Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

30 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. 

---

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

---

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

lyrics_library's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. Just wow. This book was just wow. Check the trigger warnings and then read it!

---

Content Warnings

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

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

not quite a thriller and the plot and twists were incredibly predictable. however, it was still relatively interesting to read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, 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. 

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Vomit, Grief, and Car accident

emilyswiggle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

---

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

gzaborski's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

Overall I found the book kind of disappointing, wasn’t really a thriller as much as I expected and the psychological aspect of the book seemed a bit fixated on the shock of abuse and self harm combined with pretty straightforward medical diagnostic attributes.
I found that the twists didn’t really pay off. Even thought I didn’t expect the final twist, I feel it fell flat. There wasn’t really any sense of high stakes in the main character’s self-discovery/healing process, and I also feel like this book was kind of a bad representation of how inpatient programs facilitate a positive mental health progression. I expected characters introduced to play a larger role in the story, but they felt simple, like they were only there to forward the plot prior to the twist. The book was well written from an objective pov so I’m sticking with 2 stars for this not-thrilling thriller.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Vomit