Cleopatra and Frankenstein was a read that I went into hoping I would end up loving it, and while I did like it, it unfortunately didn't meet all my expectations.

I enjoyed the introspective exploration of Cleo and Frank’s relationship. The author introduced subtle changes that made their relationship increasingly more toxic and messy, and I liked how honestly this was portrayed. It was an honest exploration of a relationship where two people love each other but are not in the right mental space to be in a relationship and end up not being right for each other.

The novel had this sombre, melancholic tonic which worked really well for the novel's concept; it felt like the two protagonists were a black hole, slowly drawing in and taking down the characters that orbited them down with them. And I too felt like I was drawn into it all. There were a lot of complex feelings caught in the mix and a lot of bad decisions made, and I liked that Mellors really presented the thought processes behind these. 

The biggest weakness for me personally was characterisation of the characters. While I feel the protagonists were meant to be unlikable, because they dealt with a lot of hard things which led them to make bad decisions or act poorly, I found it hard to follow their narratives at times. Some characters also felt clichés to me and there was one character (Quentin) that after initially spending time in their POV, was then somewhat discarded and quite underexplored and I didn't understand that particular decision. 

The ending however won me over. I really liked that despite this story being a downfall of a relationship caused by the fatal flaws of the protagonists, the novel also explored growth and change which spoke true of human nature. By the end we see how the characters begin to figure out how they can help themselves and make better decisions and I really liked that.

I’m sad that I didn't end up loving this book as much as I hoped I would, but because of the nature of the characters and themes explored, I think this is the sort of novel that readers are bound to feel differently about. 

Please note this novel deals with a lot of difficult topics such as addiction, alcoholism, depression and su!cide.