Cleopatra and Frankenstein
Ratings109
Average rating3.7
DNF at 7%: Tried my best to soldier on and get to 10% of the story before shelving as DNF, because I wanted to be the kind of person that gives stories a fair chance. I'm quitting at the 7% mark instead of at 3% like I originally wanted to. Moral of the story is, not all books deserve a chance!!! I should've listened to myself.
Shame, the cover is insanely pretty.
“The sirens flashed on, bathing the river in light. Red. Manhattan was stretched out before her like a handful of jewels. Blue. The city that never wanted you to leave. Red. So it offered you everything, anything. Blue. It was time to go.”
I jumped in head-first without a clue what it was about . Not even reading the synopsis this time (very unlike me) but I was pleasantly intrigued. This book is raw, chaotic, yet extremely compelling if you love human behaviour as much as I find it fascinating. The woven story around the characters and the clever use of time skips or view changes gives you just enough without overdosing you. I read that this book is a hit or miss with many, some love it and some absolutely hate it, but I have a soft spot for how this book played out. It's messy, chaotic, but yet there's growth, which is no different than life everyday.
The writing was interesting enough to make me finish the book, and I wanted to know what would happen but I found myself irritated with almost all of the characters, and some of their trite dialogue. 2/3 in I was ready for the book to be over. Some of the side characters were also poorly fleshed out. I was rooting for no one, except maybe Eleanor.
4,5
stunning, amazing
this book isn't perfect, but it is a love story, with much more depth than others can have
I didn't resonate with any characters until towards the end, and in fact I found many of them quite vapid and tiring to be around. Honestly if this hadn't been on Libby and I didn't fear not being able to pick it up again on my own timeline I would have quit early I think. Those days ticking down are a great motivator.
this book is a prime example of “the supporting characters are more engaging than the main characters” (see: eleanor, zoe)
I read this book because BookTok said it was “vibes” and no plot and I wanted to know what that meant. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
To me, it's a character study and I loved it. Stuff happens and there is a plot, but it's a close up, intimate study of two people and how their relationship impacts their circle of friends and family.
A lot of reviews complained that it was a bunch of unlikeable people, but I found them unlikeable in ways that we all are and by the end I actually loved them all. Everyone grew or changed and that feels very human to me. Except Quentin, he really was the worst.
The prose was occasionally a little cringey and extra, and I thought the self harm parts were in poor taste and ick, but somehow I couldn't help loving it anyway.
Probably a 3.5 rather than a full 4 but 3 seems cruel as I did really enjoy reading this. But already it's slipping away and I doubt any of these stories will stay with me. I wasn't enamoured, endeared, engaged or invested in anyone. Generally they were quite an unlikable bunch except for Eleanor and her mum, who were sweet. The writing was good enough, there were smatterings of almost poetry and some lovely language (but also some rather hideous imagery).
DNF at 20%. Life is too short for boring books. And my tbr list is too long for that.
Hola a todxs, ¿Cómo lxs trata la primavera? Aquí en el norte de México tenemos todas las temporadas del año en una semana. El día de hoy les tengo la reseña de ¨Cleopatra and Frankenstein¨, esta es la novela debut de la autoría inglesa/estadounidense Coco Mellors publicada en 2022, la historia es una ficción contemporánea para adultos (véase las precauciones/trigger warnings listadas al final) que se centra en la vida de Cleo, una chica inglesa y estudiante de arte viviendo en Nueva York que conoce a Frank un publicista neoyorquino veinte años mayor que ella y comienzan una relación amorosa. La historia te lleva no solo a través de la de vida de esta pareja si no que poco a poco nos presentan a sus amigos cercanos y a su familia y exploramos algunas de estas relaciones, así como los estragos de cada personaje de manera de individual.
¿Todo mundo esta deprimido en Nueva York? no lo sé, pero los personajes de esta novela podrían hacerte pensarlo, la novela esta llena de personajes que no vas a amar y si bien puede parecer algo pretencioso, los temas que se exploran son bastante relevantes y variados desde el matrimonio y los problemas alimenticios hasta identidad, sexualidad, sugar daddys y salud mental.
Le doy tres de cinco estrellas, Coco Mellors está trabajando en su segunda novela ¨Blue Sisters¨ que se espera para 2024 y que seguramente voy a leer, me gustaría ver su trabajo evolucionar.
A balm for my Normal People bruised soul. Sharply written, dark with moments of light.
the fact that the author made me a part of the sugar glider scene ...... f u
none of these characters were likable but only one held my sympathy and that was obviously cleo because i think some fucked up traumatized part of me attaches itself onto broken people who are neglected and whose pleas are ignored at best (if anything this book made me realize this!). i didn't enjoy reading different POVs and which made me skim and skip forward to next chapters. some seemed unnecessary. in short, i felt like i wasted my time reading this book.