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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.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect of Piranesi. But it wasn’t quite this.

Thank you to Jo for recommending the audiobook of this one to me, which was such a captivating way to absorb this beautiful tale. Although I do feel like I would have enjoyed this in physical format too, the audio was wonderful and the narrator felt perfect for the story.

The House is valuable because it is the House. 

I quickly found myself being engaged with Piranesi’s world. This story is one of mystery, and I felt like I had to absorb myself fully within the book to really enjoy it. I felt so focused on Piranesi as a character and curious about the world around him. I feel like if you try and relate this book to the real world and understand it as a real thing, it will lose you. But if you lose yourself within this book, you just might win. And become curiouser and curiouser.

It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end.

The writing itself was definitely one of my favourite aspects of this book. It was so beautiful and the descriptions of the house made it really easy to picture and still visualise in my mind. The writing was very lyrical, beautifully descriptive and engaging. I felt so involved in the story.

I would really recommend not just this book, but the audiobook version. It was such a wonderful mystery and I would recommend sticking with it until you become curious about where it’s going, because then you won’t be able to put it down!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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