Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

385 reviews

yellowbinge's review

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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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godfrina's review against another edition

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

2.5

When the Moon rose in the Third Northern Hall I went to the Ninth Vestibule.

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.

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karwc's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-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? No

4.5


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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. 

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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


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shoohoob's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

4.25


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horizonous's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

Beautifully written and with every new piece of information more and more engaging. I think, the depiction of loneliness was the hardest but also somewhat most comforting part about this story. Definitely a book that will stay with me for a while. 

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karolinez's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0


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ericvreadsstuff's review

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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


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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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