Reviews with content warning for Child death - Piranesi

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

59 reviews

naes's review

emotional mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

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.

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kiabia24's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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spoiledmilk's review

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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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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violerwolf's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Susanna Clarke asks the bold question: what if “The Backrooms” wasn’t a boring horror gimmick?

Intriguing mysteries, deep symbolism and philosophical reflection, and a riveting but small cast of characters make this book impossible to put down. I can’t wait to reread it.

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sunn_bleach's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

It’s a good problem to have when my biggest criticism is “I wish it were longer”. And I deeply, deeply do - not only to explore the House that is God, but to simply have more time with Piranesi before the plot hits hard, the resolution of which never truly lived up to the conceit. Borgesian is an easy analogy; I found “Piranesi” more abjectly beautiful and celebratory in capital-m Mystery, with the caveat that the epistolary form doesn’t work as well when the action and dialogue pick up in the second half. Sad, contemplative, yet affirming. The last sentence is a gutpunch.

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00phantom's review

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dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warning Note:
If you struggle with existential, reality anxiety. Likely not a good book for you. Triggering for me.

Contains a depiction of something similar to DID or OSDD so also be wary of that.

Writing was amazing. The themes were cool. But just hit too close to home for me in some ways.

Content Warnings