Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

63 reviews

romitchell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.75

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elisem04's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This feels weird to rate bc it was compellingly readable to the point where I couldn’t put it down. But at the same time, it made me feel awful and I didn’t really care about any of the characters. 2.25 stars is a reasonable compromise I guess.

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saffyjadd's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Review contains minor spoilers.

This book feels like a fever dream. The manic-pixie artist struggles with the darkness that hovers over everything she does. When she meets older, alcohol-loving, fun guy Frank they explode in a fever dream of drugs and parties and attempted domesticity.

Just to say, I enjoyed this book. I was compelled to keep reading, I wanted to know what happened. I didn't love every aspect of it, for example, the characters (who are decently explored - most named characters get at least one of their own perspective chapters) are mostly horrendously cliched. Cleo's best friend, Quentin, for example, is a gay man addicted to drugs, dabbles in promiscuity and toxic relationships and gender presentation. Santiago, the gentle, overweight friend who loves to cook and hates how he looks. Anders, the aging model who sleeps with literally everyone without ever seeing them as human. It feels a little clumsy and I would've enjoyed a bit more complexity from them. The main exception being Eleanor, a character introduced tremendously in a montage-of-sorts chapter of her first day at her new job, who is a delight to read and root for.

Frank's seemingly endless supply of money from his ad agency conveniently assuages all of the money problems in the novel. Even when characters are "broke", their financial safety doesn't ever feel at risk. Zoe comes the closest to true poverty, but even then, we see it's because she doesn't want to ask for help, rather than having no feasible avenues.

I enjoy later when Frank challenges his notion that Cleo is a good artist merely because she's tortured enough to be. I did not find redemption in Cleo's character and, in fact, she's the character who declined most for me in terms of likeability. Her final "art" piece is not bad as it is. Making Frank experience it is a punch to the face of her possible redemption.

The book is hinged upon the reader believing this unbreakable bond between the two main characters, this undeniable draw and relation. And yet, save for about 2 hours, the first 6 months of their getting to know one another happens entirely off-page. This works for world building, but in a book that relies so heavily on the importance of the central relationship, it feels lazy and half-baked. Show me that they can't live without each other, don't tell me.

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meganreadsbook's review against another edition

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dark medium-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

2.5

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1414's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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e_m_f_reads's review against another edition

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This book made me physically ill. Like I’m not even saying that I thought I might throw up. There is a scene in this book that is absolutely haunting and imo completely unnecessary I read the scene this morning and cannot stop thinking about it and feelings sick its actually harrowing.

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