Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Mirrorland

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

37 reviews

g3mm4's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I spent most of the book confused about what was going on - the split between fantasy and reality was hard to comprehend at times

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beccabarpel's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

Well-executed psychological horror! What's real, what's imagined, and does it matter in the end? Generational trauma feeding into current trauma. The pros and cons of sisters who know each other too well. The complexity of love and forgiveness.

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zenzi2read's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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brianareads's review

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

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harleyqueen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Wonderful debut novel handled themes of trauma respectfully .2 sisters create a world to protect them from their own reality

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Atmosphere: 👍

You know how childhood memories can be both extremely vivid and super foggy? The writing style nailed that feeling. Set in a home with lots of nooks and crannies, it has a whimsical atmosphere with an underlying sense of danger that builds until it starts taking over.
-If you feel lost, there's a layout of the house on the author's website, because they based it on their grandparents' actual house!

Main POV: 👍

A twin in their 20s/30s returning to their childhood home. They were all too happy to leave behind their twin sister and hometown as a young adult to become a content creator in L.A., and returning has brought back not-so-welcome memories of their shared childhood.

Growls and Howls: 🐺

-If you write a story but don’t give much detail, I will start filling it in with my imagination. And if you suddenly get descriptive and smash all my little imaginings to bits halfway through I will be so mad at you. That’s exactly what this author did BUT I was fully there for it. The fantastical and strange is gradually shaped and smashed into real life Horrors and I loved it.

-The ending wasn’t necessarily a bad one, but it was so rushed that one of the characters had to explain everything to us and the MC. And I was still confused…I wish the beginning half of the book was cut down to draw out that ending so we could discover some of it out on our own.

Show'n'Tell: 😵‍💫

Show with a sudden switch to tell just when it was getting good. Like bringing a Pokemon card in for class, then ending with “oh yeah I have two special edition ones too”. Flashes them up just as the bell rings.

Cred Rating: 👍🤡

Best to go in with suspended disbelief. Like, the treasure hunt would have been over if anyone in that house ever picked up a Swiffer. Realistic police investigation and portrayals of how we process childhood abuse.

Reading Journey: 👍

You know those city walking tours on YouTube? The one for Edinburgh went through strobe-light carnivals at the base of a giant castle on a cliff, sidewalks with gothic looking structures scattered about, and house music blaring through a maze of alleyways. That’s what reading this felt like.

Good match if you like:

-Unreliable NarratIVES (MC is sure of their memories but also starting to doubt them, yet others are having the same troubles and we aren’t sure which one is the true version and who to trust)

-Childhood trauma and resilience themes
-"Good for her" trope

-Puzzles

-Dark family secrets

-Evil/psychic twin bond energy

Vibes: 😢🤯😵‍💫

Format: Library E-book via Libby

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cinderrunner's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book and its concepts are admittedly a little complex. It is heavy on the psychological aspect of psychological thriller. A lot of negative reviews are complaining that the concept of Mirrorland is too involved, but I think that is exactly the point. The flashbacks and convoluted nature of Mirrorland go hand in hand with Cat's mental state. The story unfolds as Cat's memories do, the reality hits us as it does Cat. This is a truly interesting and complex look at trauma and the way it impacts every aspect of a person's life (even long after the specific traumatic events are over). The mystery aspect is very well done thanks to the confussion we get as a result of Cat. I got a grasp early on about what the elements of Mirrorland stood for, but I was never fully confident on their real life counterparts until it was revealed. Everytime I thought I knew how the plot would unfold, I never felt like I could trust my instincts. Even when I was right about one plot element, something else would get thrown into the loop that i didn't see coming. This isn't a straigh forward, cut and dry mastery/thriller. You actually do have to think. That's not everyone's cup of tea and not everyone is willing to use the extra brain power it takes for a story like this. I feel awful for Mouse, she deserves justice more than Cat or El.

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cphunter's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

My first 5 stars! I absolutely loved this book. It was so so well written (I only have one very minor criticism, which is that there is a French character whose mix of English and French was…unusual) and the twists were so well executed.
The story drew me in with confusion and then there were so many well placed clues and reveals that I was enthralled.

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jla's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Libby audiobook. I did not expect to like this book. There's a fantasy, gothic element that I was worried I would find annoying, but it added to the creepy suspense. Kat isn't very likeable, and is an unreliable narrator. The lives of all the children in this book were horrific.

This book could have ended at 94% and I would have been perfectly happy. The last 6% I would say took away about 0.5 stars. It made sense, but I'm not sure I preferred that ending.

TW- child abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, suicide

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katiecat22's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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