Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

100 reviews

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicide, Sexual content, Misogyny, Deportation, Gore, Toxic friendship, Blood, Infidelity, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

mariaminthebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I'm torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars. Let's settle for 3.5/5 

Stating the obvious, the book flows like a river. The writing's great, descriptions' great yada yada yada...

Finished the book in 3 days. That says enough.

Now, the interesting stuff...

I found the main character insufferable, which is absolutely fine, characters do NOT have to be likeable, but Mellors tried SO hard to make her  likeable by mentioning just how likeable she is (how convenient) which made me dislike her even more. 

TW// 

The book also features PRETTY heavy themes like alcoholism, drug abuse, animal cruelty, su!cide, self-h@rm, and the list goes on....without ever really diving into the complexity and complications of each struggle, thereby making the character's problems seem shallow (they are not!!!) 

Along with having like a bazillion unnecessary characters, this, too, was unnecessary. Towards the end of the book, it felt as if Mellors was just throwing in as much trauma as she possibly can for that shocker effect. Unfortunately, that had a counter effect. It made me desensitised to much of the events in the novel. 

traumatised characters ≠ unconditional sympathy

I've read books with way fewer events going on but had a much deeper attachment to the characters.

Frustratingly, this could have been such a good book....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Chronic illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Blood, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

laurataylor's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

fernhughes's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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

4.0

A gripping and gorgeous read, Coco Mellors’ writing style is beautifully descriptive. As others have said, Frank and Cleo’s actions are irritating and I sometimes found myself gobsmacked — but I believe this is the point of this book. My only complaint is that the wild, substance abusing NYC lifestyle felt unrealistic and fantastical which slightly took away from the otherwise relatable characters.

As I got towards the end I wasn’t sure whether there would be a second ‘plot’ - ultimately, I was glad there wasn’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts

gabby_stay's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.0

So emotional but a cozy read. Definite trigger warnings to consider but overall I resonated with the experiences Cleo was going through. I really understand why Mellors took so long to write this - she took her time to ace perfection and understanding of everyday people's experiences.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Addiction, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

livangel's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

Honestly, it’s a very interesting take on every day life. I think it shows how “Cleopatra” and “Frankenstein“ are both monsters and victims.  It shows that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you love each other, sometimes relationships are sometimes bad or toxic. It makes you think about how you view or judge people and reflect on where the problem truly lies. Definitely worth a read. The book does drag on sometimes, but that’s just part of its charm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Cursing

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Sexual content, Vomit, Suicide, Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse

victoriakvitnes's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Grief

koalachlox's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful sad tense 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

3.5

The book was good with enough going on and good prose that moved relatively fast. I loved the two viewpoints and how it switches between them. I think it should have stayed as just the two viewpoints as I did not find the other viewpoints of any good especially not Eleanor, it was just annoying. Could have been a bit shorter too as the ending felt like it was dragging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse

marensh's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Death of parent, Death, and Drug abuse

leylabox's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective 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

One second this book is making interesting commentary on the human condition, and the next it's saying 'soz' when a characters parent dies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Addiction