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cinderrunner's review against another edition
- 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
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
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
3.75
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.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Incest, and Rape
jamierose's review
- 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
Graphic: Violence and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Confinement
tabby2920's review
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Incest, Rape, and Sexual violence
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
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