Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

90 reviews

beeoe's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

i think the themes of this book are so well done and interpretable; anyone can read this and experience it so differently. I think Piranesi's child-like naivety and kindness was great at showing the corruption of our society compared to his. Also amazing for the comparison between him & Ketterly. Piranesi made this book, i always found myself smiling at him because he’s just so sweet and admirable almost. The allegories of this book are plentiful and so strong i don't think i've figured them all out yet. I’ll definitely be thinking about it trying to figure all the mysteries out for ages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

nickel_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Blood, and Murder

tiredtori's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

It's been a few weeks since I read this now and I'm still thinking about it. The character of Piranesi is really loveable and innocent and the mystery that unravels the further you get into the book is enough to get you hooked. It's not a long book at 245 pages but it leaves a lasting impression. I'll be picking up more of Susanna Clarke's books in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

coltons1996's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Violence

woweewhoa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Read this as my first book of 2022 and was really surprised. Its a story about a House that is Alive and Haunted(by the same thing that make it Alive). It is doing things with motives so far away from our own perception of things, that its a character in its own right.
This book is written Very well and the way it unweaves the mystery is expertly done revealing things to both the reader and our Protagonist at different times which got be really excited and at the edge of my seat to read more.
Its a short read, and after it establishes itself in the first/part of the second part, it goes for the races. I paced myself through this book through the past week, and that felt like a good course of action. The ending of each part kinda felt like the ending on a tv show.
This kinda got away from me, but if you want to read a story thought a limited first person view about A Place that is Alive, people trying to interact with that place in so many different ways, that ends up with a very interesting view of how identity exists and is formed, I Definitely recommend this book. Glad I started the new year with it :^)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

juliloops's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Cursing and Murder

Minor: Death and Animal death

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

octopus_farmer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

It was a novel about place more than anything else, and I see how its descriptions capture the imagination of everyone. It reminded me a bit of the Zoom the Cat’s picture books, in the mix of architecture and nature. I liked the plot fine but it was the character and place i liked most. I wish to know more about

Raphael.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Dementia

Minor: Vomit and Violence

lizardbet's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Violence

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