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stranger_sights's review
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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.
Moderate: Death, Incest, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Incest and Rape
rachclark's review
- 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
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
- 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
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.
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
fleeno's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was quite the thriller and had me guessing all the way through. It took me a while to get used to the language used to describe the house - the clown cafe, bluebeards room, boomtown - and it was unclear how much was part of a childhood imagination and how much was real. Cat's poor memory makes her an unreliable narrator, she has blocked out a lot of childhood trauma, has a skewed view of her sister, and idolizes Ross. As some aspects of mirrorland turn out to be real I began to wonder how much of the world was real and what had happened during their childhood.
If you can persevere through the first part and get your head around the house and mirrorland the result is an amazing and imaginative story. It's rare that thrillers actually keep me guessing but this one did. The ending was superb, El and Cat are brilliant characters, the only draw back is the complex nature of the imaginary world which may be too convoluted for some readers.
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
lozababe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
We start off with Cat flying back from America to Edinburgh after her twin sister El has gone missing. Cat goes back to Edinburgh to find that her twin and her husband, Ross, have moved back into El and Cat’s childhood home. Whilst there, memories of their shared past start to come back to Cat but she spends most of the time trying to work out if they’re real memories or memories of the fantasies that the girls made up and played out. The main part of the girls’ childhood was a place that they called Mirrorland, a hidden tunnel that led to a locked wash house that they used to play in most of their childhood. As more and more memories come back, Cat has to deal with the trauma that occurred during their childhood. At the same time, she also has to deal with her sister missing and presumed dead. Cat is adamant the whole time that El isn’t dead and that she would know if she was as she would “feel” it, being identical twins she could always feel her sister’s pain. Cat also has to deal with her feelings for Ross resurfacing as he was also a large part of their childhood and she has never got over her feelings for him.
There were so many twists and turns in this book, that I had a hard time telling what was real from what was fantasy and it really put me in the mindset of Cat and her struggle to separate the two. I thought for the last part of the book that I had it all figured out, but in the last couple of chapters Carole Johnstone really threw a spanner in the works and changed everything again. Whilst a little confusing at times, it was good because it did make you empathise with Cat and how she was remembering things that had happened in her past.
Thank you to Carole Johnstone and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review, I loved it!
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest, Murder, and Confinement
readergonewilde's review
- 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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Incest, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse
soobooksalot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for my eARC for review!
Cat has returned to her childhood home in Scotland after the disappearance of her "mirror twin" sister, El.
The twins haven't seen each other in 12 years for undisclosed reasons, and the house is now owned by El and husband/childhood neighbour Ross.
It's a house in which they played amidst clowns, pirates, witches and evil tooth fairies. And a secret basement area known as Mirrorland.
It's evident early on that we are to consider the house as a character of sorts. Lengthy explanations of the setting, as well as pet names for each room are referenced, and frequently.
It's disconcerting, and we are not privvy as to why. Is it the unreliable memory of childhood, or repressed events turned into fantasies for survival?
This read was uneven for me. Interesting thriller elements with layers of clues and riddles are interspersed with the childhood house imagery a bit too frequently for my liking. Do check it out if you like a unique suspense tale!
For release on April 20.
Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
thecatladybooknook_penny's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If you like dark, slow-burn stories with a few twists; if you like fantasy and imaginary play, I think you'll like this. Even those who read literary fiction may even like this if they also enjoy mystery/thrillers.
Cat and El (mirror twins) have a very vivid imagination as children, encouraged by their mother, which lends very heavily to the fantastical elements. There are even times where Cat as an adult leans in to what she knew as a child which made the house seem to take on a life of its own. When I first started reading this, I was slightly confused, but I'm used to reading 1000 page fantasy novels. I was willing to ride it out and see where this story would go. I'm really glad I did.
There were some moments in the story where Cat would be narrating the story and she goes back to a childhood memory as a flashback of sorts which can be a little confusing for some because you aren't told "this is flashback, and okay now, we're back to real time". I didn't mind that once I saw the author using that technique more and more. The writing style was simple without being overly simplistic and was easy to read and imagine what was happening within the story. A really good debut novel!
I highly recommend this book for the type reader I described above. Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner books for this free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Rape, Self harm, and Incest