A review by angelicardale
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

oh mannnn. where do i even start with this book? it's going under a spoiler warning, just in case, but man this book was fantastic. read on if you're curious!

first off, 10/10. this book is brilliant. i dont know how intentional the potential allegories are (whether you interpret this book as a biblical, mental illness, or other form of allegory is clearly up for interpretation) but as a DID system...god this book broke me. there were a lot of things in here that i wasn't expecting to relate to but completely did. the discussion of trauma and the differing of selves the (probably unintentional) interpretation of an inner world as a result, and the emotion that you can clearly feel from the characters are just...otherworldly. i am fascinated and enamored. genuinely breathtaking, from prose to characters to the mystery element thrown in there. i loved this holy shit. i don't know what i was expecting going into this book, but im very glad i read it. okay thanks for coming to my ted talk