Reviews with content warning for Death - Piranesi

Piranesi's house is an awe-inspiring thing. There are infinite rooms, thousands of amazing statues, oceans and violent tides. Piranesi shares the house with The Other but everything may not be as it seems.

The journalistic style of writing is exceptionally done with prose that is lovely and dreamlike. The premise seems wholly original and was like nothing I have read before. I wish this had been enough to for me to rate it higher.

The first 80-100 pages for me were totally stagnant. There seemed to be no real movement with either the plot or the characters. It was constant descriptions of statues, the rooms, fish and birds. It was a bit dull and I did consider adding it to my DNF pile.

Once you get to part three, things start to get a bit more interesting with no major development until part five. It wasn’t quite enough to make me totally enthralled in the book however. I was mildly invested in what was going on but don't considered it a page turner that I couldn't put down. The ending seemed to happen too quickly as well. I did like that the ending has been left somewhat to interpretation of the reader though. That was a nice touch.

Overall I didn't hate the story, it was just far to slow with no real development in my opinion.

Content Warnings

rubyredders's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.25

,I get why this is a highly rated book but it is just not for me.

I felt very distant from the characters, short of a general feeling of

Ketterley is a massive cunt I would like to see get his comeuppance and a feeling of sympathy for Piranesi for being so blindly optimistic.

Despite the shortness of the story it felt like it really dragged to me. It took until after the first 50% before I felt anything other than god I hope this speeds up soon.

The world sounded interesting but I just couldn't engage with it and found the mapping of the place difficult (although I think that was kind of the point, it was still somewhat frustrating)

The ending left me more confused as to if I was supposed to feel some grand awe inspiring emotion or not - that was it? Huh, ok then.

The references to other media and locations were neat though when noticed, such as the allusion to C.S.Lewis' Mr Tumnus speaking to Lucy under the lamppost early on in the first half.

I think this is one of those books you'll either really enjoy or will struggle to connect to and for me it was the latter.

The slow start and unsatisfying ending is what ultimately has me giving this such a low rating though I can see how this would be a compelling story for others if you can really sink yourself into the mystery of the world early on, as Piranesi has such an optimistic view of the world and joyful nature that you want to see him achieve a happy ending

(the lack of which is part of the reason why I think the ending feels so unsatisfying)

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saracha22's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

This was a beautifully written book. It was very atmospheric and mysterious. I really enjoyed the journal entry style writing it was an interesting angle to unfold the story.

Although in the beginning it makes it a bit tough to get into because we’re given so much description of little details it’s hard to sift what’s important when we know so little. But by the end I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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medini_l's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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woody04's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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acorny's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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yellowbinge's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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lianaet's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

It was certainly a struggle to get through Part 1 of this book, and the rest was still fairly hard to read in big chunks (until this last bit). The confusing aspect of the World is hard to follow most of the time, but you do kind of just have to accept that's how this book is. And it's an important aspect, with Piranesi's character.

Also minor spoilers? Kind of? But this book resonated with me towards the end, with the gaslighting, and the realisation of what's really going on - but still feeling a confusing type of way towards that person. As well that Piranesi is forever changed by the House and what he lived through there.

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