Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

57 reviews

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? No

5.0

What a lovely gem of a story with such a tightly revealed world. The perspective of the narrator told in the journal format was genius, and it was rewarding to experience how the mystery unraveled and answered my questions in the most surprising ways. The classical inspiration combined with a modern plot and the change in type styles to convey the narrator’s evolving point of view made this incredibly satisfying and awe-inspiring. It reminded me of Swiss Army Man and His Dark Materials in how it juxtaposes a timeless wonder for the world with sobering reality of human nature.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Murder, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

touchegiantsquid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

It's a quiet, reflective fantasy that will probably stay with me for a long time. Being trapped in my house since March 2020, the themes and details of the story felt urgently relevant.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Gaslighting, Slavery, and Fatphobia

The big bad is depicted as sinister and as a way to underline his perversion he is also gay. It's a homophobic trope. At the very end a parallel is drawn between a fat statue and the big bad because fatness is also a perversion to this author. It's fat hate that didn't add to the story.

baileycowen's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is insane. It took me a little while to get into, but once you do it’s captivating and mysterious and shocking in its own way. So good! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Slavery

amyrandles1's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

The setting is magical, it is so easy to picture and appreciate. 
The atmosphere in the first third (?) of the book is wonderful, and I’d quite like another book explaining the location and each statue, but that’s a big ask. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

anger566's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Kidnapping

Moderate: Abandonment and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit and Death

Piranesi was "kidnapped"/tricked and trapped in the labyrinth "rooms" where he starts to lose his memory of his real life. The other abandons Piranesi while he goes back to the "real world". The other fires a gun in an attempt to hurt Piranesi and Raphael. Piranesi describes bringing offers to the dead (skeletons) in the labyrinth.

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

mysterious slow-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

Very unique but I’m here for it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Death

rieviolet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I think what I liked the most was Piranesi himself as a narrator, how we slowly discover the house and the story connnected to it from his point of view. 

It is a very imaginative story and certainly very unique, I was really captured by the first half and I still enjoyed the second one, but I think that as the plot progressed and we discovered the darker aspects of it, some of the initial brillance got lost, at least for me. It was still a very enjoyable read that I had trouble putting down (a good half of it I read in just one sitting) and a very well crafted story. 

I also had some personal quibbles over the treatment of certain topics (mailny the only depiction of queerness and also a quite fatphobic description at the very end of the story that really annoyed me) that dimmed my general enjoyment of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Murder, Gore, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

jmcampbell57's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

Minor: Death

bloopyfloopy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Truly life affirming and thought provoking about how we treat the dead and the world around us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Toxic relationship

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship