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Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

112 reviews

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

Fell in love, my favourite read of the year so far. I have to highlight that reading Eleanor's chapters were my favourite. The book was raw, emotional, funny and dark...heartbreaking yet beautiful. 

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Plot or Character Driven: Character

The transphobic pov of the writer ruined it for me.
If you wanna read it to see what all the hype is about, borrow it from a library, don't give your money to a transphobic author.

The cis straight characters get good  development and satisfying arcs, even giving up realism in the case of
a sugar baby's very unrealistic happy ending
, but the trans character
becomes a methhead pretty gratuitously off screen, so what we actually see goes from 0 to 100% way too quickly
and is misgendered by the author throughout the whole book.

It took me a while of digesting the book to realize how deeply transphobic it was, so I see why a lot of people miss it, specially when the main character's stories are so compelling. Eleanor's chapter was my favorite in the book and I enjoyed it very much.

So I don't throw the 7 years it took Coco Melliors to finish this book in the trash, but I do think her transphobic views belong there. Like, girl, in 7 years you couldn't learn to view trans women as humans deserving respect and decent representation? Or at least to use the correct pronouns? This book could've been a 5 star if she had.

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

i could not put this book down. SO. GOOD. 


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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

This was like reliving my 20s in a way. I felt so ambivalent about every character the same way I felt about my own close friends during that time. That impressed me but what really astounded me was how realistic the conversations and especially the arguments were. How the disagreement comes in waves. How a lull would, in most books, be the moment when the characters turn it around and make amends, but in real life, and in this book, instead turn into a hint at something unresolved that simply sends tensions soaring again. Superbly well written! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional reflective medium-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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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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective 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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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-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

If the song “I’m wearing his boxers/I cry in his bathroom, he turns off the big light” song “Complex” by Katie Gregson-MacLeod from tiktok was a book, this would be it. Or “You’re On Your Own, Kid” by Taylor Swift from Midnights. Or “Moon Song” by Phoebe Bridgers. Take your pick. If any of those songs break you, this book will finish the job 😭❤️‍🩹

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a literary fiction masterpiece and in-depth character study. It’s the type of book that readers need to put some work into — you learn about the characters passively, by connecting the dots between their dialogue and their actions/behaviors. It’s a book worth annotating because so much is said between the lines. 

Throughout the book you go from loving Cleo and Frank to hating them both, individually and as a couple. They’re messy, flawed, toxic people who bring out the worst in each other, and yet: “when the darkest part of you meets the darkest part of me, it creates light.” 

It’s as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. It’s raw, it’s messy, it’s human. 5/5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Definitely adult content w/ triggering subjects. Check for content warnings ❤️‍🩹

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dark emotional sad slow-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

This is a story about an impulsive marriage between Cleo, a 24 year old British painter and Frank, a successful 40 year old man, who have known each other for 6 months and get married so she can have a visa. Then it follows the progression of their marriage, how it falls apart and affects them and the people close to them. This book is well written and follows the topics of love, friendship, mental illness, addiction, drug use, cheating, self harm, and suicide. I can see what happens when 2 people that aren’t meant for each rush into a relationship and how that affects other people. These characters were flawed and unlikeable and I think that was the point because that’s how life and relationships can be. However I couldn’t resonate with them, I didn’t like them, I found this book to be really long and really sad. 

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