Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

27 reviews

mariaminthebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I'm torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars. Let's settle for 3.5/5 

Stating the obvious, the book flows like a river. The writing's great, descriptions' great yada yada yada...

Finished the book in 3 days. That says enough.

Now, the interesting stuff...

I found the main character insufferable, which is absolutely fine, characters do NOT have to be likeable, but Mellors tried SO hard to make her  likeable by mentioning just how likeable she is (how convenient) which made me dislike her even more. 

TW// 

The book also features PRETTY heavy themes like alcoholism, drug abuse, animal cruelty, su!cide, self-h@rm, and the list goes on....without ever really diving into the complexity and complications of each struggle, thereby making the character's problems seem shallow (they are not!!!) 

Along with having like a bazillion unnecessary characters, this, too, was unnecessary. Towards the end of the book, it felt as if Mellors was just throwing in as much trauma as she possibly can for that shocker effect. Unfortunately, that had a counter effect. It made me desensitised to much of the events in the novel. 

traumatised characters ≠ unconditional sympathy

I've read books with way fewer events going on but had a much deeper attachment to the characters.

Frustratingly, this could have been such a good book....

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Chronic illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Blood, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

gabby_stay's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.0

So emotional but a cozy read. Definite trigger warnings to consider but overall I resonated with the experiences Cleo was going through. I really understand why Mellors took so long to write this - she took her time to ace perfection and understanding of everyday people's experiences.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Addiction, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

joeykills's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Grief

mariivee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Animal cruelty

karieninas's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, and Sexual assault

_happilyeverafter_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, and Self harm

jj_99's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Animal death

leils's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

1.25

Bad plot with some interesting parts popping up a few times. The only reason that I actually bothered to finish it was to see how the conflicts were resolved, and ... safe to say I was disappointed lol. If the author has focused on just Cleo, Frank, Eleanor and Anders the book would have been more solid, but instead 30% of it was dedicated to side characters. The story of the side characters really didn't add to the main storyline, so .. could have easily been chopped and nothing would be missing.

The author does have a way of digesting hard themes with her easily flowing writing style, which made this book actually readable.

Wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but I am going to see what the author comes up with next 🪩⚡🤍

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

jennalea_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is easily a five-star from me! Emotional, captivating, and devastating all at once! I didn’t want this book to end! Really loved how New York felt like this oppressive yet magical other character within the book. The character-driven plot and how each character in the book orbits one another was my favourite thing about the book. Coco Mellors’ characterisation felt so effortlessly real. If you haven’t read this book, you must. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Grief and Violence

ephemeral_remi's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Self harm, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship