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54k reviews for:

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

4.3 AVERAGE

adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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: Complicated
emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Magnificent book. The mystery unravels drop by drop with perfect precision. Each bit of mystery is replaced with a deep sense of loss, ambivalence and sadness. I love this book. 

Il libro non mi è dispiaciuto, ma sinceramente non grido al capolavoro!
Il ritmo di narrazione è molto lento, pieno di simbolismi e di rimandi a culture antiche.
Pochi i dialoghi e ricco di descrizioni degli ambienti della Casa.
Piranesi ne è il suo ospite/guardiano, spesso accostato ad un bambino o comunque ad una persona la cui volontà è stata in qualche modo indebolita dagli influssi che il Mondo ha su di lui. Curioso ma alla costante ricerca della approvazione del suo compagno, l' Altro.
Purtroppo non sono riuscita ad essere completamente soddisfatta di questa lettura, mi aspettavo qualcosa di più, dato il successo editoriale e la cassa di risonanza che ha avuto. Sicuramente è qualcosa di diverso rispetto tante altre opere che si trovano in giro, ma a mio avviso l'autrice poteva approfondire di più e magari provare ad aumentare il ritmo narrativo.
lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
mysterious reflective fast-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

4.5⭐️ This book is one of the most unique and thought provoking things that I’ve read this year.

Piranesi is a book best to go into blind, as I believe you’ll be taken on the best journey this way not having any preconceptions about what happens.

The book itself crosses over many genres - it sits under the fantasy umbrella but I would describe it as magical realism meets dark academia. 

The writing style is very literary and emotive so if you like any one of these genres this book is a great read to add to your list or if you want a taster to any of these genres.

You’ll most likely start the book thinking what is going on here but you have to just read it and take it in at face value and then as things start to fall into place you’ll be transported to a truly eye opening story.

Don’t be fooled by how short this book is - yes you most likely can read this in one day, but just because this book is less than 250 pages does not mean this will be an easy read or that it’s meant to be a filler book. This book was incredibly thought-provoking and does cover darker
themes at times. I highly enjoyed the critiques and commentary that Susanna Clarke was making, there are so many themes and allegories the book covers: mental health, the world of academia, solace and solitude, beauty in the natural world.

The fact that Susanna Clarke is able to do what she does with this story in such a small novel really shows how much of a master storyteller she is.

My favourite parts of the book was Piranesi himself - he’s a character you want to get behind and the way he sees the world is so beautiful, you can’t help but be enamoured by it.

I rated it a 4.5 starts and the dropped half star was due to the academic side of writing and I found I was having to reread things at times to make sure I was understanding things fully - and I haven’t read much in the dark academia genre - this was also what I struggled with with Babel by RF Kuang to add a reference point.

I hope this book fills people with wonder like it did for me and I highly recommend this for the avid reader!
emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
mysterious medium-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes