Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Piranesi

What a truly joyful, kind, and beautiful read. Piranesi reminds me of my dreams of endless homes, endless reflections of life & the love of the world & its inhabitants that I hold so dear.

Holy fuck this book rocks.

Content Warnings

myiscoh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Could not put it down for the entire book, intriguing world-building throughout with a really interesting mystery plot. Would drag for the first 60~ pages if you’re not as interested in the world-building but stick with it!!

The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of itself. It is not the means to an end.

The beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.

I dont think anything could have prepared me for this. Already mentioned how amazing the world-building of the House is, especially for me the hall Piranesi (for lack of a better name for him) travels to for the Other with the huge door revealing the moon and the hundreds of statues reaching out towards it from the dark - all very evocative.

Another thing i loved was the ending, specifically how the almost split personalities of Piranesi and Matthew Rose Sorensen end up as just two aspects in a new personality that Piranesi (again, for lack or a better way to refer to him) takes on when returning to the old world. I feel like it would not have suited either side of his character to keep Piranesi dominant in the mind or to have Matthew come back in full, so i love that it was kept “split” (though not really as both are now part of a new whole)

I wish i was in a place where i could analyse the more philosophical parts of this book, but for now the two excerpts i quoted at the start really hit me. I have so many thoughts but i cant find worlds that really convey them in the way i mean without sounding like i'm rambling. But especially the relationship between those two passages that i immediately think of is this: we are all reflections of the House (our world) and it, like everyone, should be treated with the same endless love, empathy, care, and respect that Piranesi shows the statues and the dead and the House as a whole.

Other notes: wish i could have known Raphael for longer, she seemed like such a nice person. The journals used as a device to exposit about the events from the old world was really interesting. Unfortunately(? maybe not unfortunate, not sure) i did see most of the reveals coming from way off, though they were still enjoyable and the twist that Piranesi was actually trapped by the Other (like how James Ritter was trapped by Arne-Sayles) was not what i was expecting, even if i never really did trust the Other at all.

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chwinters's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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lillieb130's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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kimberleysreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

Content Warnings

briiforte's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

The writing begins slow and informative, but that’s the whole point. Piranesi is an unreliably naive narrator who strives to see the best The House has to offer. He’s notoriously too kind for his own good, but—once the plot

becomes apparent that The Other is not a protagonist

, the remainder of the story is gripping and magical.

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ayoderable's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Story told from the point of view of the "crazy" man that gives a warning at the beginning of a horror story. Abuses of "great" men. Things we take for granted within our reality. Loneliness. What is truth

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scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

This was a really cool book, I deeply enjoyed it and loved the style of the writing. Piranesi is a wonderful character and I frankly could have read chapters and chapters about his life before the story, of him just moving about his day. I'm incredibly fond of him.

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