Title: Phantom Limb: A Gripping Psychological Thriller

Author: Lucinda Berry

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Goodreads Rating: 4.18

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Emily and Elizabeth spend their childhood locked in a bedroom and terrorized by a mother who drinks too much and disappears for days. The identical twins are rescued by a family determined to be their saviors.

But there’s some horrors love can’t erase…

Elizabeth wakes in a hospital, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak. The last thing she remembers is finding Emily’s body in their bathroom. Days before, she was falling in love and starting college. Now, she’s surrounded by men who talk to themselves and women who pull out their eyebrows.

As she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Emily’s death, she discovers shocking secrets and holes in her memory that force her to remember what she’s worked so hard to forget-the beatings, the blood, the special friends. Her life spins out of control at a terrifying speed as she desperately tries to unravel the psychological puzzle of her past before it’s too late.

Phantom Limb is a character-driven mystery that begs to be read in a single setting. The shocking and shattering conclusion will make you go back and read it again.

Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors, and The Girl With No Past.

“Dark suspense at its finest”…Thriller Beats

REVIEW

Ola peeps! How are you all?

I am here to have yet another review!

First and foremost, I thank Ms. Lucinda Berry for giving me a copy of her book in exchange of a review. Now let’s get started…

When I read the title of the book, Phantom Limb, I was like “What does that even mean?” When I read its synopsis it got my interest when I found out that it’s about a set of twins. My, I love twins. I don’t have twins and having friends that are twins and knowing some twins, I find them interesting and weird but bonded. So I read it.

The title of the book in Goodreads has an extension of ‘A Gripping Psychological Thriller’ and when it said gripping, it didn’t disappoint. It was indeed gripping!

It’s about a set of twins, Emily and Elizabeth, who suffered from a lot of abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, mental, since their childhood. When they were freed from those abuse a married couple adopted them and started treating them like they were their own children. But because they experienced those abuse for around seven years since their birth, they were struggling on adjusting to their new family. Each of them have their own way of adjusting to their situation; Emily is cutting herself and Elizabeth has a way to shut herself out from the world. Then one night, Elizabeth found Emily inside the bathroom bleeding and practically dead. When Elizabeth opened her eyes again she’s in a hospital because her doctor said she tried killing herself even though she can’t remember she did it. So she was sent to a psych ward where she was treated. And while she’s being treated, she discovered a lot of things that helped her remember some of the missing memories she have. She found answers.

Dude this book made me cringe a lot of times. I can’t imagine how it must have been to the twins when they were suffering those abuse from their mother and the special friends. Like seriously. It’s disturbing that I can’t think back about that part of the book without cringing or having goose bumps or a shiver. Like I can’t even begin to explain how it made me feel. I know parents should love their parents but the twins’ mother is a devil. She’s a mother! The twins came from her! She have them for nine months but why does she treat them like nothing? And if she can’t take care of the twins why didn’t she just gave them up for adoption while they were still babies? Ugh! She is so sick and I hate her so much!

Emily and Elizabeth are both amazing girls despite their struggle in adjusting to new environments. They are really really close to each other. They didn’t have anyone when they were suffering from the abuse aside from themselves. It was hard for them to be separated from each other. The abuses they suffered, though they suffered them all at the same time, has different effect on them. Emily became broken and depressed that is why she’s cutting herself. And because Elizabeth has her way to shut the world out if she likes to, she became the strong one to them. But still both of them are still suffering even though they are already free from their mother and those special friends.

While Elizabeth was having her treatment in the psych ward, I thought some of the parts of that story isn’t important but those were actually the clues about the twist. Though seriously I must admit that the twist of this story is way too vivid to figure out. Heck, I didn’t even saw it coming. When it was revealed I was like

WhaaatMinion

Like seriously what?!

I did back up a few pages and recall a few things and then just stared at those three words of revelation. This book— I don’t know how many psychological thrillers I’ve read since I started reading but I can say that this book is the only one that left a mark in my head. I honestly don’t even remember if I ever have read psych thrillers this hardcore before. But seriously, this one is just so gripping.

I want to say that I enjoyed this book but I feel like if I say those I would be saying that I enjoyed reading their tragedy. Let’s just say that I enjoyed the adventure I have with Elizabeth all throughout the book.

Please don’t think about my review as a bad one. I honestly liked the story of the book but I still can’t move on from the gruesome abuse they experienced when they were a child and up till they adjusted to their own coping mechanism. Don’t get me wrong, this book is good. It really is. It’s the abuse that I find disturbing and couldn’t get past it. Now I’m just blabbing. Again, the story is good! I just can’t get myself to be enthusiastic about it.

Though I won’t say that this is going to be the last psych thriller I will read ever. I will still read psych thrillers. I just need time to get the images the book created out of my head. 😀

If you are the kind of person who enjoys hardcore psychological thrillers, this book is surely perfect for you. Go check it out first and let you be the judge. Like I always say, we all have different opinions towards the same thing.

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About the Author..

Dr. Lucinda Berry’s background is as unique as her stories. She has a Ph.D. in clinical
psychology, specializing in trauma and children. She is the Assistant Director of Evidence-based Practice at UCLA’s National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. She uses her clinical experience to create compelling tales that blur the lines between fiction and nonfiction.

Website | Goodreads