Piranesi

It's difficult to discuss this book without spoiling it - which would be a shame, I think not knowing much about it heightens the experience. Gripping from the start even though it starts off with Piranesi exploring the House and not much really happening. In retrospect, I wish I had spent a little more time with that. The atmosphere created by the author is quite unique. I also liked the exploration of what a person in that situation would fall back on and found Piranesi's scientific mindedness touching. I recommend listening to the audiobook, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, as it enhances the whole vibe of the book.

I loved the world in which this story is set. An infinite labyrinth of statues and sea, occupied by characters that I wanted deeply to know more about.

You follow the story through the journal of the point of view character. The best parts of the story are, to me, when the writer's and the reader's understanding of events diverge. It felt like a Hitchcock movie, where I, with full access to the main character's thoughts, started coming to different interpretations of information they've received - and what I knew compelled me to keep reading in hopes that the main character would catch up. I also appreciated the themes of the story: kindness, interaction with place, memory, ambition.

Unexpected, mysteryous and very engaging. A fresh fantasy with a touch of philosophy.

I really enjoyed the book, the smaller world that the protagonist lives in is very simple and is intriguing, but not somewhere I feel I need to return to. The larger universe though is interesting, with its reality plus a little magic vibe. I enjoyed the unravelling mystery and it compelled me to read it much faster than I've read books of similar size. The first few chapters describing the House reminded me of the descriptions of The Sleeper Service in Iain M Banks' book Excession. To the point where I thought the book was going to go in a sci-fi direction.