Physis - Book Review

By Michelle Irwin

Synopsis

Finding a new normal is never as easy as it seems.

Phoebe Reede has suffered unimaginable tortures at the hands of her captors. Now home and safe, she can’t let go of the things that happened to her. No amount of therapy or coaxing by her parents can draw her from her shell.

How can she learn to live again, when everything she loved about herself is gone?

**Due to strong language and sexual content not intended for anyone under the age of 18. Some books in this series contain content, including sexual assault and violence, that may trigger emotional distress in some readers.**

Review

I’m going to start this review with a warning that PHYSIS is not for the faint of heart. What Phoebe endured during her three month captivity is not pretty, and you will read about most—if not all—of it in this book.

I’d gone to America broken-hearted and had come home broken everywhere.

The story takes place two months after BEASTLY, which ended with Phoebe being taken back to Australia by her father, Declan, and leaving Beau behind. At home with her family, she doesn’t feel safe and is haunted by nightmares, flashbacks and gentle touches. Most of this story is focused on Phoebe and how she’s trying to live with what happened to her, but it also showed how Phoebe’s ordeal is affecting those close to her.

I didn’t survive three months imprisonment. My body might have, but the girl I’d been was dead.

Without trying to give too much away, Beau does appear in this book and he’s still as sweet as ever. He makes his presence known to Phoebe but lets her know that any and all contact with him will be on her terms. That helped Phoebe heal more than anything else since she got home.

“I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone who I thought was worthy of my Pheebs, but he’s proven himself to be the best man for you.”

PHYSIS is told only in Phoebe’s POV and⎯I think for the first time ever⎯doesn’t end in a cliffhanger. There are still more books to come in Phoebe and Beau’s story, but for now we ended on a happy note. To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m so used to Michelle’s cliffhangers leaving me on the edge of my seat feeling shocked, scared or angry, that this turn of events has me nervous. Is this just the calm before the storm? I read PHYSIS in one day and I’m greatly looking forward to PHANTOM, which comes out in June.