Cleopatra and Frankenstein – Book Review

New York is slipping from Cleo’s grasp. Sure, she’s at a different party every other night, but she barely knows anyone. Her student visa is running out, and she doesn’t even have money for cigarettes. But then she meets Frank. Twenty years older, Frank’s life is full of all the success and excess that Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a green card. She offers him a life imbued with beauty and art—and, hopefully, a reason to cut back on his drinking. He is everything she needs right now.

Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo’s best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank’s financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year’s Eve party changes everything, for better or worse.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.

This was a bit unusual book I have actually read.

SPOILER ALERT – Talks about suicide and depression and drugs

Cleo is a British student studying in New York. She parties, and her school might not be able to extend her student visa anymore. And she is running out of money to buy her favorite cigarettes. Then she meets Frank, who is twenty years older than Cleo. And Frank and Cleo gets married and when they get married, their friends and family also get involved in their reunion. We have Quentin, Cleo’s best friend who is struggling with gender identity and addicted to drugs, we have Zoe, who is Frank’s sister who is cut off financially and depends on Sugar Daddys for money. Then we have Anders, Frank’s best friend who has a thing for Cleo. And then Frank’s co worker- Eleanor, who has feelings towards Frank. And as these characters come into Cleo and Frank’s lives, it will be either a good thing or bad thing.

This story was in a way feel realistic. Cleo is feeling lonely in New York and depression seem to settle on Cleo’s life. We have Frank who is an alcoholic. The characters in this book in my opinion are not very likable. Cleo seem to be naive while Frank seems to be gullible and clueless man. The book overall was well written. The chapters are named after a particular month, as the author gradually tells what Cleo and Frank’s lives are like after they got married. As I mentioned, most of the characters in this book are unlikable and unrealistic. The part where Cleo commits suicide sounded way too poetic and I actually didn’t enjoy reading that part–there’s nothing poetic about committing suicide. Quentin sounded selfish, Anders felt like the literary version of Leonardo Di Caprio who prefers and sleep with younger women. And Frank, well, Frank is little better than Cleo.

The only character I liked in this book was Eleanor who seems to be funny and only realistic character I liked.

Overall, this book was an OK read to me. I give this book 3.5 stars.