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A review by glamatronic
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
5.0
I loved Mirrorland and all its twists. It starts off a bit slow and I wondered exactly where the story was going. The beginning started as more of the imagination of two children in a pirate fantasy, but trust me, it gets much better and there is a good reason for slow intro.
El has gone missing and her sister, Cat, who moved to America 12 years ago comes back to Scotland to find her. After missing for several days, she is assumed dead by most, but Cat insists she knows she's alive. We learn the sisters have complex relationship with both an intense bond and major issues. Cat ends up staying in Scotland with her sister's husband, Ross, who we find out was their childhood friend and love interest of both sisters.
Cat is soon sent on a journey back into her childhood after receiving mysterious emails that she believes are from missing sister, El. Cat is finding her sisters old journal entries and treasure hunt clues in their childhood home and begins remembering Mirrorland. Mirrorland is the world she and her sister imagined as children and starts off as a fun playland that eventually unravels into much more the further you get into the story. Cat's memories begin to blur and she isn't sure what is reality and what was imaginary.
Through all the twists, you begin questioning if El is just missing and alive, or is she dead? Did she get murdered? Was it an accident? Was it a suicide? Was it planned? Is there much more to the story than meets the eye? All options seem possible.
Overall, I really enjoyed the magical realism infused throughout the story, the blurred lines between reality and imagination with Cat, the flaws in the characters that made them seem like real people, and the twists along the way. I'd highly recommend reading Mirrorland.
El has gone missing and her sister, Cat, who moved to America 12 years ago comes back to Scotland to find her. After missing for several days, she is assumed dead by most, but Cat insists she knows she's alive. We learn the sisters have complex relationship with both an intense bond and major issues. Cat ends up staying in Scotland with her sister's husband, Ross, who we find out was their childhood friend and love interest of both sisters.
Cat is soon sent on a journey back into her childhood after receiving mysterious emails that she believes are from missing sister, El. Cat is finding her sisters old journal entries and treasure hunt clues in their childhood home and begins remembering Mirrorland. Mirrorland is the world she and her sister imagined as children and starts off as a fun playland that eventually unravels into much more the further you get into the story. Cat's memories begin to blur and she isn't sure what is reality and what was imaginary.
Through all the twists, you begin questioning if El is just missing and alive, or is she dead? Did she get murdered? Was it an accident? Was it a suicide? Was it planned? Is there much more to the story than meets the eye? All options seem possible.
Overall, I really enjoyed the magical realism infused throughout the story, the blurred lines between reality and imagination with Cat, the flaws in the characters that made them seem like real people, and the twists along the way. I'd highly recommend reading Mirrorland.