Reviews tagging 'Death'

Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

8 reviews

cinderrunner's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

mallory10100's review against another edition

i didn’t like the main character and found the plot very confusing at times. i struggled with the time jumps unlabelled mid-chapter and didn’t like how the main character was so weirdly in love with her missing-possibly-dead twin sisters husband. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs

kate_reads_books's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Incest, and Rape

meastoyles's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death and Murder

stranger_sights's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Incest, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

rachclark's review

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Incest, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt

madarauchiha's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜  my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

It's a standard who dunnit mystery with plenty of plot twists and a great pay off. I greatly dislike the incest plot, but it worked well enough. 

Content warnings:
medium self harm, pedophilia, incest, drug overdose, 

major racism about magical non existent tribes, child abuse, mouth trauma, blood, dental trauma, scars , guns, stalking, paranoia, suicide, incest, domestic abuse, abuse, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, marital infidelity, child abuse, gaslighting, NSFW, suicide threats, suicide, medical scenarios, death, murder,

About the incest warning. Major spoilers.

the 'bluebeard' character is actually the grandfather. The grandfather is also their father, having imprisons one of his adult twin daughter and raped them off screen, impregnating her at least once. The incest / csa is not depicted explicitly but it is implied and confirmed to have happened. The plot is focus more on the current day, as the grandfather is long since dead.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

readergonewilde's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Incest, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse