Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Kleopatra i Frankenstein by Teresa Komłosz, Coco Mellors

408 reviews

theteaisaddictive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-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

A beautifully-written book starring the most insufferable collection of characters I’ve ever read about. Watching them make their mistakes, break apart, hurt each other, leave, grow, change, and become themselves was an experience that I practically inhaled by the end of the book. Bonus star for the prose, which is simply gorgeous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

madkat37's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

tea_aunt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

jonathanlynch's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

3.75

This read like a mix of You've Got Mail and Sex Education (Cleo gave off big Maeve energy) which created a nostalgic yet modern vibe I really appreciated. 

The ending was just okay because I was expecting a bit more, but overall the emotional weight of the story was beautiful and hauntingly familiar. I do wish the BIPOC characters didn't feel so whitewashed because I felt this book lacked any nuanced voices to counteract the very white problems this book focuses on. The character, Zoe, deserved more time to shine!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction and Drug use

faenth's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

salomemoerl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death

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

maria_k2000's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

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