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A review by impeachnixon
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
dark
emotional
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
1.0
** spoiler alert **
While I understand that this book was trying to tell many interconnected stories, I think there were just too many people with too serious of issues to really be done well. Quentin's meth use, for example, isn't really explored as well as it could be, and so I feel like it was weird that it was included at all. I'm not complaining about the end of his story, because I think it's interesting actually to just have Cleo say "I couldn't support him and so I ended that friendship". It just feels like Quentin's spiral into addiction to meth was a huge thing to happen off-screen, but also a necessary result of trying to tell 1,000 stories at once (and having all of those stories tackle very serious issues). Plus, why mention Quentin being possibly trans or genderqueer if you're never going to mention it again? It ends up simplifying a lot of serious issues, like Santiago's recovery from binge eating disorder really just coming down to "he's going to meetings and now he's losing weight", with the bulk of it being explored in a single chapter. This problem even extends to the titular couple, Cleo and Frank. Cleo's suicide attempt, for example, seemed a little brushed over, and it didn't help that we switched to the perspective of the caterer at her wedding after the attempt. It was a beautifully written book and it did have plenty of fleshed out, interesting characters, but it could use with some trimming and some more focus. What happened to Ander's 'son', for instance, or Zoe's financial situation? Is she being financially supported by Jiro, and, if so, what implications does that have for their relationship? And I'd be fine with a book not completely tying up every single loose end for every single side character except that there were chapters that interrupted the main story to ask me to care about all these side characters and then sometimes very little resolution.
While I understand that this book was trying to tell many interconnected stories, I think there were just too many people with too serious of issues to really be done well. Quentin's meth use, for example, isn't really explored as well as it could be, and so I feel like it was weird that it was included at all. I'm not complaining about the end of his story, because I think it's interesting actually to just have Cleo say "I couldn't support him and so I ended that friendship". It just feels like Quentin's spiral into addiction to meth was a huge thing to happen off-screen, but also a necessary result of trying to tell 1,000 stories at once (and having all of those stories tackle very serious issues). Plus, why mention Quentin being possibly trans or genderqueer if you're never going to mention it again? It ends up simplifying a lot of serious issues, like Santiago's recovery from binge eating disorder really just coming down to "he's going to meetings and now he's losing weight", with the bulk of it being explored in a single chapter. This problem even extends to the titular couple, Cleo and Frank. Cleo's suicide attempt, for example, seemed a little brushed over, and it didn't help that we switched to the perspective of the caterer at her wedding after the attempt. It was a beautifully written book and it did have plenty of fleshed out, interesting characters, but it could use with some trimming and some more focus. What happened to Ander's 'son', for instance, or Zoe's financial situation? Is she being financially supported by Jiro, and, if so, what implications does that have for their relationship? And I'd be fine with a book not completely tying up every single loose end for every single side character except that there were chapters that interrupted the main story to ask me to care about all these side characters and then sometimes very little resolution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Abandonment
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia