Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

79 reviews

lavishrebellion's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Probably one of the hottest it-books of the last two years, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but it did feel very vibe-y, which was accurate. Taking place in Manhattan and featuring characters of a certain milieu (flashy; social) “Cleopatra and Frankenstein,” about the rise and fall of a couple who surprisingly get married, alongside the lives of their friend groups and relatives, had moments of depth, was a juicy read at times, detailed and committed to its alternating POVs, and at times very graphic in its sexual imagery and violence. (I want to note that I really appreciated how she wrote the characters of color too). Its author Coco Mellors cared a lot about her characters and it showed in her writing. And as someone who lived in NY in the 2010s, this book also heavily harkened to that time period for me and thus, a ride of bittersweet nostalgia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

film_oddity's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Transphobia, and Vomit

jettiphoned's review

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Suicide, and Blood

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

juhmeejohns's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

2.0

I hate this book. It’s like fleabag but less smart. I dont think

its fair that Frank gets to live a happy changed life and we get stuck with not knowing what happens with Cleo. I think its a disservice to not give an inkling of hope that she can be better. I don’t think Frank was redeemed. Santiago was the only one with a happy ending. The emotional and physical violence thats described to happen only to Cleo was devastating. No one got what they deserved, it was deeply disturbing and unsatisfying. 

Upon reflection i hate this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol

yayrhianna's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

m3lly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

3.0

Love the writing style of Coco Mellors, but sometimes a story is just not meant to be for everyone. I started reading „Cleopatra & Frankenstein“ with the intention of reading about their love story.

That’s not what happened

Half way through, I thought I could never recommend this book to anyone. Too much trauma. But now that I’ve finished it, it kinda grew on me. They, Frank and Cleo, grew on me. Reading about their relationship, their ups and downs, mainly their downs, did something to me I can’t pinpoint yet. But coming back to my statement from the beginning. Do I think this story was „meant“ for me? No. Does that mean it’s a bad written story? No. It was fun getting to know Frank and Cleo, but I’m happy to say goodbye to them as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

gemmasbooknook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

An interesting people focused story. However  I found the emotionally low mood of the book, sometimes quite relentless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

emilysshelf's review

This book felt like someone trying way too hard to be edgy and artsy. I understand that everyone is flawed but the characters in this book were wildly irritating and all toxic. The dynamics in the friend group were frustrating and I found it hard to care for any of them. I had heard lots of love for this book and was super excited but was definitely let down. Most of the characters were so self absorbed. The age-gap, and “but shes an old soul and so mature for her age” personality had me stressed. Book was insufferable and it genuinely stressed me out, I couldn’t even hate-read and push through it. Maybe in the future I’ll try to reread but it’ll be in the FAR future once the sour taste it left in my mouth is gone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

syvanah's review against another edition

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lizlikesfrogs's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, and Suicide attempt