Great thriller, with so many plot twists, right up until the end. Kept me guessing, then changing my mind. Had to read in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. A real page turner, that reminded me a little of the film 'sleeping with the enemy', and the great novel 'flowers in the attic', coming together. Well written and definitely worth a read.

It seems unfair to the author to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this but it’s the truth. Cat returns to her childhood home after her twin sister El goes missing and has to sort which memories are fact and which are fiction. At first I thought Mirrorland was a bit gimmicky but I really got drawn into the story as a whole and from the half way point I was totally engrossed. There was much here that surprised and at times shocked me and I never felt like I had it all worked out. I hope this is a great success and I can’t wait to see what the author Carole Johnstone does next. Highly recommended.

Cat and El grew up in a stately stone manor in Edinburgh. The house was full of hidden corners and nooks, strange shadows and crumbling decay. The sisters played a make believe world there, one they called Mirrorland, a place where they could hide from the things that frightened them. Years later, Cat is forced to return when El disappears. She must go back to Mirrorland to follow the treasure map that El left for her to uncover the secrets of their past. Atmospheric and Gothic in nature, this book’s central and most important character is Mirrorland itself