Reviews tagging Panic attacks/disorders

Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

5 reviews

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

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

ynotlime's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Addiction

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

mbgates's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

when I finished this book, I felt simlarly to the way I felt when i finished normal people. This book made me think about relationships so differently and i really felt like i learned something about human behavior at the end of it. i could not set the book down was so drawn in by the story and felt every emotion. Immediately I wanted to read it again. I really want to give this book 5 stars and do think I will eventually read this book again, which I only do with 5 star reads. The prose was beautiful and the settings were incredible, I felt like I was in New York, France, and Italy. I cried twice in this book, and I haven't cried at a book since My Dark Vanessa last year. The ONLY THING that has brought my rating down from a 5 is I just felt there's too many loose ends at the end. Normally, I'm fine with ambiguous endings, but too many of the characters here just felt...unfinished at the end (Zoe, Quentin, etc). I may eventually get over this feeling but I typically only like to give 5 stars to books that I feel are absolutely perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual content