I wanted to like this book so much. And I did! For maybe the first third. The world that was constructed was so intriguing with its mysticism and beauty. Clarke is a beautiful writer and I absolutely fell in love with the setting.. for the most part. I loved Piranesi's relationship with the world, his dynamic with The Other, and their opposing philosophies. I loved the almost slice of life descriptions about Piranesi's tasks and introspection as he gently moved through life.

And then it all came crashing down as a mystery thriller. I can't fully express my disappointment as I started to realize that that was just a modern day missing persons case with a tired trope of the victim losing their memory. Not only did this take me out of the story, but I think that's when the construction of the story started to suffer. With this new revelatory information, Piranesi started making uncharacteristic decisions in order to move the plot along (if he kept wanting to meet The Other or Raphael, why not just wait in the Minotaur room??). There was a breakneck pivot in pacing from delicate exposition and world building to a fast paced hunt for information. The themes of the story became strange as it moved from exploring the philosophy around why the Other World exists and what the implications were to a rescue mission for a kidnapped victim.

I should know better than to rely on a back-of-the-book pitch, but the comparison to Circe felt disingenuous. You can't just slap some Grecian statues in a story and compare it to Madeline Miller. A more accurate comparison would be House of Leaves without the horror/thriller/suspense.