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A review by murdoch
Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I hated this so much. First time reading anything by this author and definitely won’t pick up anything else she’s written. I have no idea why this book is rated so highly.
The writing felt amateurish, all tell and no show. It was completely lacking in subtlety and, honestly, skill. I thought the depictions of mental illness were extremely heavy-handed and excessively trope-y; the repeated graphic descriptions of self-injury seemed gratuitous and served no purpose in terms of plot or characterisation.
First plot twist was so predictable, I didn’t understand if the reader was meant to be shocked or not. The final reveal was kind of like, “okay and?”. By that point I just wanted it to be over and the ending fell as flat as the characters felt.
Reading the author’s bio I thought she would be able to write about the sensitive topics in this book in a way that doesn’t feel exploitative or ignorant. So much of the book came across like it had been written by someone who’d just discovered what mental illness is; concepts that (to me at least) seemed relatively basic were written about like they were revolutionary. The author also presented details so clinically that at times it felt like reading a case study rather than a fictional book. I felt sometimes like I was sitting in a high school psychology class or a lecture.
Some of the characters, specifically the protagonist’s therapist and her doctor, seemed like mouthpieces for the author to “show off” what she knows about mental illness, trauma etc. But the information wasn’t even impressive or engaging?
Descriptions of some of the female patients on the psych ward were unnecessary, seemed like the author just wanted to shit on a particular kind of woman. Again, this seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever. We get the usual, done-to-death scene during group therapy on the psych ward where one patient’s meltdown triggers the rest. Yawn.
Given the author’s background, I was hoping for a more unique perspective on the topics at hand. The story was a telling of mental illness that was at best boring and at its worst irresponsible and misinformed.
Overall, the characterisation and the relationships between characters were weird and unbelievable. The plot was obvious, anti-climactic and tired.
It gets one star for the concept and even that I give begrudingly.
In short: this book did nothing new and, worse, did it badly. Hated it.
The writing felt amateurish, all tell and no show. It was completely lacking in subtlety and, honestly, skill. I thought the depictions of mental illness were extremely heavy-handed and excessively trope-y; the repeated graphic descriptions of self-injury seemed gratuitous and served no purpose in terms of plot or characterisation.
First plot twist was so predictable, I didn’t understand if the reader was meant to be shocked or not. The final reveal was kind of like, “okay and?”. By that point I just wanted it to be over and the ending fell as flat as the characters felt.
Reading the author’s bio I thought she would be able to write about the sensitive topics in this book in a way that doesn’t feel exploitative or ignorant. So much of the book came across like it had been written by someone who’d just discovered what mental illness is; concepts that (to me at least) seemed relatively basic were written about like they were revolutionary. The author also presented details so clinically that at times it felt like reading a case study rather than a fictional book. I felt sometimes like I was sitting in a high school psychology class or a lecture.
Some of the characters, specifically the protagonist’s therapist and her doctor, seemed like mouthpieces for the author to “show off” what she knows about mental illness, trauma etc. But the information wasn’t even impressive or engaging?
Descriptions of some of the female patients on the psych ward were unnecessary, seemed like the author just wanted to shit on a particular kind of woman. Again, this seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever. We get the usual, done-to-death scene during group therapy on the psych ward where one patient’s meltdown triggers the rest. Yawn.
Given the author’s background, I was hoping for a more unique perspective on the topics at hand. The story was a telling of mental illness that was at best boring and at its worst irresponsible and misinformed.
Overall, the characterisation and the relationships between characters were weird and unbelievable. The plot was obvious, anti-climactic and tired.
It gets one star for the concept and even that I give begrudingly.
In short: this book did nothing new and, worse, did it badly. Hated it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail