Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Reviews tagging Suicide

Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

54 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 ❤️‍🩹

Content Warnings

gabrielasagun's review

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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

5.0

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komal_b's review

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medium-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to enjoy this! I think Coco mellors shows a lot of promise as a writer, however a lot of Cleopatra and Frankenstein fell flat for me. The book is largely character driven but there is little time for each individual character to show any development due to the frequent changing of perspectives. In turn, they all become caricatures of themselves falling victim to predictable literary tropes. This coupled with the over-romanticising of mental illness made me struggle to finish the novel.

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luise96's review

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dark reflective fast-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

4.0

When I started this book I thought I would love it, the prose felt so beautiful and the characters were so interesting. However later during the book I kind of lost that feeling and I was glad to finish this book. I was not too happy with ending for several reasons.
Also: can I get a book JUST about Santiago?

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peachyprarthna's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad 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

this is the book of 2022. i loved it. devoured it in two days, and i'm already rereading it. i absolutely love Cleo, every time a character describes her, it's like hearing about a long lost friend. Frank is such a lovely man, even with parts that were difficult to deal with, he has been the most consistent and considerate character throughout -- which is saying something since he works in advertising where everyone is pretty fake. Eleanor was such a complex character. Her chapters were so interesting, I love that we can never tell what her next move will be. Zoe is my perfect angel. I didn't particularly enjoy Quentin, Anders, or the characters adjacent to them like Alex, or Anders' son; but I still appreciate knowing them. Santiago is especially precious to me, I wish we spent more time with him. Every character is so deeply flawed, and the book carries a tone of melancholy through out. I love, cherish, adore this novel.

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bookishpip's review

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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.

Content Warnings