Cleopatra and Frankenstein Book Review

Title: Cleopatra and Frankenstein
Author: Coco Mellors
Type: Fiction
Published: 2022
Pages: 368
TW: Substance Abuse, Suicide Attempt, Sexual Assault, Death of a Parent

“People are like this too, you know,” he says eventually. “We break. We put ourselves back together. The cracks are the best part. You don’t have to hide them.” 

Cleo and Frank (nicknamed Cleopatra and Frankenstein) meet in New York and within months are married. Determined to live life to the fullest, both try to cram their lives with the things that make them happy. But with a significant age gap, and plenty of criticism from those around them, while they don’t think it will affect their relationship, as time goes on, will their differences force them to drift apart?

A slow-burn at first, I can say with quite a lot of certainty that I think this will be one of my favourite books of the year. I love books that explore human nature and the imperfection of human relationships and I think this is primarily what I loved about Cleopatra and Frankenstein.

Something I also loved about it was the changing perspectives. We hear a lot from Cleo and Frank but also from Frank’s sister Zoe and another character called Elenor. This made the book feel even more like a cacophony of humanness because all of them are different, broken in different ways, but also thriving in different ways too. By the end, despite everything, it’s hard not to feel a little bit of hope for humanity because ultimately we want the best for each other even if we forget that sometimes.

When I spoke about this in my April wrap-up and again on TikTok, I sold this as a book for people who want to read A Little Life but don’t want so much trauma. Yes, there is trauma in this book, but enough joy and hope to counterbalance it and I promise it won’t leave you scarred like A Little Life does!

This book is an introspective look and human nature so if you want something that undulates through the ordinary lives of people while tinged with just a touch of melancholy, this is probably for you!