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becca_w_'s review against another edition
- 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? N/A
4.75
Graphic: Gaslighting, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Death, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Cursing, and Mental illness
webtheweeb's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
I’m kind of astonished by this book. It starts off so, so huge and completely incomprehensible - like the character “writing” it, you need to make massive leaps and grasp onto the smallest glimpses of sanity to maintain your footing - but Clarke leaves a trail of hints that not all is as it seems so intriguing that I couldn’t bear to put it down. I HAD to know what was really going on here. And by the end of the book, in a way that I think so few other pieces of media have done, the frame is SMALLER than at the start, more manageable and explained and easier for my little mind to comprehend. BUT THEN??? THAT LAST PAGE???? Just completely explodes that and undoes it in the best, best way. The middle place is still connected to our world, leaking statues of people as they are??? As they will be??? Where is the place beyond, and what does it mean? We don’t need to know, but the shape of this book is immense and ingenious.
My only reservation is with the main character - does Clarke as a white woman have a right to tell his story? I also wonder about her intertwining of Laurence’s sexuality and his violence, which was not provided any kind of representational foil or anything to offset that association.
Overall, this book, like Octavia Butler’s, did something to my brain I don’t think I’ll easily forget. In my experience, it is totally original and so, so interesting. I feel like I’d need to read it a thousand times over to begin to understand most of what’s in there, and I’d do so gladly. 5/5
Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping
Moderate: Murder
oughterard87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Murder
caroisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
We are taken through events via the protagonist's journal entries, and only know as much as he knows about the enormous house he's in, with occasionally dangerous waves of sea water and rainfall. There are moments where you can start to guess what is actually going on, and it all leads to a suspenseful unraveling.
I think there is a deeper narrative about appreciating our earth and what it gives us, appreciating our life and those around us, those we have lost, even those we've never met.
Susanna's writing is so rich, yet easy to follow, just so artful. There are even moments where a tone / writing style change is necessary and it helps you appreciate the mastery of her writing.
You'll love this if you are into magical realism, a bit of mystery, mystical practice, and unusual stories.
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death and Murder
thecandiegirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Gun violence, Murder, and Death
laurenipsum's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Gun violence, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Violence
abookwormspov's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Confinement, Violence, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse
danasaur's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Trafficking, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Murder, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Vomit
futureofmydays's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Death, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Torture, Vomit, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
myiscoh's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, and Mental illness
Minor: Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Child death, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Death