Delicately crafted, PHANTOM LIMBS by Paula Garner is a beautiful look at grief and loss, at phantom limbs (both people and body parts), friendship, romance, and trying to move on. Otis's voice is so loud and clear with a poetic undertone (heck, they even call him Shakespeare in the book as a nickname because he loves poetry) that I am not surprised this got picked up by Candlewick. Garner has created a truly heart-wrenching book, however I docked one star because the constant "we need to talk" spiel from characters

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(until they finally did at 89% on the e-reader)

was a little much. I wished they'd talked sooner as the "mystery" sort of lagged on longer than I thought it needed to.

I read this on my Kindle courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher and I am SO GLAD I got a chance to read this early!!! If you like Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You The Sun (loss and grief and siblings) and books by Chris Crutcher, I think you will really enjoy this one.

I only have one thing to say about this book: Morning Log. It was so bad it was good. I do have to give credit though for the harsh subject and how it handled that but everything else was awful.

This book was a really interesting exploration of grief, trauma, and friendship, and it was written very well. I was pleasantly surprised, because when I read the synopsis I totally thought it was going to be your straight-up romance with Otis falling in love with Meg and blah blah happily ever after, but that wasn't the case.

The writing was gorgeous, and the characters really stood out - all of them were very well-written. I especially liked Dara, Otis's one-armed swim coach. She had a really big character presence and I really enjoyed her and Otis's friendship. Meg was nice too, and it was really interesting seeing this web of relationships.

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One thing I really appreciated is that the book seemed to value friendship over romance, as Otis constantly chooses Dara over Meg. It's not something you usually see in YA.

It is not often that a book makes me cry, gives me that “What now?”-feeling once I’ve finished or makes me question everything about life. But Phantom Limbs did it all, in a good way. It talks about heavy topics like love and loss in a way that really makes you think. It tackles these subject with a certain (dark) humour, inevitable truths and a touch of horny 16-year old boy. Combine this with the writing style of Paula Garner and you get a novel with no shortage of absolutely beautiful quotes.

The only reason I didn’t give this book the full five stars is that I somehow couldn’t warm up to Meg. And Otis thinks and talks about Meg like, a lot. Dara was my absolute favourite character, such a strong yet vulnerable character with an intense backstory. Forever rooting for her. Otis was seriously lovable too, even though you’ll sometimes wish you could make him SEE what’s right in front of him. All possible emotions come alive on these pages and the characters make you feel every bit of hurt, anger, grief and regret as if you’re right there with them.

Phantom Limbs is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone on the lookout for a YA Contemporary to sweep them off their feet. Also if you’re not looking… read it anyways. You won’t be disappointed.

This book wasn't that great the second time around....

not for book talks

it was a nice and sad book, would recommend

Rating: 3.5

Three years ago, when they were just 13, Otis's best friend and first love Meg, up and moved with no warning and no goodbye. This came on the heels of the death of Otis's three-year-old brother, Mason, who died due to a tragic accident. One that left both Otis's and Meg's family irreparably changed.

Since then, Otis has never heard from Meg. She stopped communicating altogether and suddenly, she is about to return. Otis has to reconcile his hurt and anger, along with the love and hope he never lost for Meg. All while undergoing rigorous swimming training with Dara, a former Olympi-hopeful whose dreams were dashed with the loss of her arm, and who know is determined to see Otis get where she couldn't.

Meg's return opens up a lot of wounds for Otis and his family, especially as he faces some hard truths, particularly that Meg is not the girl she once was. But he never lets go of his dreams for Meg, and he remains firmly rooted next to Dara as she goes through her own type of loss.

I picked this up on a whim, because it had been sitting on my TBR shelf for years, and I never could quite convince myself to let it go. The premise sounded like it would contain the hard-hitting content I need in my YA Contemporaries, and in a lot of ways, I was right!

This turned out to be surprisingly poignant and captivating. It follows three teens who are all trying to deal with grief and irreplaceable loss. Meg has PTSD from the day Mason died, an event she has tried hard to run away from, which is why she cut off all contact with Otis. Otis of course, and his family, live with Mason's loss every day, and Dara didn't just lose her arm. She lost her dreams, as well as the love of her father she sees her as just a disappointment.

All three are struggling with indescribable pain and I thought this book depicted it well. It approached the topics with grace and compassion and detailed a disability we don't often see represented in books: Amputation and the agony of phantom limb pain.

Overall, I found myself enjoying this book more than I thought I would and would definitly love to give Paula Gardner another chance.

Wow. Just. WOW. Very rarely does the word "flawless" come to mind when I read a book, but it sure as hell came to mind with this one. Many times. Pitch perfect voice, heartbreaking feels, a romance that just freaking ACHES, and such a beautiful, nuanced look at grief and life and death. Damn it is so good.