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A review by earth_to_mars
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
This is the second book of 2024 (and third overall) that I'm giving a five star rating. Aside from not reading many books this year, I would consider myself picky to what I give five out of five stars, especially with fantasy.
I think what really made this book special is Susanna's writing style and the way she builds up her characters' personalities through their actions (subtle and not so subtle ones). Her words are direct, simple, but together weave very dense paragraphs that I think of as poetic. I think her style of writing is as close to 'painting a picture with a thousand words' as someone can get.
Piranesi is such a loveable, rootable character. His naivety is charming (never annoying) and makes it easy to feel like the reader is there with him, slowly unconvering more about the House, it's inhabitants, and the mysteries of who The Other and Piranesi himself really are.
I only have one main nitpick.The Prophet/Laurence Arne-Sayles falls into the predatory gay stereotype as he is the only gay man explicity stated within the narrative. And with him being the one to groom his students and trapping a man in the Labyrinth and his walls until the man suffers psychosis doesn't exactly bode well for his narrative. That being said, I do believe this was out of ignorance and possibly unchecked biases and not out of malice and I don't think Susanna had any ulterior motive for it. (Still deserves to be mentioned).
Coming from a gay man, I still did enjoy the book. It's not the biggest part of the story, and thus didn't hinder my experience (it was just in the back of my head). I had a lot of fun uncovering the mysteries of the House, and the twist in Part Five was shocking and made me more eager to see how it all unfolds. Most of all, I really enjoyed and adored Susanna's writing style.
I'm happy I was recommended this book and I definitely would recommend it to others, especially fantasy lovers.
I think what really made this book special is Susanna's writing style and the way she builds up her characters' personalities through their actions (subtle and not so subtle ones). Her words are direct, simple, but together weave very dense paragraphs that I think of as poetic. I think her style of writing is as close to 'painting a picture with a thousand words' as someone can get.
Piranesi is such a loveable, rootable character. His naivety is charming (never annoying) and makes it easy to feel like the reader is there with him, slowly unconvering more about the House, it's inhabitants, and the mysteries of who The Other and Piranesi himself really are.
I only have one main nitpick.
Coming from a gay man, I still did enjoy the book. It's not the biggest part of the story, and thus didn't hinder my experience (it was just in the back of my head). I had a lot of fun uncovering the mysteries of the House, and the twist in Part Five was shocking and made me more eager to see how it all unfolds. Most of all, I really enjoyed and adored Susanna's writing style.
I'm happy I was recommended this book and I definitely would recommend it to others, especially fantasy lovers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Murder