Reviews with content warning for Child death - Piranesi

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

59 reviews

mobymaize's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

What a truly joyful, kind, and beautiful read. Piranesi reminds me of my dreams of endless homes, endless reflections of life & the love of the world & its inhabitants that I hold so dear.

Holy fuck this book rocks.

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applesodaperson's review

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challenging inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

Wow wow wow. This book is seriously a masterpiece in writing. It is written so beautifully and evokes such unique imagery. It takes place in a setting that I have never seen before, but I could still visualize it perfectly. And the writing style seems complicated at first, but quickly becomes super easy to read but also super complex. I also love books where I get little bits of info about the mystery, and get to try and piece it together as I go. For real everyone should read this book.
Read from the Provo library.

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myiscoh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

Could not put it down for the entire book, intriguing world-building throughout with a really interesting mystery plot. Would drag for the first 60~ pages if you’re not as interested in the world-building but stick with it!!

The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of itself. It is not the means to an end.

The beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.

I dont think anything could have prepared me for this. Already mentioned how amazing the world-building of the House is, especially for me the hall Piranesi (for lack of a better name for him) travels to for the Other with the huge door revealing the moon and the hundreds of statues reaching out towards it from the dark - all very evocative.

Another thing i loved was the ending, specifically how the almost split personalities of Piranesi and Matthew Rose Sorensen end up as just two aspects in a new personality that Piranesi (again, for lack or a better way to refer to him) takes on when returning to the old world. I feel like it would not have suited either side of his character to keep Piranesi dominant in the mind or to have Matthew come back in full, so i love that it was kept “split” (though not really as both are now part of a new whole)

I wish i was in a place where i could analyse the more philosophical parts of this book, but for now the two excerpts i quoted at the start really hit me. I have so many thoughts but i cant find worlds that really convey them in the way i mean without sounding like i'm rambling. But especially the relationship between those two passages that i immediately think of is this: we are all reflections of the House (our world) and it, like everyone, should be treated with the same endless love, empathy, care, and respect that Piranesi shows the statues and the dead and the House as a whole.

Other notes: wish i could have known Raphael for longer, she seemed like such a nice person. The journals used as a device to exposit about the events from the old world was really interesting. Unfortunately(? maybe not unfortunate, not sure) i did see most of the reveals coming from way off, though they were still enjoyable and the twist that Piranesi was actually trapped by the Other (like how James Ritter was trapped by Arne-Sayles) was not what i was expecting, even if i never really did trust the Other at all.

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yinflower's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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ayoderable's review

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mysterious reflective tense 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

Story told from the point of view of the "crazy" man that gives a warning at the beginning of a horror story. Abuses of "great" men. Things we take for granted within our reality. Loneliness. What is truth

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aas's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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miller8d's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

I loved that this book felt like a refreshing escape from the normal structure and narrative that many fiction books follow.

I was surprised by most of the book, and deeply appreciated that the magic of this universe was both fantastical and simple, both logical and inexplicable. I found myself confused about the storyline/losing focus frequently throughout the book, which normally would bother me, but it felt like I was experiencing the same thing as the narrator LOL, which I enjoyed. I found the narrator’s genuinely kind soul very touching and deeply enjoyed the process of discovering what had happened. I didn’t realize it was a mystery novel until halfway through which is awesome. The well-established isolated world meant that, with the appearance of each new person or information, it was genuinely shocking. Very interesting and refreshing read.

Also, I pictured The Other as Brett Goldstein.

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