Book Review of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke has intrigued us for a while after seeing book reviews saying that it was different & unique and may not be for everyone. We wanted to see if it spoke to us!
This post contains not only a Piranesi Book Review but also a discussion of other books that are our kind of weird that we would recommend!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which, if purchased from, may result in a small commission, at no cost to the buyer.
Slowprose Review Format
Generally speaking, we don’t think of ourselves as “serious” reviewers, so our format may be a little different. Here is what to expect when you are reading Slowprose book reviews:
- Cover Review – doing the cliche of judging a book by its cover.
- Book Blurb – we share the book jacket or Goodreads blurb about the plot.
- Intrusive Thoughts – these are the general thoughts and feelings we have about the book while reading it.
- Book review – our overall review and star ranking of the book
- Book aesthetics – this is how gorgeous we thought the pages of the book were, or how easy/hard it was to read, or how good the narrator was if it is an audio book.
- Book recommendations – we talk about the author’s other books or other books that remind us of this book in some form or fashion. Basically, this is our catch-all to talk about anything else that we want to.
To see our full review system, including our method of assigning and weighting stars, go here.
COVER REVIEW – Piranesi
Such an interesting cover. 4 stars for the cover of Piranesi.
Before reading the book, we thought it evoked magical and slightly sinister vibes. After reading the book….it still kinda doesn’t connect to the story? The pedestal does, but the creature doesn’t, not really.
But, saying all that, this book is so incredibly unique and odd, and so is this cover. It is an enigma, much like the book. It certainly is memorable and immediately recognizable, thus the 4 star rating.
BOOK BLURB – Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke
Given our extreme irrational fear of ever being a spoiler for any reader, we will just share the book insert or book blurb found on Goodreads to provide the information in terms of the plot:
Piranesi
Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant.
But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.
INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS – Piranesi Book Review
* Reminder – we typically never read anything about a book, not even the jacket, because we like to go in with a completely blank slate*
Completely clueless about this book going in. So exciting!
Hummmmm color us intrigued.
Oh My Gah love this so much.
Are the halls and statues a metaphor? Is he an abused child, and this is the world he has created in his mind to escape abuse?
But if so, how can there be birds?
The Other has all these things to give him, what’s that all about? Is he holding him captive?
Ohhhhh
Curious as to the man who is here versus the man lost. Interesting concept.
Kind of an abrupt ending.
Didn’t want it to end!
PIRANESI BOOK REVIEW
Slowprose Star Rating – 4.5 Stars
THIS BOOK IS OUR KIND OF WEIRD.
We love weird books but have found over the years that there are some books that are not our kind of weird, and some that are. Piranesi is definitely the type that is our kind of weird. Loved it so much!!
To be able to write such a creative and unique story in a way that makes the reader understand it, envision it and experience it like we did for Piranesi means, to us, that this is one heck of a great writer. Major kudos to Susanna Clarke for creating this world, and this character, that we were immediately captured by.
Early on, we thought that maybe this was all taking place in Piranesi’s mind and that it was a world he created to escape his reality.
It turned out to be so much more interesting and unexpected than that. As always, this is a no spoiler review, but suffice it to say we loved where this story went and the explanation it revealed.
Although this book is short, it may be the best world building we have experienced in a book, with incredible imagery it left in our mind as to where Piranesi lives. Amazing!
Completely wowed by this little book and the imagination of Susanna Clarke to make it come to life. Stunning!
The only reason this one got a 4.5 rather than 5 stars was due to the fact that the ending seemed a bit rushed or stunted. Or both? But overall, we absolutely loved this book.
Slowprose Star Rating – 4.5 Stars
BOOK AESTHETICS – PIRANESI
This gorgeous photo of the incredible book spine of Piranesi is courtesy of Dominique with @reading_untamed, who graciously gave us permission to use this photo. Go check out her instagram account, you will be so glad you did! It is really beautiful and you will get lost in there looking at all the amazing photos.
Piranesi is a short book, so it is a great one to add to your TBR if you need books at the end of the year to reach a reading goal.
Beyond that, it is whimsical with an undercurrent of intrigue and some sadness, and would be a great book to read if you are wanting something completely different from contemporary stories or heart pounding thrillers.
We found Piranesi to be quietly contemplative. We will be thinking of it for years to come.
We dare say it is completely unique and unlike any other book we have read.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
The book that came to mind when we were reading Piranesi was another book that was beautifully fantastical, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.
We feel confident in saying, if you liked Piranesi, you will love Strange the Dreamer. It is incredibly imaginative, a completely unique story, with Laini Taylor’s beautiful writing style. One of the best books we have ever read.
Strange the Dreamer is actually book one of a duology, and the second book is Muse of Nightmares. Many times we are disappointed by book two (or more) of a story, but that wasn’t the case for Muse of Nightmares. Whereas Strange the Dreamer was a 5 star, we gave Muse of Nightmares 4.5 stars. It wraps up the story wonderfully.
You can find all these and more in our storefront, Slowestuff Books From The Blog storefront.
We hope you enjoyed this post of our Piranesi book review and book recommendations with similarly weird books that we loved!
If you want more book posts, check out the Slowprose section of the blog where we have more book reviews, book lists, favorite authors and more.
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Happy reading!
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