Reviews tagging Gaslighting

Cleopatra and Frankenstein, by Coco Mellors

8 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

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

serenarg's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

2.0

interesting but not worth the countless mental health triggers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

bethanstanleyy's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, 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

klarastrube's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism

thisisris's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

This book follows the marriage of Cleo, a 24 year old struggling artist in New York City, and Frank, a successful business man in his 40s, as well as many of the people in their lives during the duration of their marriage.

 

The story is really beautifully written, the author does a great job of creating a full picture of each character and where they are in life. However, I personally found it hard to connect or care about the main protagonists of the story (Cleo & Frank) and was much more interested in the small insights we got into the lives of the secondary characters. Frank’s younger sister, Zoe, was by far my favourite character and I spent most of the book wishing the story was about her rather than Frank & Cleo.

 

Although this book moves through time very quick, it reads at a very slow pace. It is well written, but I think the story itself is just personally not for me but I would definitely recommend this book to others who enjoy this type of story! I also look forward to seeing more books by this author. 

 

Big thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the digital ARC!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia