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Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

300 reviews

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

this is the kind of book where you can’t really tell that the characters are becoming your comfort characters until you find yourself looking forward to keep reading it because of them. the book is incredibly character driven and provides a very diverse set of nuanced and delicately crafted people who all, in a sense harmonize (or conflict) with one another. cleo and frank, the protagonists are both lovable and also deeply flawed and traumatized, something you and the characters themselves come to understand throughout the course of the book. what i loved most about it was that the narration style gave you insight into every single person’s thoughts and sentiments (or at least of the most important ones) not only through different POVs separated into different chapters, but also sometimes within the span of a paragraph, switching back and forth in revealing each persons internal dialogue. 
the book felt like an anti-romanticizing telltale of several New Yorker lifestyles while also being deeply philosophical and thought provoking 

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dark emotional reflective
Strong character development: Yes

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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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Generally good and engaging book, however lost me at times. Also I felt like we got just a glimpse of these characters and I git left wanting to know more. 

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challenging dark emotional 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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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a stunning novel, especially as a debut one. Coco Mellors puts so much passion into this novel and it just makes you love the characters and then rips them apart. I love this book so much! Mellors may have written my current all-time favourite! I will 100% be reading her other works!

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a book whose narrative changes as the story goes on. LIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD FOR STRUCTURE -
During the start, when everything is happy and fine, the narrative is joyful and happy, however once everything goes downhill, it switches to an emotional and beautiful narrative that honestly just makes you want to cry. Once everything begins to get better, the narrative once again changes, this time back to the start, where everything is getting better, however it's like the narrative is like the start, but with experience from the middle part.


For people who would like to read this, be warned that there is a lot of drug use and sex throughout this book, and some topics that some people may dislike or be triggered by!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I had originally given this a 4 but my book club discussion made me realize I had a lot more negative to say about it than I’d thought. I think that because I was coming off of some heavy non-fiction this was a departure from that and therefore a breath of fresh air. But in the end, that fresh air WAS NOT fresh, the themes were heavy, and almost every character is hate-worthy. 

I laughed out loud at sections (which is really rare for me) and had a very soft spot for the chef, so I can’t give it lower than this rating. I appreciated how complex the characters were and in scenes of conflict I really felt like I was there with them, I could hear their voices and see their faces and feel their energy. So that’s gotta count for something! But not enough to redeem the initial rating I’d given.

I agree with other reviewers who are wondering what the point of this story was. It made New York sound like a dump, the art installation at the end made me furious and nauseated, the fact that Everyone is so Charmed by Beautiful Stunning Cleo got so old so fast (especially after seeing the author might have been writing those descriptions about herself 🥴) and why some characters are redeemed and others aren’t had little rhyme or reason. Anyway, it was fast and entertaining!

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