A review by madelinedalton
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

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

2.25

EDIT: Bumping this down to 2.25 stars (I originally gave it 2.75) because it’s actually infuriating that
Frank gets a happy ending AND that Eleanor’s “liberation” from her mom’s house and shitty job prospects is a man, and a horrible man at that!!


I absolutely would have DNFed this if I didn’t have to read it for book club, but it wound up being better than I expected as it went along. There was no apparent through-line driving the characters’ relationships until at least 100 pages into the book, which made it hard for me to care. The cast of characters was surprisingly sympathetic (I thought I would hate all of them), but I think there were too many POVs and it detracted from Cleo and Frank’s relationship dynamic, which I found to be the juiciest part of the book. I’m very glad Cleo and Frank showed major growth by the end, but it wasn’t enough to redeem the book as a whole for me.
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