Carole’s book MIRRORLAND was one of my favorites of 2021, so I was so excited to read this book.

This was a bit of a slow burn but that didn’t bother me at all. Carole’s writing is beautiful and she does such an amazing job of making you feel like you’re right there with the characters. The setting of this book played a HUGE role in bring this ghost story to life (Isle of Kilmeray, in Scotland). This book has great character development and such a crazy twist..loved everything about it.

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the authors last book “Mirrorland” although it was a challenging read. But it was worth the effort. Unfortunately this time it was not.

When Maggie was five years old she claimed to be the reincarnation of a man who lived on a small Scottish island and who was murdered there. Her mother was a psychic and she took Maggie to this island and made a big show about it. Now Maggie is twenty-five and her mother recently died. Maggie is a nervous wreck and was diagnosed to be bipolar. She does not remember that time when she was five but she wants to know what happened then and if her claim was true. So she travels again to this island but the people there are not happy to see her.

I try to express what I did not like about the book without any major spoilers.
• The story is not very complex, although it seems like it at first. But after finishing it I think the story is too thin to carry through all those pages.
• The pace is painfully slow. There is too much back and forth in Maggie’s head.
• Too many characters. I could not tell most of them apart until the last page. There is a glossary at the end and I wish I knew this from the start.
• Maggie is not a character I could warm up to. And all other characters are not very well developed. Maybe because there are so many of them.
• The final “twist”. Well, what shall I say? I did not like it.
• Maggie is diagnosed as bipolar. I do not have experience with this but for me Maggie is her chaotic self the whole time. There is no change. She is just inconsistent.
• I hate it when people in a book come together to talk and then they don’t. They lie, don’t tell anything important or just speak in riddles and it just fills page after page. That happens here all the time.
• All the people of the island. They are a special breed, maybe it is like this on remoted islands. But how they treated Robert, the second narrator of this book, is despicable. He needed help but they just made him worse. And they did not learn. They are playing games with Maggie all the same.

The setting on the island is eerie and atmospheric. But the story itself could not win me over. This was a weird book.

This one took me 6 months to read. I had really high hopes going by the synopsis but I just found it tedious and never had the urge to pick it up. The storyline itself was good, I enjoyed the dark side to it, but overall, it was how I can only describe as monotone.

I loved Carole Johnstone's debut, MIRRORLAND, and was excited to read her second novel. It's well written, twisty and full of surprises, but the plot is overly complicated and confusing. Unfortunately not one for me.

When Maggie MacKay rents a blackhouse for a few months on a small island in the Outer Hebrides in the town of Blairmore, it’s not the first time she’s been there. Her mother brought her to the island some twenty years before, when she was five and making extraordinary claims about a man called Andrew MacNeil, who she was convinced drowned there five years before. Once the town realises who she is, some are kind and welcoming, but most just want to see her leave again. However, with her mother now dead, Maggie is determined not to leave this time without some answers.

This is a very atmospheric novel with a creepy, brooding, almost gothic feel. The spectacular landscape, the ruggedness of the island and the extremes of the weather and the seas are vividly described and are the best features of the novel. Maggie’s isolation, the blackhouse itself and the elements of Norse mythology woven in all worked well to add spookiness and fear. Maggie herself is quite fragile, having suffered from mental illness before being treated for bipolar disease, but she knows she needs to resolve what happened on the island before she can get on with her life.

The narrative is told from Maggie’s point of view as well as by a man called Robert who came to the island twenty six years before. He’s a difficult man and not one you can feel much sympathy for. Set on being a farmer, despite his lack of experience and his family’s past as fishermen, he finds few friends amongst the islanders, even those who want to help him and his wife and little boy. There is also quite a cast of secondary characters that I found difficult to keep track of, and distinguish from each other, as they didn’t stand out as clear individuals until much later in the book when a few of them play more of a role (there is a list of characters at the end of the kindle version which could help). The plot develops slowly, too slowly to develop much of a sense of suspense, until the ending when the dreadful secret the islanders have been hiding is revealed to Maggie. This turned out to be much more complex than expected and went a long way to explaining the secretiveness of the islanders. So overall, a mixed bag of a read, but one I enjoyed for the setting and atmosphere and a good (albeit slow) tale of guilt, secrets and ultimately forgiveness.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
This book is described as dark and chilling, and whilst I agree with this there are so many instances of mental health problems I began to feel as though there would be no story if every character had been in good health. Linked to the culture of islander beliefs in old Norse gods, myths and legends there was a constant thread of threat and anxiety throughout each page but it was unclear if these were actual events, such as someone watching or following, or if it was all in the character's mind. Very few characters seemed 'normal', mostly they were angry, unsociable or plain rude. I didn't like this book at all and despite persevering to see if the outcome justified the pages of fear-filled nothingness but I finally gave up with a third unfinished. If you enjoy tales with a slow build bordering on horror you will like it, so I've given it 2 stars but the narrative style was not for me.

A little too overloaded with all things creepy and or shocking

This didn’t really work for me. It’s a kind of thriller, island version of the country house murder plus some spooky supernatural elements, an unreliable narrator, and an obligatory high steam sexy love interest plus a whole bucket load of shock reveals. Oh, and throw in a job lot of deeply unpleasant men, domestic abuse, mental health.

Far too many cans of worms. I would have been more absorbed had there been less of everything designed to shock

This one wasn’t for me. I struggled with the pace and it took me a long time to get through the book. I also sadly couldn’t connect to the characters. Not a bad book, just one I didn’t enjoy, which was a shame because I really enjoyed the previous book by the same author.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for a chance to read and review this book.

I love stories about the Hebrides so was looking forward to reading this.......however it has taken me much longer than other books and I admit I have struggled a bit with it.
It is beautifully written with a great atmosphere of the tides, winds, storms and the local island community with it's own beliefs and legends.
It seemed to be a rather tricky story to understand as to who was who and who was related to whom.
The glossary at the end did help, but by then I had struggled through.

After reading and enjoying Mirrorland earlier in the year I was looking forward to reading the Blackhouse. However, the story is so slow and not particularly engaging. Maggie was ab annoying character and I had no sympathy for her.

I had the same issue when I was reading mirrorland- it was slow to start and quite complex - so I did persist with The Blackhouse. However, it was a real grind to read and I didn’t enjoy it at all. What a disappointment.

I don't know where to start with this… I don't think I've ever read a book so quickly but also so determined to take in every word! It is packed with atmospheric description of the area, the nature, the way the weather changes in an instant, it just made me feel like I was there. The characters are also so well written. I love Maggie, brought up all her life believing she was the reincarnation of a man believed to be murdered on the island. Her search for truth in the closed-off, secretive community is tense to say the least, she certainly stirs up some bad feelings.
Occasionally you'll read a book that brings to life a place or people so well that you have a feeling of loss when you've finished, this is one of those books for me. Just stunning!

If you are looking for a spooky, atmospheric novel set in Scotland then look no further! This book oozes darkness and superstition, with Carole Johnstone creating such a vivid, haunting image of Blairmore village and its surrounding areas. The descriptions in this book are everything and the setting really is a character of its own; you truly feel like you are there and experiencing the close knitted community for yourself.

For me, this was a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, with the plot taking a while to properly kick off. For fear of any spoilers I won’t say too much about what happens but it’s definitely a book to stick with until the very end!

5 year old Maggie believes she had lived before as Andrew, a resident from the Outer Hebrides who she says was murdered. The Blackhouse tells the story of her returning to the island 20 years later to find out the truth. The book focuses on two main timelines; the present day with Maggie and the past with Robert. These intermingle perfectly and I loved the little snippets of Robert we got throughout the book. Whilst I found Maggie a bit distant in the beginning, I warmed to her in the end and the way the island totally consumed her! Perhaps this was done deliberately to reflect Maggie’s on views on Blairmore and island itself.

A brilliantly crafted book, The Blackhouse is a deep, dark, intense read that sucks you in with its claustrophobic nature and spits you back out with lots of twists and turns along the way!

With The Blackhouse Carole Johnstone has created an eerie, atmospheric story which pulls the reader in.

Written in dual timelines we get the story both from Maggie, our main character, & Robert's perspectives, revealing the tale in a tantalising way. The Island itself feels like a character it is so well described, desolate, isolated but beautiful. In fact it is Carole's writing that really brings this story to life, the chilling, sinister feeling running throughout the book hyping up the suspense.

I loved Charlie, he was so wonderfully written, flawed but so endearing. This cast of characters kept me guessing throughout the novel.

I don't know what it's like where you are but the it's lasting it down here so I feel confident in saying this is one you can curl up with a hot drink & a blanket to enjoy as autumn is almost here 😊

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Mystery Thriller
𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀: 320

Pub-date: 4th Aug 2022

This is a belated review as the book was released at the beginning of August! Sorry but thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollinsuk for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Looking for an atmospheric setting where things go bump in the night and a unique premise for a mystery thriller? Look no further!

I really enjoyed this one, folks! The subject of reincarnation has always fascinated me, especially after seeing a documentary about a kid who was sure he was the reincarnation of a World War II pilot! His name was James Leininger. Look him up!

Anywho, this story follows Maggie, a 30 something Brit who returns to the Isle of Kilmeray in Scotland. No one knows who she is, and she is determined to keep it that way. After all, the villagers would never open up to her if they knew she was the 5-year-old girl who accused them of killing Andrew McNeil. A man no one had ever heard of but who Maggie knew had lived on this Island. She knew, because she once was Andrew McNeil.😳

What a great premise… love the eerie atmosphere of the island, the bleak weather and the suspicious islanders.

After her mother’s death Maggie is obsessed with finding out the truth. Did Andrew McNeil really exist? Or was it all in her mind?

This is a slow burn so don’t read it if you’re in a hurry. You need to take it in slow strides, savouring the moody location and spine-chilling moments when Maggie wakes up to strange noises and dead ravens in The Blackhouse!

This is a great read for the spooky season!

I was really looking forward to reading The Blackhouse. I loved the premise and I'm a massive fan of thrillers. This was a good read but I found it slow going and it didn't really wow me.

Creepy, truly frightening at times, and gripping. A disturbing story that kept me hooked and on the edge.
The author did a good job in developing Maggie and the tightly knitted community of the island. There's a paranormal undertones and the right level of creepiness.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Maggie MacKay grew up feeling different. Her mother was heavily into the occult & when Maggie was five she said that she was a man who was murdered on the island of Kilmery in the Outer Hebrides. The documentary about her stirred up feelings on the island. Diagnosed as bi-polar & after her mother's death leading to a psychotic break that left her hospitalised she decides she needs to finally put this to rest by going back to Kilmery.

The story switches from Maggie to Robert Reid who came to the island with his wife & son. He is a deeply troubled man & his descent into madness is vividly portrayed as is the wildness of the Outer Hebrides. Carole Johnstone captures the atmosphere of the place. Her descriptions of the island & its storms really pull you in. The story of Robert is gradually revealed & Maggie battles her own demons to get to the truth. It was a great read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

EXCERPT: I remember, even before I fumble for the bedside lamp switch. I'm in a clifftop Blackhouse on the edge of the world. And the sound - the sound that has raised the hairs on my skin and scalp; that has set my heart beating so hard I can feel its pulse in my fingers and toes - is not nurses on night rounds or the swish of fire doors. It is here.

I hear it again close to the window. Quick, light taps against the glass. And then muffled, louder taps getting closer. I listen to their progress along the wall towards the fireplace, and I draw my knees up against my chest. I think of the narrow-paved path that circles the cottage. Could it be sheep? But those taps don't sound like hooves. They sound like steps. Light and fast. As though someone is on tiptoe.

I almost scream when something scrapes too loud, too close, against the kitchen wall. It pauses, and I spin round in the bed, ears rushing with white noise as I strain to listen. When it starts up again - a scratching like something pressed against and dragged along the stone outside - I lurch out of bed, my hand over my mouth. The door to the mudroom is open, and I nearly scream again when they reach the door, start tapping on the small inset window. Another longer scrape of stone, and then the bathroom window. I think of bócain and thin places. I think of dead crows with empty oval eye sockets. I think of someone watching from the dark. Worst of all, I think of Robert Reid.

ABOUT 'THE BLACKHOUSE': Maggie Mackay has been haunted her entire life. No matter what she does, she can’t shake the sense that something is wrong with her. And maybe something is…

When she was five years old, without proof, Maggie announced that someone in the remote village of Blairmore in the Outer Hebrides had murdered a local man, sparking a media storm.

Now, Maggie is determined to discover what really happened and what the villagers are hiding. But everyone has secrets, and some are deadly. As she gets closer to the horrifying truth, Maggie’s own life is in danger…

MY THOUGHTS: The remote Hebridean Island of Kilmeray is like a magnet to Maggie Mackay. Her mother had taken her there as a five-year-old child, and she announced that she was Andrew Macneil and she had been murdered there.

After her mother's death and her own psychotic episode, Maggie returns, determined to uncover the truth, sure that is the key to quitening her own restless spirit.

But on an island like Kilmeray, and in an insular village like Blairmore, the locals all live and work together. That's how they survive. So it's not unexpected that they would stand together against someone coming in and asking questions, making accusations.

Carole Johnstone is great at creating atmosphere. Her chosen location of a small wind and storm swept island that is more often than not cut off from the rest of the world by the weather is ideal for this storyline. But the seas are not all that is menacing. There are the villagers, who seem to be playing a game of cat and mouse with Maggie. One minute they are turning their backs on her, warning her off; the next tempting her with some tidbit of information. Maggie's journey to uncover what they are hiding is a tense and twisty one; the final reveal unexpected and satisfying.

There is a sprinkling of Norse mythology, and romance; a hint of the supernatural. This is a story about grief and revenge; a story of mental illness and justice; a story of one woman trying to find her own peace.

On reflection, I wish I had listened to the audiobook of The Blackhouse. It could only have added to the atmosphere and my enjoyment.

⭐⭐⭐.8

#theblackhouse #NetGalley

I: @carole_l_johnstone @harpercollins

T: @C_L_Johnstone @HarperCollins

#contemporaryfiction #crime #mentalhealth #mystery #scottishnoir #smalltownfiction

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 to Harper Collins, Harper Fiction via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Blackhouse 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

I loved this atmospheric Gothic thriller. What a unique story. A bipolar woman returns to an Outer Hebrides island she visited as a child, claiming to be a reincarnated man who had been murdered there. The story alternates between then and now and is very unsettling with its supernatural overtones and the stifling, scary weather-beaten island as a character in itself.

I knew I would enjoy The Blackhouse when I read the blurb. It sounded right up my street. I didn’t expect to love it quite to much. I loved the setting, the way the author brings the islands and the way of life alive. It’s so real I felt I was really there on Blairmore. I liked the way the chapters explore how Maggie’s past and past tragedies on the island have an impact on the present. The book is quite dark at times as Maggie moves closer to the shocking truth. I loved the twists and turns in the final chapters. I’m still shaking my head.