A review by iviarelle
Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this, and I have a feeling it's gonna stick with me a long while.

This book does an incredible job making the fantastical seem mundane. The House is simply Piranesi's home, his World, his entire existence... of course it's mundane to him. It's a really neat contrasting effect against just how magical and unreal the House would be to us.

And that's not even touching the mysteries and conflicts at the heart of the story. Piranesi has to discover the truth of the House, and why he's here and remembers nothing but the House, no matter how much he wants to avoid it. The mystery was gripping, and while I felt I had a decent grasp of it well before the halfway mark, the journey to the end was still very enjoyable, if you can say that for such a dark series of events.

Also, the very last pages, wherein
Spoilerthe Mark Rose Sorensen that is also Piranesi and the original Mark Rose Sorensen, discovers that the statues exist in the "other world" as real, living people
is fantastic. A perfect capstone, although I could've done without the weirdly shoehorned in fatphobia as he reflects on his journey, so watch out for that. It's so blatant, and right there at the end where it'll be noticed and remembered so well, that I can't help but remove part of a star for it. It really removes the shine from an otherwise incredible read.
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