Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

403 reviews

dany_casimiro's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Check out the trigger warnings beforehand!

Long Story Short: New York in a whirlwind of art, sensible depictions of mental illness and heartbreak seasoned with a strong sense of irony.

Coco Mellors has terrific writing skills: each POV reads like being inside the character's mind, and the recurring humor never gets old. I particularly enjoyed the switching between Cleo and Frank and their friends and acquaintances. The pacing helped to maintain a constantly refreshed narrative while providing each character with the breathing time they needed to be explored and developed. This includes the city as well since we get the feeling that New York is always present, its lights glistering in the background.
Perfect for anyone who enjoys Sally Rooney's representation of toxic relationships looking for a more hardcore read! 


 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol

mecmccann's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I had high hopes for Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. 

This book follows Frank and Cleo, who quickly fall in love and get married so that Cleo can obtain a visa. But a flame dies down as quickly as it rises, and they quickly run into marital problems. We follow as their relationship ebbs and flows, until their inevitable demise. 

This book hits hard at what it means to be human. It's complicated and beautiful, devastating and joyful. If you are an empathetic human, you will enjoy this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol

luluellis33's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury

virgcole398's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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I don’t know what to rate this book. Some of the dialogue was great but Cleo & Frank were insufferable.  I loved Eleanor’s storyline and the relationship with her mother. Honestly, I wish the entire book was from her POV. However, the constant comparisons to how “beautiful” and “special” Cleo versus how “masculine” Eleanor was were depressing to read. Especially, given that Cleo is a blatant self-insert character. Don’t even get me started on how Mellors wrote the POC characters in this book. For instance: “She learned to dance like a Black American.” I beg your finest pardon? 🤨 It was all so fetishtic and…weird. Has Mellors ever interacted with any POC in real life?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Antisemitism

jessesuresh's review against another edition

3.5

emotional lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent

bookshelfhannah's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

jordkuba's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Very good book, well written and nice to read. Unfortunately, it contained a number of topics that difficult for me. That somewhat diminished my enjoyment. I'm sure I could have liked it more at a different time in my life .

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Self harm, Violence, Dysphoria

kashmore's review against another edition

1.5

dark sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I thought that this book was satire until I realized it wasn’t. To me, much of conversation between characters seemed contrived, and I initially thought that could be intentional. I found parts of book compelling—particularly the Eleanor chapters—but overall felt the changing perspectives in each chapter were more gimmicky than constructive. Plot points are introduced and then abandoned, or major events/conversations overlooked or only referred to as having happened off screen. I’m thinking specifically about

Quentin’s character and how he is sidelined soon after being introduced — there’s little we hear from him after his introductory chapter, only to have it revealed at the end of the book that he’s been struggling with drug addiction, with little followup or commentary from any of the other characters

. I did finish the book and found it to be a quick read, and despite it dealing with some very serious issues, did not find it weighed down or overly dragging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt

helena26's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

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

lochnessmonster's review against another edition

3.5

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Cleo and Franks relationship is like watching a high speed car crash in slow motion. You know what’s going to happen but you can’t look away. Fantastic look into trauma, how it changes you/ effects every part of your life, and how healing can really turn your everything around for the better. 
It’s also interesting to see our titular characters from not as glamorous but relatable Eleanor’s perspective and through her I warmed up to Frank a bit. Also loved what little we got of Zoe and her journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship