Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

95 reviews

yilliun's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

I was immediately sucked into Piranesi’s world and his constricted reality within the House. I loved how he gave personality to even the simplest of things and his journey to freedom again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic friendship

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

lillieb130's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Mental illness

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Slavery, and Gaslighting

rennybenny's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence

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

scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery

pbeeandj's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Spoiler

I'm not the same person I was in highschool, or college, or my 20s. I'm not the same person I was when I was in a bad relationship. But acknowledging my prior ignorance while I was living as those past myselves does not make what I experienced any less meaningful. Our protagonist may have been ignorant of the existence of House as one version of himself, and then ignorant of the abusive relationship he was in as another, but he doesn't scorn the parts of himself that made those decisions, that did the best with what they knew at a time. He accepts his past selves as a part of who he is now, personalities and mindsets he can never return to, but that have led to him becoming someone totally new. A little bit of both, but more than the sum of his past parts.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping and Toxic friendship

anivino's review against another edition

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.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

eauderat's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Toxic friendship

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Animal death, Torture, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Slavery, and Ableism