Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

274 reviews

theraindiary's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abandonment, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, and Transphobia

virgomoon9's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, and Dementia

readersmultiverse's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

• Brilliant writing, very creative and immersive. 
• Important topics were explored well. 
• Plot was almost non-existent. It was just New York, alcohol, drugs, infidelity and vibes. 
• More of a character case study kind of book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Gaslighting

eleanorferrari17's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

3.75

I really enjoyed this book. Beautifully written dialogue between characters, with every argument, party and outing uncovering a different side to the characters. Cleo, Frank and Zoe felt like fully fleshed out people, and I felt very invested in their storylines.

I’ve voted it 3.75 because I finished it wanting more from some of the storylines, and some things were left unresolved

Zoe and her acting career / new man, and Anders and the whole Cleo affair

. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Self harm, Addiction, Mental illness, and Blood

shealen's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

This really challenged me emotionally and I don’t even have related experience to what the characters were going through other than mental health struggles, yet I still felt so connected and entwined with them and all of their flaws. They are not easy characters to love, and that was the point, I believe. The two characters I found I liked the most only had 1 chapter and 2 chapters accordingly. Very powerful writing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

lngoldstein's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Mental illness, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicide

batforanna's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Self harm, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

alayarocco's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.25

Nothing much of substance.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Vomit, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Child abuse

djenkin96's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I really struggled to read this book, which was a shame after so many recommendations. I felt that things were often repeated. The author kept eluding to Cleo being like cleopatra, beautiful and captivating, however every descriptor she used made her sound odd looking. I found some parts the writer had gone into depth and created great back stories but then abandoned them with no further mention. 
At the end I didn't feel like Cleo actually changed or developed as a character ? But the writer emphasises she has by new artwork. All in all I did not find myself wanting to finish it, more to move on to something else.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Abandonment, Animal death, Eating disorder, and Alcoholism

carly_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

“Cleopatra, the original undoer of men.” “Frankenstein sounds about right. Creator of monsters.” 

When the darkest part of you meets the darkest part of me, it creates light.

Why did she feel the need to make everyone, even this waiter, like her? What a thing it must be to be indifferent to indifference.

Everything she had ever wanted to hear from a man was hers from the mouth of a girl.

If you prefer one outcome over another in life, you will likely be disappointed. I prefer nothing and am always surprised.

Sweetheart, love is humiliating. Hasn’t anyone told you that? Do you know the word humiliate comes from the Latin root humus, which means ‘earth’? That’s how love is supposed to feel. Like earth. It grounds you. All this nonsense about love being a drug, making you feel high, that’s not real. It should hold you like the earth.

This was gut wrenchingly sad. Would it be cliche if I said this is All Too Well (10 Minute Version) meets I miss you, I’m sorry by Gracie Abrams in the form of a novel? 

I almost dnf’d this at first because I was worried the characters would be insufferable for 300+ pages, but as I kept reading, I realized these are some of the most flawed and realistic characters I’ve ever read. I constantly felt like I’d made up my mind about characters, and then I’d read something that would change my whole perspective. It serves as a reminder that everyone is struggling with something that you probably wouldn’t guess upon first glance.  I think this is a statement on how much messed up family dynamics hurt and shape us in adulthood. It’s also about being angry, lonely, depressed, and confused and not knowing what to do about it. On a more positive note, it’s also about love, home, community, sisterhood, healing, empathy, intimacy, forgiveness, and what stillness can mean when you’ve only ever known chaos. I especially appreciated the points made about vulnerability and how sometimes it’s rewarded but not always. 

As an aside, Eleanor and her mother are some of my favorite characters I’ve ever read. Funny girl representation! 

I can see the Sally Rooney comparisons but I wouldn’t say they’re overtly similar in terms of writing style or characterization. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent