Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

41 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

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

jazzy_g's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective

• 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

4.0

I really enjoyed the writing. The plot development was not so much the focus here but the characters were. Although they weren't particularly likeable, the diverse range of characters felt familiar and many of their experiences relatable, their lives interestingly intertwined in a transient, multicultural, complex and busy city.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Mental illness, Death of parent, Dementia, and Alcoholism

lit_witch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment and Antisemitism

sydapel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

3.5

This book is ostensibly right up my alley, and if we were judging on the last chapter alone, this would get five stars for the sheer audacity of making me cry alone at a wine bar. However, I found myself more drawn to (most of) the side characters who were brought in for a single chapter before then disappearing to the background, and desperately wanted to spend more time with them. I also have some concerns about one of the queer side characters being used as a potentially problematic plot device, which casts a further shade. Ultimately though the writing in this is quite good and I love the arc it takes, it feels very emblematic of Sally Rooney without actually creating a broader theme or heart to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Abandonment, Animal death, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent

nai__reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Blood, Infidelity, Self harm, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

swetha062's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

I think in any case that love would sustain you, their life would be a prime contradicting example of that. Cleo and Frank find solace in things except each other. Coco mellors does a great job of catching the intricacies of love between two beings and what makes them want to choose the other. She captures the depth of falls and misses in these moments. Empathy being the key to finding peace, she explains every relationship in the book desperately needing that for themselves. It's beautiful and none of their reasonings fell flat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Death of parent

philippmk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal death

ludmireads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Animal death, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

addie'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Fatphobia, Abandonment, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship