Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Cleópatra e Frankenstein

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

268 reviews

laurenvoice's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional reflective 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

Cleopatra and Frankenstein was not what I was expecting. I was expecting some epic love story, but it turned out to be more of a tragedy. Coco Mellors did a brilliant job tackling some of the harder themes in this book; she approached them with sensitivity and rawness. Although I was a little disappointed with how some of the characters' stories ended, I enjoyed the story nonetheless.

Content Warnings

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

1.0

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Boy oh boy. Is two stars too generous? (Edit: yes it is and I'm changing it to 1,5 which still feels too generous...) This was in turn exciting to read, because the author is actually pretty good, and also excruciating to read because the characters were unbelievably self-absorbed, annoying and fake. The only character I kind of liked was Zoe, but she got like no time at all in the book. Why even include her if she wasn't important/going to get a good story arc? Well, it's for "diversity" of course. Tell me, why were all side characters part of a minority when the main characters were (mostly) straight and white??? It's just comes off as cheap, I'm sorry.

Content Warnings

aditi_801's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

Ok. So I literally loved this book to death. The struggles every single character went through were so prevalent and just so needed. To have a character like Chloe that thinks she needs the love of a man (future me, but hopefully not) and just struggles with finding the love of others, is so important. These characters are never shown in a relatable manner. Then there were characters like Zoe who struggled with supporting herself and was just stuck in life, and then women like Eleanor who questioned what they had in life (one of my fav characters). Every flaw of a character was never hated, though every character was individually fucked up. It showed the beauty of life's struggles. That it's never just you going through it, but everyone else too. There were some characters that you simply just hated without a doubt like Anders and Quinten, but there was also characters that you went back and forth on hating. It is easy to love Chloe and Frank together from the start of the book. They were adorable. But then you have to combine their problems together, and sometimes, those problems are unfixable, even with someone to lean on. I disliked Zoe at the beginning of the book. She hated our main character and seemed like a spoiled rotten bitch. But then, you learn all the struggles she faces and the fact that she has no one on her side. You emphasize with her because of this. I think that's what a lot of this book is about. And don't even get me started on the writing. It had me stopping to think about all the beauty there is in the world. TOO GOOD TO DESCRIBE. I want to write like Coco Mellors. That's all I can say. This book is simply perfect. Life is not easy in the slightest, and this book encompasses it entirely.

Content Warnings

alovelettertoliterature's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

Complex female characters, doomed love stories, and older men are a few of my favorite things in a book, and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors embody all. I’m well aware that I need therapy for liking some of these things and fully understand that not everyone’s taste is in accordance with mine, so consider yourself warned.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors, set in New York, tell the story of Cleo, a 24 years old British Painter, who falls in love with Frank, a man 20 years her senior who works in advertising. They met in an elevator of a party, and within six months, they got married, partly for her visa and the rest for love. It is apparent in the beginning that they are individually still struggling with their unresolved issues, which could result in the doom of their relationship.

Cleo and Frank’s love is not conventional, and that’s what makes it so electrifying. You could not get enough of them, yet at some point, you know it will not last. Although the storyline centralizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship, it also branches out to focus on other characters in their circle and how their relationship affects them. The story is told in such an interesting structure that follows different characters’ points of view in each chapter. The story's premise is not something new, but because of how it is told, it feels new and fresh.

Mellors’ approach to writing this book is to create deeply complex characters so that perhaps we can relate to each character on a deeper level even if we don’t always agree with them. Whether Mellors was able to achieve that is a different story.

I would have rated this book a full five stars, but a couple of things have turned it to a four for me. Firstly, I find that the different points of view started strong as Mellors gives each character a strong background and personality. However, midway, Mellors decided to take a different approach and only prioritizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship. I did not mind this, but something about it just felt unfinished, neglected, and inconclusive for the other characters. Secondly, some stereotypes are shown in this book that felt unsettling for some characters that I don’t think were intended to be something “bad” but are still harmful.

Overall, I loved this book and will most likely reread it. The covers alone are just exquisite (both the paperback and hardcover) and should be able to convince you to read it. Mellors is talented and able to capture not only your attention but your heart. It’s one of those books you will still think of long after reading it.