Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Phantom Limb

Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

20 reviews

megmccreery's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

2.0

Well this was traumatizing, and the writing was boring. Very clinical and not suspenseful for a thriller. The twist was meh, and the ending was… something! If anyone reads this, you MUST check TWs.

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gzaborski's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Overall I found the book kind of disappointing, wasn’t really a thriller as much as I expected and the psychological aspect of the book seemed a bit fixated on the shock of abuse and self harm combined with pretty straightforward medical diagnostic attributes.
I found that the twists didn’t really pay off. Even thought I didn’t expect the final twist, I feel it fell flat. There wasn’t really any sense of high stakes in the main character’s self-discovery/healing process, and I also feel like this book was kind of a bad representation of how inpatient programs facilitate a positive mental health progression. I expected characters introduced to play a larger role in the story, but they felt simple, like they were only there to forward the plot prior to the twist. The book was well written from an objective pov so I’m sticking with 2 stars for this not-thrilling thriller.

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hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Not horrible but very predictable, literally called the twists from the very beginning. One of the better Lucinda Berry books I’ve read.

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tarantulagirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

SYNOPSIS

Elizabeth and Emily are identical twins. Their childhood is horrific. Eventually, they were finally adopted by a good family, but not before suffering imaginable things.
Eventually, one of the twins finds herself in an inpatient psych unit at a hospital. She is very confused by what people are telling her, and it’s not in line with her memories of the last few years.

MY THOUGHTS

Very dark! Be sure to check out trigger warnings because there’s a lot of potentially triggering topics.
I love Lucinda Berry, and I think she’s a phenomenal writer.
This is her 4th book that I’ve read. I gave 4 stars to “The Best of Friends”, 5 stars to “When She Returned”, and 3 stars to “If You Tell A Lie.”
Complex characters with excellent character development. I enjoyed the side characters, like Rose & Lisa, too.
Berry writes a lot about mental health and trauma in this one, and I enjoyed how she presented the DSM and the look into the diagnoses.
The whole story is told from the perspective of the twin, who is hospitalized. I loved learning from her eyes. Through conversations with others, she gains a lot of insight. There are flashbacks and memories as well. And, there’s a small portion of the book at the beginning that is prior to the hospitalization.
I felt really connected to the main character, and I felt like I was right there with her trying to understand what exactly happened to her. The pacing was great. I was satisfied with the ending.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Lucinda, girrrrrl, you’ve done it again! I would definitely recommend this one, but I highly suggest checking out trigger warnings. Some heavy topics in this book.

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