Publisher’s Description of Mirrorland
Cat lives in Los Angeles, about as far away as she can get from her estranged twin sister El and No. 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where they 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 the grand old house, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. No. 36 Westeryk Road is still full of shadowy, hidden 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 all over the house: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…
Rebecca’s Thoughts on Mirrorland
I picked up this book because I’m a sucker for dark thrillers.
Dark and twisty from its opening to the end, Mirrorland is a page-turner. When Cat returns to her old family home after her twin sister’s death, she’s forced to confront painful memories she moved across the globe to suppress.
Cat’s convinced her sister El is alive. This disappearance just is more of her scheming.
Cat is pulled into a treasure hunt as mysterious emails lead her to decades-old pages of El’s diary, directing her to their imaginary play places in Mirrorland. But the clues lead to more mysteries than answers and unexpected friends of El’s come forward with warnings.
Johnstone’s writing pulls you into both Cat’s present and past, reality and make-believe in the old, gothic house and the brutal, creepy world of Mirrorland. You’ll also be pulled into Cat’s wrenching emotional journey. The story is fast-paced and twisty. It will keep you guessing to the very end.
Highly recommended, especially for fans of dark thrillers.
Trigger warnings: on-page violence and mention of attempted suicide.
I received a free advanced reader copy of Mirrorland in exchange for an unbiased review.
Mirrorland will be published on April 20, 2021. You can add it to your “want to read” list on Goodreads, or pre-order on Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
If Mirrorland sounds good, you might like these other books I’ve recently reviewed:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Rebecca J. Allen 