Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

11 reviews

cestarimm's review

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

Spoiler

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

hello_lovely13's review

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Animal death, and Death of parent

Minor: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

bookishpip's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This was an interesting read.

It’s about Cleo, a young English artist living in New York and struggling to make ends meet, and Frank, a middle-aged and enigmatic man with a successful advertising company. They meet by chance one New Year’s Eve, and the book narrates the highs and lows of their relationship with each other, those around them and themselves.

I think this book had some really poignant commentary on the nature of mental illness and the different ways it can manifest. It’s prose on this sometimes touched a nerve with me in ways I found to be painful. You rarely read accounts of consenting adults in relationships with a large age gap and this was quite interesting and refreshing to read about.

However, it doesn’t quite get 5* for me because it felt very superficial. I didn’t like any of the characters (and I don’t think this was done on purpose). Cleo and Zoe came across like they were supposed to be relatable but personally I felt them both to be spoiled and entitled. If this was supposed to be a commentary on the dangers of living life with too much influence on partying and substance misuse, then it did a great job. I do suspect, based on the ending, that this was partially the case.

Overall, I’m really conflicted about this. I’m giving it 4* because I did keep wanting to come back to it and the ending was satisfying. But perhaps I need to come back to this later when some of the themes aren’t so raw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

harureads's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

mganallirt's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Drug use, and Drug abuse

alovelettertoliterature's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

Complex female characters, doomed love stories, and older men are a few of my favorite things in a book, and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors embody all. I’m well aware that I need therapy for liking some of these things and fully understand that not everyone’s taste is in accordance with mine, so consider yourself warned. 

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Mellors, set in New York, tell the story of Cleo, a 24 years old British Painter, who falls in love with Frank, a man 20 years her senior who works in advertising. They met in an elevator of a party, and within six months, they got married, partly for her visa and the rest for love. It is apparent in the beginning that they are individually still struggling with their unresolved issues, which could result in the doom of their relationship. 

Cleo and Frank’s love is not conventional, and that’s what makes it so electrifying. You could not get enough of them, yet at some point, you know it will not last. Although the storyline centralizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship, it also branches out to focus on other characters in their circle and how their relationship affects them. The story is told in such an interesting structure that follows different characters’ points of view in each chapter. The story's premise is not something new, but because of how it is told, it feels new and fresh. 

Mellors’ approach to writing this book is to create deeply complex characters so that perhaps we can relate to each character on a deeper level even if we don’t always agree with them. Whether Mellors was able to achieve that is a different story. 

I would have rated this book a full five stars, but a couple of things have turned it to a four for me. Firstly, I find that the different points of view started strong as Mellors gives each character a strong background and personality. However, midway, Mellors decided to take a different approach and only prioritizes Cleo and Frank’s relationship. I did not mind this, but something about it just felt unfinished, neglected, and inconclusive for the other characters. Secondly, some stereotypes are shown in this book that felt unsettling for some characters that I don’t think were intended to be something “bad” but are still harmful. 

Overall, I loved this book and will most likely reread it. The covers alone are just exquisite (both the paperback and hardcover) and should be able to convince you to read it. Mellors is talented and able to capture not only your attention but your heart. It’s one of those books you will still think of long after reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

esme_may's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.75

I was worried at first that I wasn't going to like this as much as I expected but as I kept reading it really grew on me. I didn't like all the characters but was able to root for them because they felt so human

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

sib_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Transphobia

Minor: Pregnancy

endpages's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

christine_beatrice's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism