Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

24 reviews

stayceee24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow - Lucinda Berry is one of my favourite authors because her real life history of being a former clinical psychologist opens up a unique sense of realism to her stories. 

This book, is my favourite so far. 

The story is a tale of abused twins and one twin ends up in a mental hospital after trying to commit suicide. I won’t spoil the overall plot but I found this absolutely fascinating, how a mental health condition can affect the brain so completely. How the brain works to protect you from trauma. I was gutted to finish this, I really loved it. 

Trigger warnings though - this isn’t for everyone. As with most of LB’s stories there is necessary detail and this book contains at best, moderate to high descriptions of self harm, child abuse and child sexual abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

kristensreading's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

natanialipp's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-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? Yes

2.5

This book was trauma/mental illness porn and while it included some somewhat accurate portrayals of psychological problems, they were glorified and graphic in a way that felt completely unnecessary. I didn’t feel like I got much out of this read, it was completely fueled by the mystery and terror of characters’ with wildly traumatic childhoods. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

saintsnacky's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

3.0

This was a quick read, so it was okay. But it’s super super predictable. Within the first 25 pages I knew what the mental health issue was going to be, and by the time she was hospitalized I knew what the twist would be. I find this book to me more of a sad glimpse into loss and mental health issues than a thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

randeerebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

caitgiam's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, and Abandonment

Moderate: Vomit, Grief, and Car accident

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

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

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Excrement and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

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: 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