Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Phantom Limb

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

18 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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lbarnhill3's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I’m giving it a 4 because it was well written. The imagery, the dialogue, the unreliable narrator was very well done. But I really didn’t like this book. Spoilers ahead

initially I thought perhaps Elizabeth had dissociative identity disorder and her twin Emily wasn’t actually a real person, just another personality due to the MC’s childhood trauma. That would have been fantastic to go with, although predictable. Then I bought the whole “Emily died years before” thing and I thought, ok this tracks. But the twist at the end of Elizabeth ACTUALLY being Emily and the rationale behind why she assumed Elizabeth’s identity just left me unimpressed.

I really didn’t like the portrayal of anorexia in the book. While the side characters weren’t the focus, it really bothered me the way Rose’s character and her treatment were written. I’ve never been in an inpatient psychiatry setting outside of my rotation in nursing school, but I did spend 16 weeks in treatment for my own eating disorder at a ED facility and most of those interactions for her wouldn’t have flown and definitely weren’t conducive to recovery. But I guess that was the point. I don’t know. The whole story just felt a little gross having been written by a former psychologist & child trauma researcher.

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aleann129's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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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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erica_reads_things's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.5

This is unfortunately my first "meh" from Lucinda Berry! I didn't quite guess the big plot twist about 2 hours into the audiobook but I was damn close. After the twist, I did guess the final act. It was just overall not very grabbing. How the characters talked about the others in the facility really took me out of the narrative - it just wasn't very kind to folks with mental/psychological disorders. I wasn't a fan of how they were portrayed or discussed. That on top of being able to mostly guess the plot was just not a win for me. I did finish it though, so that's something!

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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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