Reviews tagging Emotional abuse

Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

22 reviews

katesmithfilm's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Violence and Rape

hannalizzy's review

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

clxrxdxvxs's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

Toxic characters who are miserable in NYC.  Join the club.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Blood, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Injury/injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Self harm

inesbnstgry's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Definitely don't read this unless you're mentally strong enough to bear it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Abandonment, Addiction, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Drug use, Racism, Transphobia, Death, Animal death, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

kelly_twardziak's review

dark emotional reflective 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: Alcohol, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

catching5tars's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Suicide

ganderson's review

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...

Spoiler

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

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

piaschj's review

dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Cursing

Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racism, and Rape

neevechristine's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This took me longer to read than the average book, but the final 100 pages I read in one sitting. In the final 10 pages I was crying and banging the book against my head. It’s gorgeous and heartbreaking and raw. It filled a void I didn’t know existed 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Addiction