really beautiful read. feel like it will be so relatable to so many people. I struggled a bit with the writing style, but the overall premise is so fascinating and catching. Raw, honest, and feel like you really get to know the MC.

as a queer girl who grew up in newcastle in the 90s/00s, this literally hits too close to home: i feel taken apart, inspected, put back together again.

Review of uncorrected eBook file

Set in Australia, this poignant look at family, either the one you’re born into or the one you make for yourself, is sometimes gritty, often melodramatic and, here, always heart-wrenching. How do you find your place in the world with the people you’re meant to be with? How do you manage? How do you decide what path to follow?

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Although the unfolding story is told from two perspectives . . . Limb One and Limb Two . . . readers are likely to have some difficulty in identifying who is speaking in each section. The writing is lovely; the two perspectives need a bit more differentiation in order for the reader to easily recognize who is who and what is what.

Overall, this tribute to the LGBTIQ+ community of the 1970s and 1980s is filled with discovery, self-acceptance, and longing, but readers may find it difficult to connect with either of the main characters. Nevertheless, those who enjoy stories in this genre are sure to find the story both emotional and deeply moving.

I received a free copy of this eBook from PENGUIN GROUP Dutton / Dutton and NetGalley
#ALanguageofLimbs #NetGalley

The pursuit or suppression of a teenage girl’s first love sets her life’s path, though the potential of these two lives diverges and collides over the decades during pivotal moments in Dylin Hardcastle’s A Language of Limbs.
In the early 1970s, the choice that a fifteen-year-old girl makes about how to act upon her feelings and desires for her best friend, who happens to be a girl, will determine the path her life takes and the relationships she keeps or builds anew within that life. In choosing to act upon them, in Limb One, the girl leaves home and expands her horizons within a community of people who think and express themselves like she does, protesting and fighting to be accepted simply for who they are and love, all while creating art that voices what she might not otherwise say. In choosing to suppress them, in Limb Two, the girl remains at home, entering into long-term relationships with men, one of whom she marries, and pursuing higher education to fulfil her dream of a career in publishing. The paths of both Limbs over the intervening decades are filled with a sense of longing, loss, grief, and desire, echoing one another in the events that occur as they seize the life, space, and future they deem themselves worthy of occupying, firmly claiming it for their own.
Presenting divergent paths that retain an eerie similarity filled with longing, loss, grief, and fighting to embrace their authentic self within a world that doesn’t want to acknowledge them by persisting in systemic marginalization, the narrative offers a thoughtful exploration of identity and navigating a (re)claiming of language to describe experiences that prove to have universal reach. Limb One and Limb Two, unnamed until the last few pages, provided for great potential in just who they could be and what identity they could claim, mirroring the concept presented at the outset of the novel of either actively pursuing or suppressing their desires as either action would shape who they’d be and would have to potential of becoming. Though providing the Limbs' names offers clarity, a sense of closure, and confirms their identity, lifting the ambiguity also removes some of the contemplative wonder built up over the course of the novel using the parallel paths, as it slips from more nebulous or abstract possibilities of connections drawn from withholding, limited views of the entire picture to a concrete reality by the end that firmly places boundaries on those possibilities; while it does mirror the fact the Limbs made choices within their lives that set their path and the communities they became part of, it reduced some of the intriguing luster that developed along the way. The majority of the novel is written in prose format, but poetry begins to infuse itself throughout Limb One in the latter half as the emotional heft increases and their embrace of self, coupled with the earnest pursuit of what they desire, culminates into a cohesive entity.
Overall, I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one took me by surprise in a good way. A beautiful story of love and grief but in the most realistic way. The flow was gorgeous and the characters intertwined so well.

The prose in this was wild!

Such a breathtaking, unique, and heartbreaking take on a love story. And where the love in our lives leads us to.

I loved every piece of this gorgeous novel.

A beautiful exploration of grief and love all tied up in one incredible package. The writing was done well, and the language was stunning, but it was a little hard to follow.
I appreciate that this felt like a very genuine and realistic exploration of sapphic love. Infantilization is a huge problem in the community, and I really enjoyed reading about the pain and struggles these two went through, no sugar coating to push against. Just raw, human experiences.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC!

gorgeously well-done book with some awesome themes that feels quite literary and at the same time very accessible. 5 stars.tysm for the arc.

A language of Limbs is very beautiful and singular. I say singular because the premise is so interesting and unique that I can get behind it. Both prose and verse are used in this tremendous but short novel, so it keeps the reader engaged! The relationship between the two FMCs is vibrant and lovely, not too floaty or unrealistic.

Interesting in premise, I found the writing to be hard to follow and I was not a fan of the main character. there were one or two supporting characters that stood out to me but all in all, one that I will not revisit.

This book broke me and delighted me. It made me laugh and cry. Dylin Hardcastle, bravo. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC.

We follow the stories of two women who lead vastly different lives when faced with the decision to explore their queerness. Limb One acts on her desires and is kicked out of her home for it. She loses everything but finds a new family in Sydney who teaches her to love herself and others. She navigates through her trauma, love found and lost and found again, joy and belonging with her new family, and grief when so many of those family members tragically pass way. Limb Two decides to repress her desires but finds she can never escape them. She finds love and has her family but remembers the pain of rejection due to her queerness. As she grieves an unimaginable loss, she decides to live alone and in begins to explore and accept herself. The two limbs come together in the end.

This novel was gorgeously written, emoting every feeling from elated joy to devastating grief. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes, I cringed. I loved every moment of it. The structure was creative and had me guessing whether the lives were the same person in parallel universes or different people until the very end. It kept me on my toes, marking every repeated phrase and mapping the events to see how closely they came to intersecting.

I will be recommending this book to my friends and will be adding it to my rereads. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a copy of the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle was a very intriguing read. The book weaves an emotional tale that does justice to the youth and queerness of the characters. It was a very intricate tale where parts of the story left me feeling raw with emotion. I love how it portrayed each limb’s perspective. It was a great read!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with access to a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is a beautifully crafted, deeply moving meditation on the roads we take—and those we don’t. Set in 1970s Australia, it masterfully unfolds two parallel lives, showing how a single moment of choice can shape an entire future. One path leads to rejection and finding family in a radical queer commune; the other to academic ambition and repression. Yet, despite their differences, both lives echo each other in profound, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful ways.

The alternating timelines are woven together with remarkable skill, building tension and emotional weight as the two versions of the protagonist navigate love, loss, activism, and the devastating impact of the AIDS crisis. The way these lives intertwine across decades is nothing short of brilliant, offering a powerful reflection on destiny, resilience, and the enduring power of queer community.

With lush prose, deeply realized characters, and a structure that keeps the reader enthralled, this is an unforgettable novel—one that lingers long after the final page. Fans of literary fiction and queer historical narratives will find themselves utterly captivated.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I have so many thoughts and emotions after finishing this book that it is almost hard to put into words. Queer literature is so important. This story is so beautiful yet so heartbreaking. A queer coming of age story set during the AIDS crisis in Australia. I can’t recommend this enough.

A deeply moving story that follows two queer individuals on a journey of self-discovery. The prose is undeniably beautiful, though at times it leans toward being overly elaborate. Additionally, the frequent shifts between the two protagonists, while enriching their perspectives, occasionally felt chaotic and difficult to follow.

two girls face a choice in newcastle in 1972, and the rest of the work follows their paths as they grow and evolve following the fallout of each decision. the writing was so evocative in a way that pulled emotions straight from my chest without being overwrought — like i could feel myself spilled out on the page. as a lesbian in particular, i really connected with this — i could see pieces of myself in both limb one and limb two, and i ached with each of them through all of their struggles.

i devoured the entire thing in only a few hours, and i’m still feeling raw. this book absolutely shattered me, and i cannot recommend it enough. my god. what a work of art!

thank you to netgalley & penguin group dutton for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great read. Character development was excellent and real. An eye opening view of people struggling to accept and love their true selves.

what a treasure and a gift of a novel. dylin hardcastle is an incredibly talented writer. i loved how the story itself tied to the front cover's photo. two people finding and holding each other in all the mess and muck and beauty of life. there were some lines/passages that were a bit heavy handed, which is totally fine, but were especially jarring in contrast to hardcastle's otherwise fluid, buttery prose. overall, a stunner. thank you to the publisher for gifting me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Usually, I am reading gay romance books and so when I saw this book about lesbians, I knew that I needed to expand my potential reading material and get this book immediately. I was not disappointed. This book gave me everything I was looking for and even things I didn’t know I needed. I felt so much through this journey and it’s definitely a book that will stick with me for a long time.