Reviews

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

bamboopanda's review against another edition

dark relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I love stories about weird houses and this one is weird, but I just didn't care enough.
It didn't hold me like I thought it would.
I don't mind books where nothing happens, but this one only had me mildly interested. The 2nd half was a bit more interesting, but still only mildly interested.

jenni28's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

So this was *not* the book I thought it was going to be! 

I went into this pretty much blind, had had it recommended by a few different people without knowing much, if anything, about the plot, and I think that was a huge plus. Because of that I’m going to keep my review brief and vague, so as not to take away from future readers the joy of diving in and finding out for yourselves.

Beautiful written, atmospheric, mysterious - with a whole load of plot I didn’t see coming. Piranesi is a great read for anyone who is into mysticism and mystery in general, but it’s not your typical “fantasy” novel, and I thought the whole novel was more about Piranesi’s relationship with “the world” and his pure joyful innocence that hides something dark and quite sinister. 

This one will stick with me I reckon. Haunting. Definitely worth a go! 

sophieb25's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

niamh_99's review

challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Loved this fun and whimsical challenging to get into the start 

emmadaniella's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.25

carlita_tv's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

I never read anything like this. It was a bit hard at the beginning to keep focus and some journal entries were very tedious but other than that, amazing

kinzo103's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I was told that this was an absolutely stellar book and to go in blind if possible, so that’s exactly what I did. I was not expecting such a cerebral masterpiece. At first it felt like “wtf is going on?” And then once you start to understand the story, it still feels like “okay, but wtf?” It was stunning. It takes immense skill to write such an intricate world and story within only 245 pages. Perfect for fans of The Magicians.

areadingfeline's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The book picks up and I did not expect where it ended. I got about half way and couldnt put it down! I wanted to know how it finished.

bree_reads_too_much's review

slow-paced

4.0

radicalli's review

adventurous mysterious 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