A review by moonbeammckenna
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

Jesus fucking Christ, what a book. The plot, the characters, Cleo, Frank, Santiago, Zoe, oh my God I’m never going to get this book out of my head. Coco Mellors writes just one line of poetry after another, interspersed with tragedy and beauty and something I didn’t know how to put into words but she definitely managed to. I wish I could write a review as beautifully as the book was written but I’m not going to be able to do it justice.
The characters were all thinking the same perceptive, disheartening, honest thoughts as if they were the same person, and only their actions separated them from one another. I loved the way Mellors delved into the ugliness of human existence and didn’t try to come out with a happy ending – she left it at ugly and turned it in to something lovely and so, so sad. She writes about people in such a way that makes me yearn for more human connection and confront the biases I have about people – I achingly relate to Cleo and Frank and at the same time know that I don’t really have any idea what any of them are going through. 
I so badly wanted to hate Anders for being pretentious and creepy and Frank for falling in love with someone else and Cleo for being overbearingly feminist and a cheater and Quentin for being a prick in general, but I can’t condemn them knowing their minds and it SUCKS, but it’s something that I hope I take away from this and apply it to the real people in my life.
I am in tears and I don’t think I’m going to be able to read another book for a month, or at least until I stop feeling my heart torn in two whenever I think about it. I feel genuinely changed because of this book, and I hope it goes away soon. Five mother-freaking-stars. 
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