This was not a book I would have picked up on my own. Thank you to Dutton Books for the opportunity to read this book early :) This book follows two queer people and in the book they are labelled as "limb one" and "limb two" at first this bothered me because we don't get their names at all (which I'm guessing is the point) As I continued on with the story it reminded me of the show Pose and how in one perspective there was a safe house that queer people was able to go. I loved the writing in this story and how the chapters were fairly short so it was easy to breeze through. This book touches on the AIDS pandemic, queer love, found family, and lost love.

so take my opinion with a grain of salt here bc this has overwhelmingly positive reviews which made me so excited to get into this one! unfortunately i had to dnf about halfway through - i’m sure there’s a great story in here and i did enjoy learning about Australia during this time but i just did NOT vibe with this writing at all. the prose was more purple than barney the dinosaur and it just came across overwrought and pretentious in a way that had me rolling my eyes. this one worked for a lot of people apparently but i was not the guy for it!

Hello to my favorite book of the year so far!! I’d heard this book is absolutely gorgeous and emotional and devastating and yeah.. everyone was RIGHT!!

This novel follows two Aussie girls growing up in the 80s, told in alternating perspectives. They both understand their queerness in different ways, and we see how their paths diverge and come closer throughout the novel.

Hardcastle’s writing is so immediate, poetic, and evocative. I was locked in, experiencing everything alongside our main characters. The writing feels so visceral and anchored in the body in such a gorgeous way.

I also loved how art is woven into the story. Sometimes it can be a bit cringe when a character’s art is described in a novel, but I thought the creative process & poetry included in the novel were really well done. It added a special kind of energy to the story that I loved.

This is a beautiful story about love, family, grief, sacrifice, and having the strength to be yourself in a world that oftentimes doesn’t accept or respect you. Definitely check out the trigger warnings before diving into this one, but if/when you do, be prepared for the best book EVER!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC of A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle in exchange for my honest review.

A Language of Limbs is a truly beautiful and heartbreaking story about being queer and coming-of-age in 1970s and 1980s. Told in alternating POVs of limb 1 and limb 2, narrators who have withheld their names, we experience, through lyrical, captivating prose, how each individual’s choice regarding their sexuality during adolescence, plays out as they enter adulthood.

Although the setting for this novel is Australia in the 70s and 80s, the themes throughout this book are universal and timely, while also imbued with a sense of nostalgia. Our lead characters, along with a fascinating cast of side characters take us through a myriad of queer life challenges including loneliness, otherness, hate crimes, job discrimination, and the AIDS epidemic. But we also experience on a quite visceral level, the profound love and friendship shared in a world that has tried to deny and punish their existence.

I was completely engrossed in this story. The creative and unique structure, along with the lack of quotation marks, sometimes threw me off balance, but I was perfectly fine with that, because this is a story in which we are to feel like we are toppling over and then righting ourselves, alongside our characters. No matter what was happening in my day, the minute I opened my book into the life of either limb 1 or limb 2, I was immediately right there with them again. Hardcastle’s prose is absolutely exquisite, while still being accessible. I could not put this book down.

The ending was beautiful, although abrupt. I was left wanting more, but also felt content, and wishing for only good things for our main characters. A Language of Limbs is a book that will long stay with me. Although the themes and content may be difficult to read, and for some the prose may lean too poetic, I loved it! This is a story that needs to be widely read.

One of the most heartbreaking and breathtaking books I've ever read. I ached for these characters. Completely blew me away.

this was beautifully written though at times, to the point that it felt overdone. however, there is so much heart and emotion in this that it's almost as if the only way to have explained any of the characters or their stories, was that way. i was a bit confused until about half way through when i realized that the "then" and "now" pov's were separate pov's and not from the same person so that totally threw me off. felt a bit chaotic in that way but perhaps that was the point of it all. definitely read like a debut but again, such beautiful prose.

This was a beautiful coming of ag queer story set in the late 70s/80s in Australia.
The prose is very poetic and lyrical, and even though it felt a little overwritten in places, it still was achingly good and emotional overall.
The love conveyed was beautiful and powerful, and I enjoyed that "limb 2" found her strength at the end.
The format took me a minute to understand, but I was so engrossed at the end as the journeys of the two "limbs" found their way to each other.

Really gorgeous prose and interesting concept --- i am not sure if I fully understood the ending, but i think the parallels drawn throughout the book with claude and marcel are really cool.

limb one was unsurprisingly my favorite, and i felt like limb two's story hadn't really ended yet. while limb one had a clear place to move on from and some closure, limb two felt like she still didn't understand the full breadth of her self. i liked the swimming descriptions for her though!

the name symbolism was very cool and the hiding of the names ('little dave' being a nickname for limb one for most of the book) until the conclusion made for a fascinating reveal.

This book is absolutely breathtaking. It makes really effective use of a split pov structure, using it to highlight the different ways that queerness impacts someone’s life. The plot and pacing of this book are well-done and the characters are written very well. This book weaves poetry throughout the story and has some of the most beautiful prose I have read. This book is emotional and insightful and really packs a punch.

5⭐️ I’m not usually a fan of poetic prose but this has absolutely changed my mind. This story is so beautifully tragic and memorable. I loved how seamlessly the stories are intertwined. I always where I needed to be. It’s a book that requires you to be present but it’s hard not to be.

Review posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads on 5/25/25. Review will be posted to Amazon on release date.

An achingly beautiful story following two lives that go down different paths spanning decades. When two young girls are found being physically intimate their lives takes two paths. Limb one is attacked by her parents and flees to find a life where she is able to bloom into her truest self with help from her community and found family. We get to see her grow, find love, create art, and experience great loss. Limb two’s life goes on in a quite “normal” way where she goes to school, meets a man, gets married, and tries to start a family but all along there is secret longing beneath the surface.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. It’ll break your heart in the most devastating way. The writing is lyrical and rich. I appreciated the structure of watching the two girls in separate chapters and seeing how their lives interact. I also appreciated the care that the author took in writing about the AIDS epidemic. There’s a genuine terror that’s expressed but also a resilience of the characters choosing to live for themselves and their community. I know that this is a book that I will be thinking about for a long time.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Dutton for the ARC copy they provided.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book in time to leave a review before the publication date, and though a review after publication is no less welcome or useful, I feel I do not have the time or space to give this book the attention it deserves.

Though I did not manage to finish A Language of Limbs before its publication, I look forward to reading it at my leisure some time in the future.

In this sapphic novel, we learn about the time during the AIDS epidemic and how filtered one must have been when they found themselves attracted to the same sex, not only to everyone around them, but to themselves. We see firsthand the shame and guilt brought upon by the stigma that surrounded the disease.

I really enjoyed how realistic this book was, the women didn't gawk or stray away from what they wanted. They simply cut themselves off for it because they felt like they couldn't have each other, couldn't have happiness. This book also felt like reading poetry. Hardcastle does a good job at not putting literary obstacles in front of the plot or feeling they are trying to give us for the sake of detail. Although this novel is based in 1972, the shame the women are experiencing feels similar to what many LGBTQIA+ people feel today.

I highly recommend this book for readers who are learning to not only accept themselves, but accept their loved ones for stepping out of the status quo.

What to expect:
- Yearning
- Forbidden Lust

I let this book consume me, body and soul. Though this book is short, it does not fail to give you the chance to look upon yourself and those around you and reflect on who you are and who you want to be. I loved the two perspectives and the entirely different experiences one can have when it comes to their identity, relationships, and the bonds they can build and break. You are journeying with both of your main characters, wanting the best but expecting the worst as they struggle through life and acceptance of being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. I will easily be recommending this to anyone and everyone who needs a coming of age story or even just a book that allows you to reflect on who you are.

i really enjoyed the two parallel stories - but don't think the writing style was my favorite.

thanks to netgalley and dutton for the arc!

i think this was a great time period choice to follow two budding lesbians. (SPOILER) I don't think lesbians are often in the discussion during the AIDS crisis, and additionally, I haven't found many stories outside of the U.S in terms of AIDS stories (but also I live in the U.S, so could be a me thing).

I really was moved by both stories and enjoyed watching the two characters pass each other subtly throughout the narrative. I thought that was a very great choice. I saw a few critiques that the characters were almost a little too similar and that it was hard to differentiate (or even, that people didn't realize that it was two different characters) and I think that's a fair critique. I liked that they were similar to show how different circumstances can really impact your life journey but it was a bit confusing at the beginning.

My biggest issue with the book was the writing style. I found it a bit, almost smarmy, at times. I think it's very very hard to include descriptions of art in a fiction book without it being cheesy. I didn't really connect with the poetry or art described throughout and found limb one's chapters to be a bit overwrought.

i can see this book really connecting with some audiences though!

I am wrecked. Books have made me cry before but this one hit me at my core and the emotions just came pouring out.

Initially I thought that limb one and limb two were the same person, with just different lives based on their decisions. It was only towards the end and then after finishing the book that I realized these were in fact two people. I’d like to reread now knowing this. However, I still found this book to be magnificent. I loved the dual POV. I found the first 25% a little slow but then once I dedicated time to read this the pacing also sped up. There was so much sadness interwoven with each character’s own lives and the people they surrounded themselves with. Also happiness and love but grief and hurt too. I loved the writing in this, I wanted to underline so many passages and reflect on Hardcastle’s words.

Reading this made me so sad for what is going on now for our queer and trans siblings. If only more people could understand just how marvelous and magical it is to be different, to be able to change yourself to match how you feel, and to love a human. Heteronormativity is so hurtful for so many folks. We all love and we all want to live and be happy.

This book was very impactful to me. I loved seeing the beauty in how life can change based on your choices (which could be good and/or bad). But also how connected our lives are, and that we all live interconnected lives. We probably just don’t realize how much our paths intersect and ebb and flow around the people we’re suppose to meet.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This a poetic novel following two parallel lives through the AIDs pandemic, one of a closeted woman and one of an openly queer person, both suffering unimaginable loss in similar ways. I haven’t read a book like this. When you settle in with the unconventional structure of this novel, the emotional catharsis is overwhelming and real and moving. It really felt like discovery through reading. The ending was satisfying without being saccharine.

Thank you for providing me this book! My review will be included in my May Reading Wrap-Up on my TikTok account.

A coming-of-age story of young queer teens in Australia in the 70s, written in beautifully lyrical, endearing and heartbreaking prose.

The book is littered with poetry, fanciful experimental prose, and tragic plots. It follows two young female protagonists, and the decisions they make as they live through an environment of homophobia and violence, particularly how the gay community was affected by the AIDs crisis. While that sounds like a dark read, and it is, this novel is also so life-affirming and poignant, finding the joys in a world filled with sorrow, especially for the most vulnerable communities, that you can't help but love it. This book reads quick, many of the chapters being structured as poems or feelings more than a devoted deep dive into characterization. Less is more in this novel, and it really works.

This is a book for people who love literature packed with gut punches, flawed and complicated female protagonists, and poetic, self-indulgent narratives. This is a debut book, and reads like it, so I'll rate this a strong 4.5.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

*A Language of Limbs* by Dylin Hardcastle is a beautifully crafted novel that intertwines the lives of two women over three decades, exploring themes of love, identity, and the choices that define us. Hardcastle's poetic prose and vivid character development create an immersive experience, capturing the complexities of queer life with tenderness and authenticity. The narrative's structure, alternating between the two protagonists' perspectives, allows readers to deeply connect with their journeys and the poignant moments that shape their paths. This novel is a heartfelt celebration of resilience, community, and the enduring power of love.

This story is exceptional—definitely one of my top reads of 2025. The characters are richly developed, and their struggles are profoundly impactful, often leaving a lasting impression.