Reviews with content warning for Incest - Mirrorland

This book was an interesting reading 'journey' for me. I was so close to not finishing this book. I found part one of the book veryyyyy slow. I had to really focus to stay engaged and found the story hard to follow, this isn't a problem I usually have. The descriptions of 'Mirrorland' were sometimes hard for me to picture and understand but this may be because I struggled to remain focused in the first half of the book.
But part two. Wow. Once the story sped up and got interesting, it got REALLY interesting. And the twists! Many I didn't see coming.
There are some very graphic scenes depicting death in this story as well as other distressing content so please beware & read trigger warnings. It could easily be distressing to read for some.
I really enjoyed this book, not as much as I was expecting as the claims and blurb hyped it up for sure, but I'm definitely glad I stuck with it and finished it as I did almost quit reading this one in the early stages.

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jasminedann's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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meastoyles's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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verystarry's review against another edition

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dark funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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odrib's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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tabby2920's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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stranger_sights's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

You can read my full review at: https://strangersights.com/mirrorland-by-carole-johnstone-writereads-blog-tour/

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for goodreads.

I really, really loved this book. This is definitely one of those ones that I’m going to probably find myself beating people over the head with (metaphorically speaking, of course) in an effort to try to convince them to read it. There is just so much here – not just the mystery of El’s disappearance, but the many mysteries of Mirrorland, of the bonds of sisterhood, and even of the human psyche. I feel like I could write for days about all the bits of this book that I loved.

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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a good thriller, with a lot of twists and turns you don't see coming and an eerie setting of an old gothic house in Edinburgh. I do think it relied a little too much on trauma for some of the twists, so please be wary of the content warnings.

It's told from the perspective Cat, who is estranged from her missing twin sister and her sister's husband. I liked how we slowly learn about what's happened in the past and the relationships between these three characters. As soon as I thought I had one thing figured out, I learned something new that threw a wrench in everything.

I enjoyed listening to the audio, especially with the narrator's Scottish accent, though I have to admit that for the first few chapters, I thought she was saying "Maryland" instead of "Mirrorland"...once I finally realized what she was saying, everything made more sense lol.

The narration does switch between present and past pretty often, and also between reality and the fantasy world of Mirrorland that the girls created. With the audio, it was sometimes difficult to notice either switch, and I found myself getting confused about what was happening when and if certain things were actually happening or just their imagination. Maybe these distinctions were clearer in the print book.

Thanks to Libro.fm, Simon & Schuster Audio, and the author for my ALC!

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