Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

46 reviews

mrsshoemaker's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is for you if you love a huge twist at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Child abuse, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Suicide, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Excrement

khowick24's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I would buy every book this author releases! She writes absolutely brilliantly 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Self harm

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

aleann129's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

tarantulagirl's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicide

shortiebabe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The book was really good! I thought I had the ending figured out, so I did not see the final plot twist at the end coming. This is my second book of Dr. Berry's.  I personally liked this better than Allegedly. Can't wait to experience some more of her books!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

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

astoriareader's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Blood, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Child abuse

Minor: Bullying and Schizophrenia/Psychosis