Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Cleópatra e Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

266 reviews

nialogical's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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reading Cleo’s POV as a twenty-something with a habit of dating older people felt like walking barefoot on Legos—uncomfortably relatable and occasionally unbearable. Their relationship teeters between captivating and cringe-worthy, with the power imbalances hitting way too close to home. Please don’t get me started on the constant POV shifts. it’s like the book couldn’t decide who it wanted me to emotionally spiral with. While the chaos was intentional, it sometimes made staying invested feel like a chore. Great writing, but I could’ve used a breather (and maybe therapy) in between chapters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

hyndiajacobs's review against another edition

2.25

relaxing fast-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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

talialebrett13's review against another edition

3.75

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

lisamstanhope's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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I struggled at times with this novel, it had many themes that in other books would be an automatic dnf for me. However there was something about this book that made me push through and keep reading. 
The main negatives for me were the sexual violence towards women almost glamorizing it….just why do women write about sex in this vein….i could imagine the outrage if it were a male writing this.
It was dark and heavy at times but had some lighter moments. Good satisfying ending although I would have like to have heard more about Zoe and how she fared beyond the brief mention in the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship

leah25loveslife's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

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I’m always a little wary of books that become popular these days, because popularity isn’t always a direct result of good writing, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, especially given that I don’t usually read character driven novels. This story took me on a journey, and there are many moments where I felt touched and seen. In particular was chapter 13, which ended with me crying quietly on the couch and feeling far more for Anders than I ever thought I would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

piasta's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional 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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2025 geht direkt gut weiter: Ein sehr angenehmes und tiefes Buch. Der Schreibstil hat mir sehr gefallen. Die Charaktere haben sich sehr echt angefühlt (nur, dass es random ein oder zwei POVs von Eleanor und Quentin gab, war weird, aber nötig, um ein vollständiges Bild der anderen Charaktere zu zeichnen). Frank alias Frankenstein: Das missverstandene Monster, das auch der Suche nach einer Partnerin ist und dabei Menschen tötet. Machtgefälle zwischen den beiden Hauptcharakteren - arm und reich, jung und alt. Zum Scheitern verurteilt? Cleo: Die Suche nach sich selbst. Denken, man sei nicht mehr Liebe wert.  Erwachsenwerden?
All in all ein Roman, der so nicht hätte länger sein dürfen und mir stellenweise ein Lächeln aufs Gesicht gezaubert hat. Subtile Tiefe, die nicht gezwungen wird.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Toxic friendship

racholivia's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Grief

pencil6556's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship

asb51's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment

mybestfriendsarefictional's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective 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

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Melancholy personified.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail