If I have to read the word "vestibule" one more time this year...

Look, I gotta be honest, I did not love it.

Obviously, I read it for the hype / just wanted a shorter story inbetween other reads. I don't know what I expected.
~~I mean, I kind of do know what I expected, reading the short and deliberately confusing synopsis and such, but I guess........eh?~~

The first 40% or so were an absolute slog for me. I dredged through, like Piranesi through the Drowned Halls; I was this close to my first DNF for the year.
Don't get me wrong, the prose as a whole is beautiful, albeit almost unintelligible. There is paragraphs of "I read it, but that's it". It knits together in the end, yes, however, it left me with an "huh"-feeling, with looming ✨anxiety and dread✨ behind it. I did not think it inspirational or hopeful.

I upped my initial rating of 2 for the second half of the novel to 2.5 as I clearly had a lot of thoughts right after finishing the story and that in itself always counts for something in my book.

Content Warnings

kajasversion's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved the writting style and the characters mind captivated me completely. The main focus of the book is how Piranesi perceives the world, and his experiences through his eyes, which is a type of book I love. I found the psychological part of his character study at the end very interesting, but the ending ultimately left me feeling a bit disappointed. Though it is true to the character, I couldn’t help but hope for something to be different.

Content Warnings

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

withlivjones's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Treading the lines between literary fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi, this is very much a “wtf am I reading” book in the best way, and I devoured it so quickly because the mystery was so gripping. Piranesi is such an endearing protagonist, I loved his almost childlike innocence combined with the fact that he can be highly intelligent at times. I was told that the book had a slow start which made me a little apprehensive, but I didn’t find myself getting bored at all because Piranesi’s narrative voice is so strong and the vibes of the book are so atmospheric and whimsical.

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yerfillag's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I went into reading this completely blind and loved the fact that until quite far in you're not completely certain of what's going on. The worldbuilding while subtle seemed really detailed and engaging. As you're following the POV and internal monologue of the protagonist, you get to reflect on the reliability of your own mind and how our circumstances affect what we consider to be true or possible.

Content Warnings

ericvreadsstuff's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This was a pretty surprising read. I would say it starts with fantasy, then adds in some dark academia and towards the ends becomes a bit of a thriller. I did not expect that. It was also a quick read and well written.

It gives you a lot to think about, which can be nice.

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