Phantom Limbs

Over three years ago, sixteen-year-old Otis Mueller's first love, Meg Brandt, moved away following the tragic death of Otis's little brother Mason in the Brandts' home. Otis has tried to move on, honing his swimming talents with eighteen-year-old Dara--formerly a swimming phenom herself before the amputation of her arm--as unofficial coach and unpredictable new best friend. But now, after years of silence, Meg is coming back for a few weeks; a summer of awkward reminiscing, unspoken confessions, and romantic tension ensues, all while Otis tries to keep up with swimming, help Dara through her own struggles, and deal with the grief reignited in his family by Meg's return. Even if the will-they/won't-they romantic suspense feels draggy, it's grounded in the believably complicated young love Garner has crafted between Otis and Meg. And while narrator Otis can be sappy at times, his mindful presence--in both everyday teenage life and in larger emotional moments--outdoes the sentimentality. Garner does a fine job cultivating the book's titular theme, with Dara's phantom-limb pain, Otis's grief-filled memories, and Meg's PTSD (she discovered Mason's body) evoking in readers the acute ache of losing something, or someone, vital. As her debut powerfully mines the depths of such loss, it also charts the terrain of healing that follows, leaving readers with hope via Otis's wise insights: "If something is unbearable, then how do you bear it? It's an oxymoron. And yet…Somehow I was bearing it." katrina hedeen

When Otis's first love Meg returns, a summer of romantic tension ensues while Otis tries to keep up with swimming; help friend/unofficial coach Dara, an amputee, through her own struggles; and deal with the reignited grief over his younger brother's death in Meg's home. As Garner's debut powerfully mines the depths of loss, it also charts the terrain of healing that follows, leaving readers with hope.