Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

403 reviews

meaghanslibrary's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’m confused how to rate this book. I’m maybe between a 3.5 and 3.75 because the ending was kind of a “huh, that’s it?” kind of ending to me, but the writing really did have some great quotes. I’ll go 3.76 because I’m feeling generous today but could be lowered.

This book barely has a plot. It is definitely more of character driven studies. My favorite character comes in at what felt like the 75% mark where we get first person narration and chapters almost written like short stories. I found that writing and the quotes in Eleanor’s chapters to be the most engaging. The rest of the book is written in close third-person pov. There is one random chapter following a side character Quentin. And a few chapters that follow a side character Zoe, but otherwise the book mainly follows Cleo with some more sprinkles of Frank.

I did think the writing was very beautiful but this book took quite a while for me to read. It felt like it dragged in parts. I do generally prefer more plot driven books to character driven books. I probably will read another book by this author.

Content Warnings

random19379's review against another edition

3.25

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

anna_whitehead11's review against another edition

4.25

emotional fast-paced

Strong character development: Yes

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about Cleopatra and Frankenstein - it was at times brilliant and sensitive and had me hooked, but also was quite messy and emotionally wrecking and felt all over the place. The titular characters, a wayward British arts student Cleo and a slightly older architect from NYC, Frank, certainly come to life through Mellors’ writing. They feel more like people you’d meet at a party than purely fictional characters, which although effective, leaves one feeling increasingly frustrated by their personal and romantic choices as the novel progresses.

There was also a very weird episode involving a pet, which even made me (who has had a fair share of totally absurd NYC moments) think: ‘WTF is going on here?!’. I nevertheless went on to read Blue Sisters, which makes me think I can’t have completely hated Cleopatra and Frankenstein.

Content Warnings

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was really satisfying. I loved the writing style - it felt like we followed each person's thoughts and actions in a natural and interesting way, and Mellors seems to know exactly when to leave a person's perspective for maximum impact. Cleo and Frank are deeply interesting and complex, and the vignettes of their lives over the first year of their marriage paint a thoughtful portrait of two people trying to make when they are so different. I found many parts of this book profound and loved getting insights into the people in Cleo and Frank's lives, especially Zoe, Eleanor, and Santiago. New York City is also a vivid character in this book, which I always love. I found this book really affecting and will definitely be reading more of Mellors' work.

Content Warnings

emilysshelf's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 41%

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.

Content Warnings

midnightrain_'s review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

leni146's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

tiredtristan's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5✨

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

I still don’t have the proper words to review this book. The way I still think of this book daily is honestly insane.
This was something different than I usually read and I’m so glad I picked it up.
-0.5 because:

the end chapter of chapter 10
WHY IS HE m**** IN A STEAKHOUSE BATHROOM
I don’t like Eleanor or her first person pov.
Why doesn’t Cleo get a happy ending :( but Frank, the guy who has more red flags than I have sticky notes, gets a happy ending?????