54.2k reviews for:

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

4.3 AVERAGE

leaholoughlin's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

boobees's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

tori_reads_books's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lilbitheartless's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

fake_minnesotan's review against another edition

5.0

---

legitimately one of the best books i've ever read, and ALSO i had kind of thought it came out in like 2005?? spiritually it does not feel right that this was released in 2020. that cursed year didn't deserve piranesi

olive_toread's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

stink0's review against another edition

2.5

---

The initial mystery was great; I see why people say to go into this knowing nothing, because much like with the original Hellraiser, once you know what's up, you kind of want it to pick up the pace. 

Now, everyone knows I love Hellraiser, so I won't knock the book too much for this. However, so much of the intrigue comes from people recommending it, and I don't feel like the amount of recommendations I received appropriately reflected how enjoyable the book was. 

Piranesi is a decent read, but not one I really have the patience for. Did it do anything new? Sort of. But the more interesting the story was supposed to get, the more I checked out. 

I will say that the brief commentary surrounding personal reality and "real" reality was very nicely done, and that

I will be thinking of the conclusion of this book for quite some time. 

addisnow00's review against another edition

4.5

mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

cicadaknight's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

---

I struggled with this one. It has all the ingredients that usually enamor me (namely bizarre, infinite spaces, puzzles, strange and unreliable narrators) but it didn’t work for me. 

Piranesi is charming but deeply naïve, and we the reader end up knowing much more than he does as he discovers new pieces to the puzzle. There were a few twists that I didn’t see coming, but the overall arc was laid out about 1/3rd of the way in and we just have to wait for Piranesi to catch up. 

I wish there’d been more discovery of the house. My favorite parts were Piranesi stumbling on something new and unexpected. Frankly, I was unmoved by

the Other, the Prophet and their arrogant, twisted quests for magic and knowledge

. 

Came for weird liminal worlds and an exploration of humanity, left with a subdued crime thriller. 

Also! I didn’t love the emphasis on the fact that

Arne-Sayles is gay? It was presented like his sexuality was additional evidence of his perversion and “transgression.” It’s hinted at that Piranesi/Matthew and maybe even Ketterly are gay as well. But sexuality in this book is so offhanded and unexplored, making the prime antagonist explicitly queer just felt like a wink and a nudge that “hey this guy is EXTRA weird and fucked up.”

marigoldtomes's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced