Piranesi (by Susanna Clarke)

I read Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell years ago, and of course can't find any review I wrote of it, but I know I didn't like it much because there was some internal inconsistency in the magical system. That sounds very on brand for me.

I loved Piranesi, on the other hand. The magic is never explained, which is fine by me, and this is a far cry from the 1500 page behemoth of Jonathan Strange.  Instead this is almost a novella, about a person named Piranesi who lives in a mysterious labyrinth with one other person, named The Other.  Piranesi is (be still my heart) an unreliable narrator, and the true nature of the world unfolds slowly through his journal entries. 

It took a bit for me to get into this narrative (Piranesi likes to Capitalize many of his Words and it Illuminates his Character but Takes some getting Used To) but it soon casts a spell on the reader.  I feel like this is one of those novels that's Not for Everyone, but it definitely was For Me.