Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

61 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

paigewrasse's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

I never know how to review or rate Lucinda Berry’s books. They’re all so dark. I can’t say I had a good time reading it due to the subject matter, but it was captivating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Self harm

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

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!

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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

nburkk's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

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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. 

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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

kimberly79rn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

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