Reviews tagging 'Death'

Cleopatra und Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

71 reviews

kayolay's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Self harm, Infidelity, Abandonment, Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, Animal death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fatphobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Alcoholism, and Addiction

nataliebee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, and Animal death

Minor: Transphobia

bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

alovelettertoliterature's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Complex female characters, doomed love stories, and older men are a few of my favorite things in a book, and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors embody all. I’m well aware that I need therapy for liking some of these things and fully understand that not everyone’s taste is in accordance with mine, so consider yourself warned. 

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors, set in New York, tell the story of Cleo, a 24 years old British Painter, who falls in love with Frank, a man 20 years her senior who works in advertising. They met in an elevator of a party, and within six months, they got married, partly for her visa and the rest for love. It is apparent in the beginning that they are individually still struggling with their unresolved issues, which could result in the doom of their relationship. 

Cleo and Frank’s love is not conventional, and that’s what makes it so electrifying. You could not get enough of them, yet at some point, you know it will not last. Although the storyline centralizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship, it also branches out to focus on other characters in their circle and how their relationship affects them. The story is told in such an interesting structure that follows different characters’ points of view in each chapter. The story's premise is not something new, but because of how it is told, it feels new and fresh. 

Mellors’ approach to writing this book is to create deeply complex characters so that perhaps we can relate to each character on a deeper level even if we don’t always agree with them. Whether Mellors was able to achieve that is a different story. 

I would have rated this book a full five stars, but a couple of things have turned it to a four for me. Firstly, I find that the different points of view started strong as Mellors gives each character a strong background and personality. However, midway, Mellors decided to take a different approach and only prioritizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship. I did not mind this, but something about it just felt unfinished, neglected, and inconclusive for the other characters. Secondly, some stereotypes are shown in this book that felt unsettling for some characters that I don’t think were intended to be something “bad” but are still harmful. 

Overall, I loved this book and will most likely reread it. The covers alone are just exquisite (both the paperback and hardcover) and should be able to convince you to read it. Mellors is talented and able to capture not only your attention but your heart. It’s one of those books you will still think of long after reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

esme_may's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was worried at first that I wasn't going to like this as much as I expected but as I kept reading it really grew on me. I didn't like all the characters but was able to root for them because they felt so human

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

sib_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Transphobia

Minor: Pregnancy

sderrig's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

camdelo96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

A stunning read! It was the kind of careful character/relationship study that I absolutely eat up, Cleo and Frank were fleshed out beautifully (side characters less so). The story was heart wrenchingly brutal and real, though I will say it is a very white book. All of these characters suck a bit, and there’s not a real deconstruction of whiteness and privilege that I think other authors are able to balance in these “snapshot of contemporary life” type stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death

thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

An compelling story of fast and passionate love between two people who are so different yet so similar in so many ways.
  
Cleo meets Frank New Year's eve, by June they are married for the wrong and right reasons. This is their story, and the story of the people that are affected by their actions.
  
I fell in love with this book in the first chapter. The characters are real and raw with flaws, fights, and situations that just seem normal.
  
Cleopatra and Frankenstein explores the complexity of being a person with flaws, being in love, lust & marriage when your life before 'This Person' is messy at best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Transphobia, Animal death, Infidelity, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abandonment