A review by skywhales
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i like when books make me feel smart by making me feel just a littttllleee bit stupid but not so much that i feel totally lost. honestly i think the hype this got kind of intimidated me more going in than i ended up needing to be? like it felt like i'd overreacted in the end. honestly some of the reviews have me wondering if we read the same book. especially the people saying this is about how life is inherently Bad?? this seems to be quite blatantly saying the opposite

i know some people didn't like the book because of how long it takes for Plot to start happening but i was a kid who read those long plotless manuals about the magic system or bestiary for some kind of specific fantasy world. this was never a problem for me. i liked the journal entries i liked just wandering around the halls i liked the hint of the mystery we got!

all of the characters apart from piranesi felt pretty flat (maybe with the exception of
arne-sayles?
) but maybe that was on purpose. i can't really be too upset about it because after all the book is About piranesi. if we had to only flesh out one character it's good that it was him.
i liked raphael right up until we learned she was a cop :( will never ever be able to truly enjoy a cop character who is portrayed as a Righteous Force For Good and nothing is put into truly examining that idea. though i don't know what i expected from a book of this size and a specific story to tell.


definitely a book i will read again and probably take notes on because a couple of times i was like ohh if i was the kind of person who took notes on books i would make a note of this. couldn't write in this as it was a library book and i don't like writing inside of books anyway because i smudge everywhere but i need to start just. making documents again.

honestly if i leave you with one thing it is that this book is really not at all intimidating as long as you are the kind of person who likes reading about some pointless minutiae (and i am so it worked for me). and despite the awfulness of some of its characters i absolutely believe that this is a book about hopefulness and the beauty of humanity. and i continue to be a Sucker For That Shit.
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