#familialdrama

[onlythedarkestreads]

review - mirrorland

4/5 Stars Pub Date: Apr 20, 2021 2021 Goodreads Goal: 63/150

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the advanced readers copy.

Mirrorland is a novel that hovers within multiple genres. It's definitely a mystery, but it's also fantastical and surreal and HEAVY because at it's heart it's a story about deep rooted secrets and familial abuse.

Cat and El, mirror twins, were raised in seclusion in a gothic mansion in Scotland. Living with their mother and grandfather, they together created Mirrorland, a Narnian escape full with pirates and adventure, friends and foes. A world that became more real than reality to Cat.

Their lessons were unconventional, they were taught the virtues of exploration, the warnings of dark fairy tales, and the preparations of a survivalist. Cat doesn't remember the events of the night her and El escaped 36 Westeryk Road. They started their new lives that day and never looked back.

With the disappearance of El under mysterious circumstances, Cat needs to travel home, back to the place she never wanted to be again. Everyone believes that El is dead, but Cat isn't ready to believe that. You'd know if your twin had died.

As Cat steps into the shadow of her sisters life, she starts to slowly remember their life in 36 Westeryk Road. The answers to what happened the night they ran away are deep in the bowels of Mirrorland if she's ready to face them.

Throughout the novel the reader has to parse what elements of Cat's memories are fantasy versus truth, as perspective shifts between the present, Mirrorland and the past without warning.

How far has Cat gone to to cloak the darkest layers of abuse.

I really enjoyed this one up until the end, where the final twist just didn't work for me at all, but DAMN was this a fun read.

3.5 Stars Rounded up.