⚠️trigger warning: talk of abuse, incest, murder, and suicide⚠️
Catriona "Cat" has just been notified that her identical twin sister has gone missing. She had gone out on her boat and never came back. Cat now has to return to her past. A past so dark and horrible that she went as far as moving to another country just to escape it. Cat makes the voyage from California to Scotland, back to the home she grew up in; the home that her sister Ellice "El" shared with her husband Ross, a friend since childhood to the sisters. Upon her return, Cat realizes that it looks very much the same as the day she and her sister escaped. Even Mirrorland. When they were kids, they invented a place under the pantry stairs called Mirrorland to go and escape when things got bad. A place they could go to feel safe. Cat doesn't believe for a second that her sister is dead. In fact, she's convinced this is just a ploy for her to get attention. Not long after she returns to 36 Westeryk Road, she not only starts receiving threatening cards, but also emails that include clues that lead to passages in Els old diary. Who is sending the emails and the cards? Something isn't adding up right. Is El really behind this whole thing? Could their past be coming back to haunt her?
Thank you to Netgalley, Carole Johnston, and Scribner for the opportunity to read and review this book.  I have mixed feelings about this one. It alternates between the past and present, which is fairly common for books, but it got confusing at times. It finally started making sense and clicking about ¾ through the book. It's a very dark and twisted psychological thriller. As I said, some of it was a little confusing to follow and it seemed a bit drawn out. There was a few times towards the end of the book when I was finishing the chapter that I actually thought that it was the end only to find there was still more to go. Overall, the plot as a whole is a good one and I did enjoy it for the most part. I am rating this ⭐⭐⭐💫

I went into this one sort of blind other than knowing people had raved about it. I knew it was a story about twins who grew up in Scotland and that one of the twins had gone missing. The mystery aspect along with the twin characters as well as the comparison to Gone Girl is what made me request this book.

At halfway through, I was lost in the book and not in a good way. I found myself rewinding the audiobook to see if it was a flashback from Cat, something that was happening in the present or something that didn’t happen at all.

I was really hoping for more but still felt lost around 80%. The last 20% picked up but it was such a convoluted ending that was totally unexpected and not in a good way.

I am giving the author bonus points for being able to come up with and execute this story but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone definitely lived up to the hype. A page-turner, full of creepy and mysterious things. Love the overall vibe of this book even though it kept me up at night. Yikes! Addicting and very readable. Recommend. Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy.

I wish so hoping to love this one. But I couldn’t get through it. My brain couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Skimmed to the end of the book.

Thank you so much to net galley and the punk for sending me a copy of this book! This book was good in some senses but I guess I just didn’t really connect with it but it was a great thriller

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

My thoughts: how do I even define this book? Is it a domestic thriller? Is it a fantasy? Is it a mystery? To me, it’s all of the above. And it’s written beautifully.

This is another one where you may think you know the ending, but you don’t. I love those. Throw in the imaginings of children (which when written almost sounded real), and this book is definitely one I’d recommend to friends and family.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story was just… a lot. Overall I liked it. But it was so confusing to read, jumping from the present to the past to memories of the past to a make believe past… It was hard to keep track of and it kept dragging on. Shorter and less confusing would have been a lot better because it was a compelling plot.

Gosh I wanted to love this book! But I sadly didn’t. The way the author just mixes the different genres, it just confused the heck out of me. This one just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Maybe it was the location of Edinburgh, or the demeanor of Cat, but this one was hard for me to follow. The secret room, pirates, I was scratching my head. I didn't realize the fantasy element because I wouldn't have selected it. I like my thriller straightforward I guess. Just not my genre.

I thought I would love this book but I didn't. I think it is because there are so many different genres woven into the story. If the author had stuck to one genre I would have liked it better.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

This is a beautifully written novel. You find yourself really rooting for the main character as her story is slowly revealed. There are plenty of teasers that keep you off track of what is really happening. Enough to keep it a gripping mystery that you won't want to stop reading.

This was the most interesting book I have read in a long time! I loved the childhood imagination fantasy element, and the story was so spooky! I loved the characters and the twists, I felt genuinely shocked many times. I couldn't put this down, I hope to read more by this author in the future!

A fascinating choice for any novel is relying on the unreliable narrator. I may never see it done better than Carole Johnstone has done in her debut novel, Mirrorland.



Mirrorland is a hard novel to categorize and I am not sure it is even worth trying. Catriona “Cat” Morgan has been living in Los Angeles ever since leaving Edinburgh, Scotland, some 12 years before. Early in the novel we learn that she left after a falling out with her “mirror” twin sister Ellice. The details of that falling out figure prominently in the story, which flashes back to the girls’ childhood living in an old house and playing in a part of the house they called Mirrorland.



Cat is returning to Edinburgh following the disappearance of Ellice. She had sailed out on her boat but never reached her announced destination. Both the boat and Ellice were missing and as time goes on, hope for her safe return diminishes.



The book is essentially told from Cat’s perspective, and things get very weird very fast. Cat’s memories of Mirrorland include real people: herself, Ellice, Ross–the boy next door who becomes Ellice’s husband after they all grow up. They also include make-believe characters: Annie and Mouse, clowns and pirates, a witch and Bluebeard and Blackbeard and the hoped for return of Captain Morgan.



But as the book develops, we find that Cat’s memory cannot be trusted. Some of those make-believe characters are actually real people, people she had relegated to a fiction section of her mind. Some of them were known to her in other contexts: an aunt, her grandfather. We begin learning that her memories of her sister are also corrupted, as are her memories of her brother-in-law and of the rest of her family. Even the house itself holds secrets that are locked into the fantasies she’s told herself.



For much of the book, I could not tell whether it was a fantasy novel and her memories were real, filled with pirates and clowns and danger as they visited an alternate world; or whether it was a mystery and nothing she said or thought could be believed. In some ways it is both. In both ways, it is excellent.



Mirrorland is a dark and disturbing read, with a narrator whose grip on sanity is at best tenuous and whose memories are hard to trust. It is also a book with power and presence and a stellar debut for the author.

This book was a crazy ride and an incredible debut! What started out as a haunting tale of the fantasies of identical twins became a thrilling story with so many twists. Each time I thought I solved the mystery, there would be a twist I didn't expect.

This is the story of El and Cat identical twins who grew up in an abusive home who escaped to an imaginary world in order to cope. Their real life began after their mother and grandfather die. Cat returns to try to find her missing sister because she is sure she is not dead even though the police found her body in her sunken sail boat. A confusing story with a surprise ending.

"Mirrorland" is the type of book I love. It is the exciting story of identical twin sisters, Cat and El. We learn of their strange upbringing, their alienation from each other as adults, and the unexplained death of El. whose distraught husband claims the death was a suicide, but Cat is sure that El is still alive She is certain that she would instinctively know if El was dead because they are mirror images of each other. Later after the body is retrieved from the water, Cat refuses to believe that El is gone. The plot keeps the reader guessing the entire time and the ending is amazing. It was hard to put it down.

This book was and is my first read from this author! But I must admit from the beginning it had me! All I will say is it’s about twin sisters that def use their imagination! But I’m not gonna give this book away except to say pay close attention! I loved the ups and downs! The people were all easy to relate to! This author is beyond talented! If you are looking for a great book to read that gets you from the moment you open this book then look no further! Just pay attention you won’t want to miss anything!
I will def be looking to read more from this author! Keep up the amazing work! You have gained a new follower and fan that’s for sure!!

I wanted to love Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone,, but it was just OK.The back and forth between present and past gave me a bit confusing. It was hard to keep track of what was real and what was imaginary. Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

While this book was not my cup of tea, I did finish and found the second half to be a bit more enjoyable than the first. I wasn't aware of how much of a fantasy it would be.