Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone || A Dark, Twisty Thriller That Will Have You Questioning Everything

Mirrorland

With the startling twists of Gone Girl and the haunting emotional power of Room, Mirrorland is a thrilling work of psychological suspense about twin sisters, the man they both love, and the dark childhood they can’t leave behind.

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...

A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Lots of twists and turns you’ll never see coming.
• An unreliable narrator that’ll keep you guessing.
• Complicated sibling dynamics.
• A mystery that unravels little by little.
• Lots of scheming and plotting.
• A story where nothing is quite as it seems.

Many thanks to Scribner and TheWriteReads for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I am forever and always up for dark thrillers, and the blurb of this one immediately captured my attention. Plus, unreliable narrators are probably my favorite thing in mysteries. So yeah, I was obviously always going to pick this book up.

Mirrorland is a dark, twisty horror thriller with an unreliable narrator that’ll have you questioning everything you think you know. It’s got a plot that will grab you and refuse to let go, complicated sibling relations, and all the plot twists.

I definitely was not disappointed. This book was a freaking trip. I started out a little bit confused, and if you pick it up and have the same experience, I urge you to continue. Things make sense before too long, I promise! And when they do, the payoff is so rewarding. There’s a moment towards the end where the book feels like it should be over and it isn’t, which was kind of weird and not necessarily bad, plus a few moments where it somehow dragged, despite so many things happening. Despite that, I still really enjoyed this book and didn’t want to put it down!

Cat is an unreliable narrator, which leads to some confusing flashbacks at the beginning of the book. The payoff is definitely worth it, though, when things start finally piecing together and making sense!

I absolutely love unreliable narrators, even though they tend to cause some confusion at first. Maybe because of it, actually. It’s so rewarding when nothing completely makes sense and then you realize that it all makes perfect sense . . . just not quite in the way the narrator originally thought. If this isn’t a trope you’re fond of, this book probably isn’t for you, since it leans pretty heavily into it.

Mirrorland (the room in the story, not the book) starts out as a charming, semi-magical place, brought to life by a child’s imagination. You know . . . until it isn’t. The progression is gradual, as both Cat and the reader start learning truths about her past. The mystery behind it is so attention-grabbing, though, that it’s hard to put down!

Make no mistake, this is a dark book, which aptly deserves all sorts of trigger warnings. But that’s part of w hat made this book so fun.

If you can’t handle dark books, you’re probably going to want to pass on it. If you love horror, or even Gothic fiction, I think you and this book will get along just fine. This worked out great for me, because Cat isn’t really a dark character. She’s definitely got a dark sense of humor, and she’s utterly sarcastic, but I find both of those things funny. Really, she’s just at a place where she’s struggling as an adult (and really, who isn’t?) and struggling over conflicted feelings about her sibling (yup, yup, yup). She’s not necessarily a great person, but she’s also not awful, either. She’s highly relatable because she walks this middle ground that most of us tend to inhabit.

Yet, there are dark secrets about Cat’s past that she’s forgotten . . . and she may not want to remember. The house isn’t quite what it seems and neither are her memories of living there. So yes, plenty of dark things that happen in this, but if you enjoy getting goosebumps from an atmosphere or that feeling that something isn’t quite right, this book really delivers on that!

Mirrorland features some larger-than-life characters that don’t always make sense at first, but just wait for it.

This goes back to the unreliable narrator thing. You will be confused. I sure was. This especially relates to Cat’s childhood, where a lot of people are name-dropped without much explanation. Slowly but surely, this starts making sense, and when it does? *chef’s kiss* Once I realized what was happening, I started trying to make sense of the characters on my own and guessing what the big reveal would be, which was super fun (and I did eventually get a couple right).

It isn’t just Cat’s past, either. There are plenty of shady people lurking around this book, people that El had known before she disappeared—died, according to the news, but Cat isn’t so sure about that. As far as side characters go, I enjoyed them, and the complexities they brought to the mystery.

Here, there be plot twists! So. Many. Plot. Twists.

Expect the unexpected! Trust nothing! By the time I was halfway through the book, I got pretty good at guessing the plot twists, but I still misguessed several of them. I love me a book that keeps me guessing and always has surprises in store! I think the unreliable narrator is definitely a big part of why this works so well, and the dark, not-quite-right atmosphere lends a hand to that, as well. I never quite knew what to expect with this book, and it kept me turning pages to find out what would happen next!

About Carole Johnstone

Carole Johnstone is an award-winning writer from Scotland, whose short stories have been published all over the world. Mirrorland, a psychological suspense with a gothic twist, is her debut novel.

Having grown up in Lanarkshire, she now lives in the beautiful Argyll & Bute, and is currently working on her second novel: a very unusual murder-mystery, set in the equally beautiful Outer Hebrides.

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Other Reviews:

• Jen Jen Reviews
• The Artsy Reader
• An Average Life

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