Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

404 reviews

lgiery's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Addictive. An exploration of the complexities of human relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

garfriendofmine's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

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i read this book in march of 2024 and it’s january 2025 and i still think about this book once a week (not always positive but undeniably worth reading in my opinion”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism

freshpageonthedesk's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny inspiring fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide

cleotheo's review against another edition

3.75

emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Dementia

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism

sofiarf's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent

marissanbullis's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent

sarajee's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

I can't decide how I feel about this book. I didn't find most of the characters enjoyable but it was interesting to read about them and the book mainly had a good flow going with the story. I wish there was more about Zoes story which I feel like was left in the air like an afterthought. Quentin too. I didn't enjoy the introduction of Elenor or the format of her chapters. I just couldn't bring myself to care about her at all.

alisbleu's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Suicide, Death of parent

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Classism

Minor: Ableism, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria

fairyko's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

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 Often I have walked past this book in the bookstore and thought about buying it. At the request of a friend, I did, because she said she would need someone at the end to exchange her thoughts about it and quickly it became clear to me why she said that. Right at the beginning a big warning. Please read the trigger warnings on the internet if you plan to buy this book. I did not know that certain topics are discussed so intensively and I claim to be able to handle a lot well - but here even I felt sick to my stomach now and then. A content warning at the beginning of the book would have been good in my opinion. Now about the content. I did not like the characters. Except for Santiago, I found every single person introduced annoying, boring, tiring, or just plain mean. Or all at once. The relationship between Cleo and Frank was doomed to fail from the start and you practically watch the two of them gradually destroy themselves and each other. Other characters (especially Quentin) leave too much room for interpretation and are there, but ultimately do not contribute to the development of the plot. They are all tragic in their own way, but only superficially so. Each character has their own story, their own trauma, and their own fate, but each character would need their own book to properly deal with all of this and not just skim over it. Coco Mellors does a poor job of addressing the problems of each individual and illuminating them in a light that does them justice. The wounds of each character are opened, but then not treated with the necessary sensitivity. At best, a small plaster is put on the metaphorical stab wound, but the reader does not get more. It was a very frustrating experience and from halfway through I prayed on every third page for a quick end to my reading experience. The novel presents itself as a shimmering, profound love story between a successful middle-aged man and a nearly childlike artist, but brings the reader nothing but pain. Not even because the story is so tragic, but because it just drags on. What one must credit Coco Mellors with is that she achieves her goal. People talk about her book, it stays in the mind for a long time and one thinks a lot about it, as each of these characters leaves a strange feeling in the stomach. Her writing style is also very appealing and especially graphic. She has certainly mastered "show, don't tell" as few others have. If she now also creates a story that does not claim to be something it is not, I can certainly imagine reading something from her again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment