Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

268 reviews

jj_xx's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship

whatannikareads's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

---

while at times it felt a little long and the characters were a little annoying, it was overall a great read that gripped my heart. it leads you on a journey of two people with so much love for each other, but are dealing with their own demons so intensely that it causes a fissure between them. or maybe they were always doomed from the start. but i guess it follows the question of whether or not a love so deep is worth the immense hurt afterwards. cleo and frank's tumultuous relationship is an overwhelming rollercoaster ride at times. i also didn't really care for eleanor's chapters; i think it either should've been developed more or cut shorter. but man that last chapter alone bumped it up from a 4.25 to 4.5. a very devastating but fitting ending in my opinion that felt like it was written with rainbows and shimmering gold. probably one of the most touching final chapters i've ever read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

joeykills's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

nenya's review against another edition

5.0

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 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

nai__reads's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

swetha062's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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 think in any case that love would sustain you, their life would be a prime contradicting example of that. Cleo and Frank find solace in things except each other. Coco mellors does a great job of catching the intricacies of love between two beings and what makes them want to choose the other. She captures the depth of falls and misses in these moments. Empathy being the key to finding peace, she explains every relationship in the book desperately needing that for themselves. It's beautiful and none of their reasonings fell flat. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

hanhantap's review against another edition

4.5

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship

Minor: Dysphoria

charly_ho's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

5.0

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

---

I barely know how to talk about this book. It's actually been a few days since I finished it at the time of writing this review, and I honestly cannot stress how often I have thought about this book since finishing it. The characters were so well-rounded and felt so real. This doesn't only go for the two main characters, Frank and Cleo, but also the side characters as well, such as Quentin, Eleanor, and Zoe. Every single person and character felt real and were so interesting to follow and learn about over the course of the book. I loved how we got at least one chapter in the point of view of everyone who impacted or was impacted by the plot of the book and really got to see what was going on for them. It was really well done and gave the story a very well-rounded and all-encompassing feel to it. Like I said, I barely know how to talk about this book, except for stating the fact that it is one of my favorite books of the year, it was beautifully written, and I was completely swept up in every single moment. Chapter 13, in my opinion, was so beautifully crafted and written and put together. Every word felt deliberate, every piece of dialogue felt perfect, and I will never get over the emotions that the author made me feel in that chapter.  I would highly recommend this book, but please check the trigger warnings! Overall not a super dark book, but a very, very heavy one, and there are definitely some topics to look out for!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol

Moderate: Self harm, Transphobia, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual content

laurafrances's review against another edition

4.5

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Gaslighting