Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Phantom Limb: A Gripping Psychological Thriller by Lucinda Berry

9 reviews

hauntedantiqueshop's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Body horror, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Car accident, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Trafficking, and Torture

Minor: Vomit

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Medical content, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death, Gore, and Rape

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

princess_marie's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Gore, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Body horror, Dysphoria, Excrement, Medical content, Sexual content, Car accident, Drug use, and Vomit

aleksandranowacka_x's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

interesting plot. poor writing. too many short sentences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, Medical content, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Confinement, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, and Vomit

skissih's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Sexual assault

kyra_joy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This is a really dark book and I highly suggest that you check content warnings before continuing to read this book. 

The writing itself was really good , the main character though not really “loveable” seemed to be highly relatable to those with mental illness and who have had extreme trauma until the end. The twists aren’t really ground breaking and the end was kinda meh. 

I know the author has a background in clinical psychology but this book is not an accurate look at mental health, the characters are all caricatures of mental illness. And the hospital setting was wild, all the therapists in this book needed to be fired. This needs to be made more clear somewhere, people shouldn’t go into this thinking it is realistic but due to her credentials being included anyone could get the wrong idea.

And the one thing I can’t really get over is the depiction of people with BPD, again I know the author has a background in clinical psychology but she should have known better. They are shown as being cruel, dramatic liars, and I don’t care if some of them are this is incredibly stigmatizing to people with BPD as a whole. I don’t have BPD however I have close friends and family that do and this very much so missed the mark. And even though I enjoyed the other parts of this book I don’t know if I’ll be able to read her other work as I greatly worry about she might depict other mental illnesses. 

I want to make it clear that my opinions come from being someone with mental illness, who comes from a background of severe childhood trauma, and adoption, who has not only been in hospital but who have close family that has, and on top of this has a grandmother with a PhD in psychology.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Eating disorder, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

snapeygan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Should definitely come with a trigger warning! Except that, I adored the book, but was less attached to the story/characters than with Saving Noah, but couldn’t tell u why. Once again, Berry’s writting is flawless and totally on point. I love the fact that she was actually a therapist, and love to think she was a bit like Lisa. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Death, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

monstersinspace's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Outside of the two main plot points nothing really happened and even those were quickly bypassed. If you like books where people just talk and talk and talk you'll like this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Car accident, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis