Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Cleopatra and Frankenstein

I finally fucking finished this book. And I want to cry about it. This was an emotional roller-coaster and a real coming of age story — of all ages. Self-harm, self-hate, self-sabotage, trauma, depression, dysmorfofobia, addiction, alcoholism, co-dependency. I’m really happy I paced myself reading this since it turned out to be one of the best — yet most painful — books I’ve read this year. I feel empty and full at the end of this and through it all still a message of hope, of overcoming once own adversities and somewhat killing your darlings. I genuinly recommend you to read this. However beware — you’re going to need to eat your feelings at the end of it.

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harry_lemon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

5⭐
Wow! This book was amazing. If you are anyone going through a transition in your life - whether that's work, love, school, or just figuring out who the next version of yourself is - this is the book for you!

I'll admit, it took a minute for me to get into the story at the beginning; I was almost apathetic to Cleo and Frank just because I didn't seem to terribly care about their stories. But, as the book went on and I learned the cast of characters, I began to feel for each of these individuals like they were real people.

Mellors does an amazing job of keeping you guessing on where the next bit of drama is going to happen and wondering what love really is. I think anyone can relate to at least one person in this story.

Also, if you're looking for a book rec for someone in their early- to mid-twenties, this is the book for them!!

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allythegingy's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

Cute.

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tasha_x's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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desired_moon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. it felt so raw, so real. In man was i found myself in this book.

but man - i fucking hate Frank. every other character i could still see their good sides, but not Frank. i will never forgive him for what he did to the sugarglider. i will die a Frank hater.
also im really sad about quentins end.

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lucyduller's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I read the reviews of this book immediately after finishing it and became so defensive of the book that I knew it was a 5 star read, that and the endless tears escaping in the last chapter.

I will admit this book isn’t for everyone, it’s a miserable, quite depressing book, with a writing style poetic yet dull, so I understand why people don’t like it, but those are the reasons I loved it.

I agree that during the book I sometimes get lost, but to call it trauma p*rn is ridiculous, I think it’s real and raw and honest. I also found it really funny at parts so to say there is no relief I think is being hyperbolic.

The cast of ensemble characters that we see vignettes of really made me love this book, characters are what I fall in love with in stories, not the plot, and so to have a cast of fleshed out people was so interesting and made for a richer read. Also it really set the scene of a book set in NYC, it made it so much richer.

But at the end of the day, and the book, it’s about Cleo and Frank and 💔 their tragic love is - for me- up there with Marianne and Connell of Normal People, and Em and Dex of One Day. Which is why I cried so much at the end. Two people, so not right for each other but who try and love each other despite all that.

For this to be Coco Mellors’ debut novel made me INSANE, but also the fact that it took 7 years to write makes so much sense to me. Writers, take all the time you need if it means you can write books like these. We don’t need a factory of churned our books (Colleen Hoover, James Patterson, Matt Haig, even *gasp* Emily Henry).

Because books like these make me fall back in love with reading.

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