Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

90 reviews

allyhoo811's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I'll make my comments about Piranesi brief, because I believe it is best to go into this one knowing as little as possible. Piranesi had the potential to be a 5 star read for me; it was a combination of everything I love (getting thrown into the middle of the story, a puzzle box feel, dark academia, allusions to classic myth). Unfortunately, I had to drop it down a star because, for me, the journey for this one was better than the destination. The ending just fell a bit flat. I didn't really feel an emotional connection and was left wanting something different (not sure what exactly, but not what we got).

I still would definitely recommend giving this one a read!

P. S. You don't need to keep track of all the dates, locations, etc. to understand the story -- don't waste your time with that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Slavery

Minor: Child death and Murder

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a lovely gem of a story with such a tightly revealed world. The perspective of the narrator told in the journal format was genius, and it was rewarding to experience how the mystery unraveled and answered my questions in the most surprising ways. The classical inspiration combined with a modern plot and the change in type styles to convey the narrator’s evolving point of view made this incredibly satisfying and awe-inspiring. It reminded me of Swiss Army Man and His Dark Materials in how it juxtaposes a timeless wonder for the world with sobering reality of human nature.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder

tiredtori's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

It's been a few weeks since I read this now and I'm still thinking about it. The character of Piranesi is really loveable and innocent and the mystery that unravels the further you get into the book is enough to get you hooked. It's not a long book at 245 pages but it leaves a lasting impression. I'll be picking up more of Susanna Clarke's books in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing, Death, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

It's a quiet, reflective fantasy that will probably stay with me for a long time. Being trapped in my house since March 2020, the themes and details of the story felt urgently relevant.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

The big bad is depicted as sinister and as a way to underline his perversion he is also gay. It's a homophobic trope. At the very end a parallel is drawn between a fat statue and the big bad because fatness is also a perversion to this author. It's fat hate that didn't add to the story.

rusya's review against another edition

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia

baileycowen's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

This book is insane. It took me a little while to get into, but once you do it’s captivating and mysterious and shocking in its own way. So good! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Slavery

amyrandles1's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The setting is magical, it is so easy to picture and appreciate. 
The atmosphere in the first third (?) of the book is wonderful, and I’d quite like another book explaining the location and each statue, but that’s a big ask. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

mateoj's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

i usually like to take fantasy as it is without trying to shoehorn it into a metaphor for something "normal", but this as a metaphor for trauma and depersonalization (actually, is it even a metaphor? it's pretty explicit) is so good and makes me so sad. how piranesi was happy and felt safe and peaceful in the House but matthew rose sorensen was terrified and betrayed, how piranesi could not recognize himself as being matthew rose sorensen but as a vessel that matthew rose sorensen was inside, sleeping... i need to lie down

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Slavery, and Kidnapping

admiralsmall's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A book that deserves analysis... that plays with ideas of ancient philosophy, belief, and what a text is... but is also a critique of powerful men in powerful places doing whatever the hell they want for the sake of themselves. 
It was such a page-turner as well. A book that should have felt dense and dull... just plagued my thoughts all day long... I absolutely adored it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse

erandle's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Slavery, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting