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challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
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 had high hopes for Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and it definitely lived up to my expectations.
This book follows Frank and Cleo, who quickly fall in love and get married so that Cleo can obtain a visa. But a flame dies down as quickly as it rises, and they quickly run into marital problems. We follow as their relationship ebbs and flows, until their inevitable demise.
This book hits hard at what it means to be human. It's complicated and beautiful, devastating and joyful. If you are an empathetic human, you will enjoy this book.
This book follows Frank and Cleo, who quickly fall in love and get married so that Cleo can obtain a visa. But a flame dies down as quickly as it rises, and they quickly run into marital problems. We follow as their relationship ebbs and flows, until their inevitable demise.
This book hits hard at what it means to be human. It's complicated and beautiful, devastating and joyful. If you are an empathetic human, you will enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
challenging
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I finally fucking finished this book. And I want to cry about it. This was an emotional roller-coaster and a real coming of age story — of all ages. Self-harm, self-hate, self-sabotage, trauma, depression, dysmorfofobia, addiction, alcoholism, co-dependency. I’m really happy I paced myself reading this since it turned out to be one of the best — yet most painful — books I’ve read this year. I feel empty and full at the end of this and through it all still a message of hope, of overcoming once own adversities and somewhat killing your darlings. I genuinly recommend you to read this. However beware — you’re going to need to eat your feelings at the end of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Toxic friendship
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Moderate: Racism
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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, coco mellors
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4/5
what a book to get me out of my reading slump! i haven't read a full length novel in a couple of months, and this one was kind of perfect for the occasion.
cleopatra and frankenstein follows the impulsive marriage between 24-year-old cleo and 43-year-old frank, to, broadly, secure cleo a green card. their marriage (inevitably) has far-reaching consequences, and the novel explores themes such as loss, complex relationships and addiction.
this beautifully vivid portrayal of the new york of the early 2000s makes me feel nostalgic for a time i don't remember, and the central characters lead a glamorous life of art, culture, drink and drugs. i loved how the characters felt painfully real - although the plot, at times, seemed almost unbelievable, readers recognise that they lead a ridiculous life. almost certainly backed up by a hefty trust fund, many of the characters don't seem to be burdened by student loans, paying the rent and bills, and can therefore gallivant around new york city. despite the perhaps unrealistic lack of financial struggles, this places emphasis on the mental and emotional journeys of the characters, which is objectively far more important. the characters are far from simple, and can be perceived to be both protagonists and antagonists, having both a positive and negative impact on each other. i love the unrealistic realism, it gives the novel an ethereal quality.
for me, the most interesting storyline was that of zoe's, the younger sister of frank. she is broke, nineteen years old and navigating a large city. i seemed to identify with her, whether that's because we are similar in age or i deeply sympathise with her and her situation i don't know. i hope she is happy, she deserves the world 🤍
it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, and definitely feeds into the 'sad girl' trope (i was delighted with the lana reference, or just delusional). regardless, i ate this the fuck up.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
4/5
what a book to get me out of my reading slump! i haven't read a full length novel in a couple of months, and this one was kind of perfect for the occasion.
cleopatra and frankenstein follows the impulsive marriage between 24-year-old cleo and 43-year-old frank, to, broadly, secure cleo a green card. their marriage (inevitably) has far-reaching consequences, and the novel explores themes such as loss, complex relationships and addiction.
this beautifully vivid portrayal of the new york of the early 2000s makes me feel nostalgic for a time i don't remember, and the central characters lead a glamorous life of art, culture, drink and drugs. i loved how the characters felt painfully real - although the plot, at times, seemed almost unbelievable, readers recognise that they lead a ridiculous life. almost certainly backed up by a hefty trust fund, many of the characters don't seem to be burdened by student loans, paying the rent and bills, and can therefore gallivant around new york city. despite the perhaps unrealistic lack of financial struggles, this places emphasis on the mental and emotional journeys of the characters, which is objectively far more important. the characters are far from simple, and can be perceived to be both protagonists and antagonists, having both a positive and negative impact on each other. i love the unrealistic realism, it gives the novel an ethereal quality.
for me, the most interesting storyline was that of zoe's, the younger sister of frank. she is broke, nineteen years old and navigating a large city. i seemed to identify with her, whether that's because we are similar in age or i deeply sympathise with her and her situation i don't know. i hope she is happy, she deserves the world 🤍
it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea, and definitely feeds into the 'sad girl' trope (i was delighted with the lana reference, or just delusional). regardless, i ate this the fuck up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
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
I read the reviews of this book immediately after finishing it and became so defensive of the book that I knew it was a 5 star read, that and the endless tears escaping in the last chapter.
I will admit this book isn’t for everyone, it’s a miserable, quite depressing book, with a writing style poetic yet dull, so I understand why people don’t like it, but those are the reasons I loved it.
I agree that during the book I sometimes get lost, but to call it trauma p*rn is ridiculous, I think it’s real and raw and honest. I also found it really funny at parts so to say there is no relief I think is being hyperbolic.
The cast of ensemble characters that we see vignettes of really made me love this book, characters are what I fall in love with in stories, not the plot, and so to have a cast of fleshed out people was so interesting and made for a richer read. Also it really set the scene of a book set in NYC, it made it so much richer.
But at the end of the day, and the book, it’s about Cleo and Frank and 💔 their tragic love is - for me- up there with Marianne and Connell of Normal People, and Em and Dex of One Day. Which is why I cried so much at the end. Two people, so not right for each other but who try and love each other despite all that.
For this to be Coco Mellors’ debut novel made me INSANE, but also the fact that it took 7 years to write makes so much sense to me. Writers, take all the time you need if it means you can write books like these. We don’t need a factory of churned our books (Colleen Hoover, James Patterson, Matt Haig, even *gasp* Emily Henry).
Because books like these make me fall back in love with reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Even I cannot deny that this is a well written book. The writing itself is beautiful. However, it felt as if the book had little to no plot, and it also felt as if the characters all had so many issues for the sake of having issues The book is utterly vulgar throughout, and it seems every character is either toxic, irresponsible, cheating, an alcoholic, or constantly on drugs. Because of those things, the book only really toed the line of feeling realistic and relatable. The ending was bittersweet, but I wasn’t rooting for the characters to get there, especially since they felt like they had only undergone half a character arc. However the author did manage to establish clear voices for each of the characters, though the decision to include the voice of side characters for only a chapter then pushing them back to ensemble was an interesting choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Medical content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Transphobia