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.

A Language of Limbs is a poignant and thought-provoking exploration of identity, connection, and the body’s role in self-expression. The novel delves into the lives of its characters with a focus on the complexities of their physicality and how it shapes their emotional landscapes. Hardcastle’s prose is sharp, introspective, and deeply human, offering a window into the intricacies of non-verbal communication and the hidden languages we carry within ourselves.

The book stands out for its rich character development. Hardcastle has a keen eye for detail, drawing readers into an intimate understanding of each character’s struggles and triumphs. The novel’s slow, deliberate pacing allows these emotional currents to unfold organically, making for a quietly powerful reading experiences . It’s a compelling choice for those who enjoy literary fiction about the human experience.

An often heartbreaking story but with a heartwarming dose of found family, finding yourself, and the power of queer joy. This book follows two women from a short lived connection early in their lives through the largely separate and completely different paths they take forwards. Really goes to show how much of what happens to us in life is determined by our decisions, but at the same time shows how many aspects of life and the world are out of our control and how loving fiercely, choosing who we spend our time with, and being true to ourselves is really all we can control.

The Language of Limbs has an intriguing premise and an original approach to exploring the complexities of human connection, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The concept is strong, and the author does a great job creating an atmosphere that feels both emotional and immersive. The central idea of using physical gestures and body language as a form of communication is unique and adds an interesting layer to the narrative.

However, the pacing felt slow at times, and some of the characters didn’t feel fully developed. While the themes of communication and connection are powerful, the execution occasionally left me wanting more depth and clarity. The emotional impact I was hoping for wasn’t as strong as I anticipated.

Overall, it’s a solid read with some thought-provoking moments, but it fell short of its potential. It’s definitely worth checking out if you enjoy exploring unconventional narratives, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

A Language of Limbs truly blew me away. Being only my second read of 2025 this one is going to be hard to beat. The prose in this novel was exquisite and made me want to voraciously eat up every word. The portrayal in this novel of sexuality, queerness, grief, love and everything in between was so distinctly relatable and raw and heavily resonated with me in many aspects. Limb 1 and Limb 2 take us through the lows and highs of living and in some ways their lives are echoes of each other and what could have been. I loved when some of the language in the alternate chapters mimicked each other and we could see how maybe they will eventually find their way to one another. Queer joy and love is so glorious when it is able to be realized and expressed wholeheartedly and it was phenomenal to see so much diverse representation in this book while till portraying the darkness that the LGBTQIA+ community has gone through and continues to go through to this day. There is so much joy to be had in being who you truly are.

Below are some of my favorite quotes from this wonderful novel:

"Only in my dreams, where she will lurk in the river veins of my limbs, stirring from time to time like silt stirred up from the bed of my sleeping body, clouding the water. And I will wake every time in the cold sweat of this very heartbreak, as if no time has passed at all. Because the river of mountain memory is achingly fresh."

"There is no light in there, no air, no room to fuck, no place to sleep. It is safe, for a time, perhaps. But a body in there will erode. Until its flesh is all gone and it becomes a secret of bones. To come out is to escape the secret, to stretch your limbs and bathe your skin in light. Sometimes. Because to come out can also be a sharper death, a quicker death. Total obliteration."

"Grief is wanting flesh, yearning for a voice. Grief is fear of forgetting...a face...the contour of a hip...your brilliant red hair...Grief is wondering what could have been made and what could have become. Grief is what if. Grief is endless cycles of why, and I wish I didn't. Grief is the guilt of the living, of my living. Grief is the sobbing into my birthday cake, because I'm older than you, now. Grief is the building of a world without you in it."

"At some point, between a kick and a breath, the thought of staying has become more terrifying than the thought of leaving."