Scan barcode
sydneyjustreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
erica_reads_things's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Car accident
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
astoriareader's review against another edition
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
meemawcat's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt
princess_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, and Dysphoria
paigeemma's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
tlae929's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, and Suicide attempt
nicole_cob_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
kyra_joy's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
snapeygan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail