Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

130 reviews

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicide, Sexual content, Misogyny, Deportation, Gore, Toxic friendship, Blood, Infidelity, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

rieriereads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

•••

My Rating System

5 🌟 - Life changing, a new favorite read
4 ⭐ - I loved it
3 ⭐ - I liked it 
2 ⭐ - It was okay
1 ⭐ - I hated it but decided to  not dnf

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pregnancy

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

laurataylor's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

finn_vibing's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Self harm

Moderate: Dementia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Death of parent

tea_aunt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

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

livangel's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

Honestly, it’s a very interesting take on every day life. I think it shows how “Cleopatra” and “Frankenstein“ are both monsters and victims.  It shows that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you love each other, sometimes relationships are sometimes bad or toxic. It makes you think about how you view or judge people and reflect on where the problem truly lies. Definitely worth a read. The book does drag on sometimes, but that’s just part of its charm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Cursing

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical content, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Sexual content, Vomit, Suicide, Animal death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse

victoriakvitnes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Self harm, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Grief

carolina_c's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

"Cleopatra and Frankenstein" is a book about a 20 something year old woman and a man 20 years older than her that impulsively get in a marriage that will change everything around them.
just even before reading the book I felt as if this was going to be a reading experience different from other books. before even reading the book I either read really good reviews or horrible reviews of it.
I would say that for me it was a very unique reading experience. I basically devoured the first half of the book in a week or two. After that I think I would avoid reading it. Either because I didn't want it to end since I've become attached to the characters not because of some feeling of being like them but just because I was reading about them and felt like I should watch out for them. On the other hand I think some parts of the book can be very stress inducing and sometimes I even felt sick. I think that's great when a book can do that much. But because of that I think a 3.75 review is good enough.
I liked this book but I'm a bit biased since I tend to like the sort of no plot books. I'd say the characters aren't that relatable to most of the people reading the book... Expect for Eleanor maybe. I don't see that as a flaw though since books aren't meant to just be mirrors of things we already know or of what we already are.
I'd say this book is very character driven and since I don't want to spoil anyone and I think the characters are what makes the story go on and keep the readers on the tip of their toes I think I should rate the characters and not the plot itself!
Starting with Cleo our main character. I personally liked Cleo. She could come off as too melodramatic but I think that's just how she was. At the end of the day she was still just in her twenties trying to figure herself out. Still I have to say it was a bit mean and painful when she shows Frank her final art piece.
It's Frank's turn now. I also liked Frank. I think he got the ending he needed and I was glad to see him get better by the end of the book though I find it unfair to Cleo how he only did it when he did it...I think Frank was a very flawed character and unfortunately for me I tend to like those characters a lot. Still he was very imature.
I think for Anders I can just say...The bathroom scene in his chapter...The man has some serious issues. I found it quite sweet how he took care.of his ex girlfriend's son even though he didn't have too. I think that gave him some depth but it still didn't make me like him.
Eleanor seemed to me the realest of all the characters. Her chapters were always quite comforting and seemed private like we were reading her diary's entries. When she made jokes I laughed and when she was sad I cried with her. I liked Eleanor and I was happy for her. Even though I'll admit that I kinda didn't like her in the beginning...
Quentin is Cleo's troubled best friend. I have to admit that in the beginning of the book I found him funny even though his behaviour was probably questionable...I mean his wedding present...? As the book went on I started to get tired and annoyed of him. I think for me he truly remembered me and encapsulated a toxic best friend I once had...And I had to say it hit a nerve every time he was reckless and every time he dismissed Cleo's problems. So I would have to say he is definitely not on my top 3...
Santiago is on my top 3 though! I quite liked Santiago and his whole character development. I liked to read about his past as I liked to read about his present. The way he cared for Cleo and also for Frank always made me smile.
Last but definitely not least I'm rating Zoe. Zoe is Frank's younger sister. I found her to be quite funny and it was entertaining to read about her life. I liked to read about her development and the way she grew as the narrative went on.
I think that's is all I have to say. I enjoyed reading this book and maybe a couple of yours from now when I'm in my twenties I'll reread this and find it even more realistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death