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A review by henrymarlene
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
3.0
When you think of a mirror, you think of a reflection, a reverse image. We are provided with many dichotomies of such in this story, starting with 36 Westeryk Road. It is the home of Cat and her twin sister El. It is sinister and creepy. What and who dwells within it are equally so. Inside the home is Mirrorland, a place that sounds so real and so fantastical at the same time. It seemed like a place to escape to, but equally it was somewhere to escape from, all at the same time, like the rotting remains of a street carnival and a scary image lurking in the background.
Cat returns to the house, and Mirrorland, at the news that her sister is missing, feared dead. The house conjures up memories that do not wish to feel the light of the sun. The connections to the house are equally fragmented and so thick they blind all rationality. They force Cat to remember what she doesn't want to, and to confront the very things she did not know but knew were waiting for her. Sounds cryptic, right? Because it is. It is almost like trying to decipher a reflection in a reflection you may not have known was there. It's like in Bladerunner when Deckard uses the esper photo scanner: Cat begins to analyze and remember memory fragments photos, allowing her to rebuild memories of things that didn't happen back into the reality hidden away from view.
The premise of the connections between multiple birth siblings and requited love triangles seemed predictable. The hidden abuse and childhood traumas that were unearthed were rather horrific. And Mirrorland somehow, although gritty and chilling, was a saviour in so many ways, right up until the end with the start of the third life, which was the ultimate surprise of all.
Cat returns to the house, and Mirrorland, at the news that her sister is missing, feared dead. The house conjures up memories that do not wish to feel the light of the sun. The connections to the house are equally fragmented and so thick they blind all rationality. They force Cat to remember what she doesn't want to, and to confront the very things she did not know but knew were waiting for her. Sounds cryptic, right? Because it is. It is almost like trying to decipher a reflection in a reflection you may not have known was there. It's like in Bladerunner when Deckard uses the esper photo scanner: Cat begins to analyze and remember memory fragments photos, allowing her to rebuild memories of things that didn't happen back into the reality hidden away from view.
The premise of the connections between multiple birth siblings and requited love triangles seemed predictable. The hidden abuse and childhood traumas that were unearthed were rather horrific. And Mirrorland somehow, although gritty and chilling, was a saviour in so many ways, right up until the end with the start of the third life, which was the ultimate surprise of all.