Review: Piranesi

Premise: In a world consisting of a single infinite house, Piranesi goes about his day cataloguing infinite statues down infinite halls. The lower levels contain an ocean that provides his food. The upper levels contain clouds that provide his fresh water. House always provides. Piranesi and Other are the only humans, only sentient beings in this world. Or so it seems. Soon, Piranesi’s world is about to change whether he likes it or not. 

Review: I was quickly drawn to such a unique premise of Piranesi. Such a dreamlike world, with a sweet protagonist and the mystery of his life. But I quickly realized that this book was not going to be my cup of tea. Piranesi is sweet and the circumstances of his existence are definitely interesting, but his constant descriptions and mentions of random halls and vestibules quickly lost my interest. For such a short book, the plot was virtually non-existent until the second half of the book when more backstory was finally given. The ending also felt incredibly rushed and abrupt. This was not a satisfying ending at all.

2/5

Romance: No

Violence: one-on-one fight

Tropes: memory loss, “the village”-esque, alternate universe, traveling to alternate realities

Trigger Warnings: extreme manipulation, power imbalance