Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

23 reviews

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

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

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, and Murder

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: Physical abuse and Sexual violence

caleb_makes'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, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

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

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

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

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, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

racheybakey's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful fast-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

5.0

Piranesi is a book about the beauty of the mind, that breaks barriers of understanding around normalising different experiences of reality and mental health. 

The language is accessible throughout, creating visceral images of Piranesi's beautiful world. The main character's voice draws you in from the outset, and although we know relatively little about him, I immediately loved and felt for him. Susanna Clarke has a talent for world building that I have never read before. 

Even when the plot feels unclear, the viscerality of the world kept me hooked. This then leads seamlessly into a complex exploration of what it is to be empathetic to different experiences of reality - an important anti-ableist discussion that is relatively unexplored in fiction. 

An unreal book, first five stars of the year. Can't wait for a re-read to live with Piranesi all over again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

aggie24's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Death

admiralsmall's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A book that deserves analysis... that plays with ideas of ancient philosophy, belief, and what a text is... but is also a critique of powerful men in powerful places doing whatever the hell they want for the sake of themselves. 
It was such a page-turner as well. A book that should have felt dense and dull... just plagued my thoughts all day long... I absolutely adored it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse

zanni_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit