Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

52 reviews

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

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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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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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

• Brilliant writing, very creative and immersive. 
• Important topics were explored well. 
• Plot was almost non-existent. It was just New York, alcohol, drugs, infidelity and vibes. 
• More of a character case study kind of book. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

I'm slightly biased on my review because this story really hit home for me. It was too painful for me to even pick it up again after a year. 

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dark emotional 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

I'm torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars. Let's settle for 3.5/5 

Stating the obvious, the book flows like a river. The writing's great, descriptions' great yada yada yada...

Finished the book in 3 days. That says enough.

Now, the interesting stuff...

I found the main character insufferable, which is absolutely fine, characters do NOT have to be likeable, but Mellors tried SO hard to make her  likeable by mentioning just how likeable she is (how convenient) which made me dislike her even more. 

TW// 

The book also features PRETTY heavy themes like alcoholism, drug abuse, animal cruelty, su!cide, self-h@rm, and the list goes on....without ever really diving into the complexity and complications of each struggle, thereby making the character's problems seem shallow (they are not!!!) 

Along with having like a bazillion unnecessary characters, this, too, was unnecessary. Towards the end of the book, it felt as if Mellors was just throwing in as much trauma as she possibly can for that shocker effect. Unfortunately, that had a counter effect. It made me desensitised to much of the events in the novel. 

traumatised characters ≠ unconditional sympathy

I've read books with way fewer events going on but had a much deeper attachment to the characters.

Frustratingly, this could have been such a good book....

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dark funny hopeful 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny reflective medium-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

Honestly, it’s a very interesting take on every day life. I think it shows how “Cleopatra” and “Frankenstein“ are both monsters and victims.  It shows that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you love each other, sometimes relationships are sometimes bad or toxic. It makes you think about how you view or judge people and reflect on where the problem truly lies. Definitely worth a read. The book does drag on sometimes, but that’s just part of its charm. 

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