Mirrorland

By: Carole Johnstone

Narrated by: Katie Leung

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Told with startling twists and haunting power, Mirrorland is a thrilling psychological suspense novel about twin sisters, the man they both love, the house that has always haunted them, and the childhood stories they can’t leave behind.

Cat lives in Los Angeles, far from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs, full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days, Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband, Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which hasn't changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone - El? - has left Cat clues: a treasure hunt that leads back to Mirrorland, where the truth lies waiting....

A brilliantly crafted story of love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, pause-resisting debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.

©2021 Carole Johnstone. All rights reserved. (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Mirrorland Is Like No Other

I really enjoyed the rollercoaster ride into & through the storyline & characters!!

I stared the book and couldn't stop listening!

A story of so much, from love, abuse, childhood abuse & how effectived their lives as adults. The family relationship between sisters, friends & a puzzle that needs put back together in the hardest way possible....by remembering a past one sister chose to bury & forget.
The way for her remember though is to go back through to Mirrorland & why the sisters created it.

5 stars all the way & worth the credit 100%.

The narrator was good as well, but she had something missing & I couldn't put my finger on it.

Great story but so long

NO SPOILERS
I am torn between this book....
It is a beautifully written, and intriguing story, but it was just SO LONG. I thought it was never going to end. I feel like it would’ve been more enjoyable if about 5-6 hours didn’t exist.
The story and writing deserve more stars, but I just can’t get passed how dragged out it was.
I was hoping that the ending would have made the length worth it but I just couldn’t get on board. I wasn’t disappointed with the ending...I just wanted it to end.

Definition of psychological

Okay here’s the deal. This is not the most perfectly plotted mystery novel of all time. If that’s what you are after, you may find some enjoyment here, but that’s not where the magic lies with this novel. This is an exploration of childhood, of trauma, of the creative ways the brain conjures to categorize, make sense of, and protect itself from what it cannot accept or needs to hide from itself for the sake of self preservation. I found this book utterly enthralling. It is long. It is slow paced. None of that matters if you find yourself in for the ride, and I was in for the ride. The mystery here is what lies hidden in our main character’s mind, far more than what comprises the facts of current events in her life. The novel has total gothic vibes, the descriptions of the old house are effectively atmospheric and foreboding. There is a lot of really brilliant layering and foreshadowing that goes into this. It truly is a treasure hunt. And so sad, at the end of it all. An actually really tragic story. Anyway! 5 stars. I’ve not listened obsessively to an audiobook the way I did with this one in quite some time. Worth the listen, tho it does take some commitment to get into. Writing is good, never annoying, often admirable.

Many jaw dropping moments - a great one!

This is an absolutely fantastic, twisting story. I don’t remember having so many literal jaw dropping moments in any other story. Ms Johnstone’s style is immensely enjoyable and interesting. She has a way of hitting certain moments and emotions, then recalling them later in the same way. It’s powerful. It’s a truly can’t miss audiobook!

That having been said, I simply cannot imagine this book having a different voice than Katie Leung. She’s Scottish and has a lovely voice. I’m American English speaking, so it took a moment (and some good ear pods) to really hear and understand her clearly. But, man…her cadence and tone are amazing, but the intimacy she can achieve is truly moving. I’m definitely a fan and will now try books just because she’s narrating.

Loved it.

At times in the beginning I found it a bit confusing, but once I untangled it, it was very enjoyable. Very imaginative and different.

BORING

This book sounded like it was really going to be good. It was not. There is a missing person, and a who done it. It was very easy to figure out what who did what. Boring.


RECOMMENDATION: RUN FROM IT. DON’T READ

Fantastic thriller

This book is both beautiful and terrifying and keeps you guessing until the very end

Convoluted

I love twists and turns. This story was so convoluted that by the time the big reveals came, I didn’t care. The “Francophone” and “Eastern European” accents sounded like someone who has ill-fitting dentures. Not saying I could do better, but i found it distracting.

Absolutely phenomenal! I highly recommend it!

I got this novel on sale a few weeks ago, and it’s the best money I’ve spent in a VERY long time!

Listening to Mirrorland was such an immersive experience for me. Some reviews said it was slow, but I was hooked from the start! Carole Johnstowne’s narrative voice is unique, darkly poetic, and many-layered. The mysteries of Mirrorland are slowly unraveled by an unreliable, flawed, and deeply traumatized narrator— and it’s accomplished so masterfully that it felt like temporarily living in somebody else’s head.

It’s everything a psychological thriller should be! It’s the kind of book that will creep under your skin and stay in your thoughts long after you’ve finished it!

Looking back, I really enjoyed the slow-drip of information relevant to solving the mysteries of Mirrorland. There’s a lot to take in at first, but every anecdote and seemingly-frivolous aside added to the story in a meaningful way. The build-up to the finale was nothing short of magical! If you pay very close attention, you can put it all together before the end— but, in my case, that didn’t take away from the experience at all. Watching all the pieces fall into place is so immensely SATISFYING!

I loved the way Katie Leung narrated this novel. She is absolutely AMAZING, and did a wonderful job— but sometimes her accent is bit hard to interpret (especially if you’re American.) That said, I didn’t mind rewinding it to catch it again. (In fact, some of the quotes in this book are so powerful that I backed it up to re-listen to certain parts!)

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a book like this since Where The Crawdads Sing (not that these two marvelous novels can in any way be compared.) If you enjoy interpersonal, psychologically complex dramas— like Gone Girl, The Stillhouse Lake series by Rachel Caine, or All The Ugly And Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood, you’ll want to get this one!

This book was everything I’ve been missing!

As an avid reader most of my life, I’m so happy about finding this book! It has everything I’ve craved over the years. The wonder and mystery of a child’s book, the creepy suspense of a twisted story, the complex and loose ends all tied up and thoroughly explained. It has everything, I can’t praise it enough.