Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

17 reviews

katieduffy151's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

A gripping novel, weird at first but embrace the weirdness and you will be rewarded!! There's a mystery that slowly becomes unravelled. Would highly recommend although it's not my usual genre. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

miller8d's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Gun violence, Dementia, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Vomit and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Trafficking, and Blood

Although this book covers many dark topics,

Spoiler

beyond the main topics of confinement and kidnapping and gaslighting,

there are very few graphic descriptions of physical violence or torture. Like for example,

Spoiler

there is a gun and attempted shooting, but nobody actually gets shot, and there are no graphic details about it, etc.

hedge12546's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? No

4.25

A friend’s advice that was absolutely true: the book starts with a TON of detail which makes you think you have to remember every little thing, but that’s not why the details are there. The overuse of details are a characteristic of the main character and not important to the story - it tells you the type of person he is. If it’s important, he will repeat it multiple times. The “why” will make sense in the long run. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

pia_004's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Excrement, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

The mystery was intense and it had me hooked start to finish. I loved Piranesi as a character, as tragic as he was. It brushed right up against the myth of the Labyrinth, but it wasn't so overt that it felt redundant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Dementia, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Slavery, Confinement, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Rape, Death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

troldmand's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Murder, Slavery, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit

victoriajossmith's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence and Physical abuse

careohleen's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Racism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Physical abuse

sassylk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Spoiler

the secret history meets the labyrinth! what a novel. I found I was unable to put it down and would get annoyed when people interrupted me, which I haven’t had with a book in a while now. The House is so well described that I felt that I was trapped/ living next to Matthew. Have recommended to everyone I live with! The only problem is that I want more to be explained - what happened to Laurence? who was the little girl who is one of the dead? Why did it take so long to find Matthew? All in all, the book was fascinating and completely original, well deserving of winning the women’s prize.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping