Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Piranesi

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

167 reviews

archer3's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Piranesi is a masterpiece. The story unfolds in a way that keeps you reading, wanting to know more. The way it is written, through the POV of the journal entries, really puts you in the shoes of Piranesi and allows you to feel the emotions he is feeling and experience his discoveries in an authentic way. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing at the end.

Spoiler

The way the author explored the changes people go through during life and framed it as different individuals all rolled into one person was magnificent. The final journal entries being from the POV of someone who was neither Matthew nor Piranesi, yet somehow still both of them, really made it easy to sympathize with what the character went through. I enjoyed the author's exploration of a person's evolving sense of self and how their life changes around that.

I will never stop recommending this book.

Content Warnings

cepbreed's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautiful, atmospheric, confusing. Piranesi was a book I forgot about for a long time before rediscovering it in my downloads while searching for something to fill up my time on a long plane ride. The writing is beautiful, the descriptions are so atmospheric, but to me, especially in the beginning, it was confusing and therefore unattractive. Nevertheless months later I rediscovered it and finished it and I am so glad I did. Clarke tackles many concepts, but I am most invested in her concept of identity.

Spoiler

Matthew, Piranesi and then the man become of escaping the labyrinth are of the same body, it is their minds that differ. The three have common threads in interests and dislikes, but ultimately are far more different. To Clarke identity has to do with continuity I think. When Piranesi cannot remember writing in the first 21 journals he attributes those to Matthew. And when both identities don’t know what to make of the original world a new identity is formed all together.

I appreciate the meticulous effort put into crafting this story and world.

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abken's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.5

Please do not quit the book before 40%. After 40% the whole genre of the book changes and you will love it.

Content Warnings

jovial_glider's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad fast-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? No

4.75

Content Warnings

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

miller8d's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing slow-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

4.0

I loved that this book felt like a refreshing escape from the normal structure and narrative that many fiction books follow.

Spoiler

I was surprised by most of the book, and deeply appreciated that the magic of this universe was both fantastical and simple, both logical and inexplicable. I found myself confused about the storyline/losing focus frequently throughout the book, which normally would bother me, but it felt like I was experiencing the same thing as the narrator LOL, which I enjoyed. I found the narrator’s genuinely kind soul very touching and deeply enjoyed the process of discovering what had happened. I didn’t realize it was a mystery novel until halfway through which is awesome. The well-established isolated world meant that, with the appearance of each new person or information, it was genuinely shocking. Very interesting and refreshing read.

Also, I pictured The Other as Brett Goldstein.

Content Warnings

orangetea's review

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't have words to describe how I feel about this book except that it pleasantly surprised me and that I will think about it for a long time

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anivino's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

i read a lot of reviews on piranesi prior to reading it, and they were the reason i delayed reading it for such a long time. i wasn't particularly thrilled about the minotaurus myth retelling. as time went by, i started forgetting all the reviews, and when it came across my suggestions for reading, i just went for it. and it was absolutely worth it. i enjoyed the immersive world that the author created, and enjoyed spending time with piranesi in the house. i usually don't like themes of mental health in literature as it may be triggering, but it was ok for this book, and i really liked how the author incorporated it in the story and dealt with the inner conflict of the main character. now, i'm waiting to for enough time to pass to return to this world once again.

Content Warnings

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This was slow, strange, but also meditative book. The house contains the ocean. Piranesi, the character is naïve, and full of wonder at the world that he lives in, isolated, but very willing to explore the ruins he is in, and depend on himself.

The juxtaposition of how isolated Piranesi is with how he revered the natural world… it’s heartbreaking. his acceptance of his position in the world is both something that inspires hope in survival and ingenuity, but also built up the sense of frustration with how stuck he was.

The twist of the book was fascinating, and some thing that turns so much of the perspective of Piranesi on its head.

This is one of those books that I can’t stop thinking about long after I read it.

Content Warnings

eauderat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

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