Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

28 reviews

suzylit's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

A stunning storytelling. Clarke uses the narrator’s limited internal point of view to keep the reader in a state of uncertainty. The atmosphere is both mysterious and kind of serene thanks to Piranesi’s naïveté. He is a very loveable narrator who reminds us that the world is full of little wonders. At the same time, Clarke is able to conjure a dark plot that contrasts abruptly with the narrator’s childlike vision of the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Dementia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

briiforte's review against another edition

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

4.0

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

Spoiler

becomes apparent that The Other is not a protagonist

, the remainder of the story is gripping and magical.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Gun violence, Vomit, and Trafficking

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.

loesm's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Dementia

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Gun violence

booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Dementia, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Mental illness, and Animal death

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

audino's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Minor: Gun violence, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

pinofomoh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, and Dementia

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

bri__'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective relaxing 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

This book had such an original context, I have never read anything like this and the writing style is very entertaining. The mystery component was interesting and the journal texts were both visually appealing and made it easy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Murder, and Dementia

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Suicide and Vomit