Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Cléopâtre et Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

21 reviews

mayaism_01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I'm putting this tentatively at 4 stars because I'm not 100% sure I enjoyed it but I've thought about it enough that it has to rank higher than books I outright didn't enjoy or didn't care for in any significant way. This was a thrilling and provocative story about the relationships between people and how the people that build you up can also be the ones that crush you, making peace with your trauma and other narrative strands that I don't think I fully gripped. I enjoyed the whirlwind of Cleo and Frank's story and enjoyed the smaller interjections of their other friends' perspectives, though some like Quentin and Zoe I think deserved more fleshing out. I think the further away I get from this novel the more I'll appreciate it, though something I definitely enjoyed was Mellor's writing style, punchy and lyrical (the same kind of vibe as Lana Del Rey lyrics), and the chaotic characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

michaelamatthew's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Animal death, Self harm, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

adrienne_rennie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug use, Dementia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Self harm, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Dementia, Grief, Dysphoria, and Sexual content

cestarimm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

i’m glad they didn’t end up together.

i took a long time to finish this book even though i liked it from the start. 

all i wanted was to shake cleo’s shoulders and take her to therapy.

it is an exploration on the ripple effect a hasty decision can have on every other relationship we have.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Dysphoria, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Suicide

angelaaaa's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Transphobia, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Grief, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Violence, Fatphobia, Blood, Mental illness, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

This book did things to me. An impulsive marriage is a star at the center of a galaxy orbited by friends and family. And when that star simmers and explodes, everyone feels the aftershocks.

I forget exactly when, but at one point midway through the book I noticed the structure of the narrative. Not in a bad way. In a 'fellow writer albeit in another medium appreciating form' way. And I was struck by how complicated it is to pull off a multidimensional ensemble story like this, and yet how effortless the author made it all feel. Not to mention the emotional pay off. 

That is real skill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Dementia, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

hannalizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

If the song “I’m wearing his boxers/I cry in his bathroom, he turns off the big light” song “Complex” by Katie Gregson-MacLeod from tiktok was a book, this would be it. Or “You’re On Your Own, Kid” by Taylor Swift from Midnights. Or “Moon Song” by Phoebe Bridgers. Take your pick. If any of those songs break you, this book will finish the job 😭❤️‍🩹

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a literary fiction masterpiece and in-depth character study. It’s the type of book that readers need to put some work into — you learn about the characters passively, by connecting the dots between their dialogue and their actions/behaviors. It’s a book worth annotating because so much is said between the lines. 

Throughout the book you go from loving Cleo and Frank to hating them both, individually and as a couple. They’re messy, flawed, toxic people who bring out the worst in each other, and yet: “when the darkest part of you meets the darkest part of me, it creates light.” 

It’s as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. It’s raw, it’s messy, it’s human. 5/5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Definitely adult content w/ triggering subjects. Check for content warnings ❤️‍🩹

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Infidelity, Grief, Addiction, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death of parent

ganderson's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Best summed up in its own words: "it often seemed nothing very much was happening in [the story] until something startling and ireconsilable did." Very poignant, incredibly intense. The discussions of addiction are handled very well, but huge trigger warnings if you or someone you love is in active addiction. 

Edit: after thinking more for a few months I'm bumping this down. I was in too much shock at the ending to address it at the time, but...

I think Quentin was incredibly hard done by as a character. The absolute shock transition into meth addiction blew my mind and completely shook me. I think that might be because I found this book through searching for LGBT books, and the book description particularly focuses on Quentin gender identity - for that to be a very, very minor story line and for Quentin's character to be given such a dark ending. I also felt similar about Frank's sister, who's story line of entering a sugar baby/daddy relationship didn't have fruition until the end of the novel despite being another central part of the book description. It felt misleading, and very much in Quentin's case like a 'bury your gays' trope that I've sat uncomfortably with for a while now. I really don't recommend this book on those themes at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Transphobia, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Self harm

serenarg's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

2.0

interesting but not worth the countless mental health triggers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

sash_bun's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal death and Dysphoria