The Binding

Wow... the marketing/PR team for this book all need raises and promotions because they TRICKED THE SHIT out of so many people (myself included, of course) with what this story was going to be... The person who wrote the book description is a master of deception. I would take off a glove and give that person a slap with it to signal my desire for a duel, but I also want to hire the person for being good enough to deceive the crap out of those of us who wanted a historical-fantasy-magical-realism kind of story but instead got this fucking drivel.

The idea and world building of this book was great, but I feel like barely anything happens? Like a third of the book is Emmett remembering his binding... and then like, hardly anything happens? There is no punishment for the truly vile man that Lucian's father is, and zero character development? Idk, I feel like this could have been a duology or a trilogy where emmet learns to use his binding for good and abolish the disgusting use of it by the upper class while taking down Lucian's awful father. 3 stars for a super cool concept and decent writing but the plot is honestly more like 2

edit: jk I dropped it down to a two bc in retrospect it was just a complete mess

“It's a sacred calling Emmett. To have another person's memory entrusted to you...To take the deepest, darkest part away from them and keep it safe forever. To honour it, to make it beautiful, even though nobody else will see it.”

Firstly, let's get the doubts out of the way. I read a lot of reviews where people had DNF'ed this book in the first part, and a lot of people were praising it for the good story later on. So yes, part one is extremely slow. It builds up enough mysteries and momentum in part one, then throws you into slow chaos in part two, and fully blown-out chaos in part three. And at the end you come out saying, “Wow! What a roller-coaster!”

I not only enjoyed, but also adored this book. I enjoyed part one with all the book binding terminology and the pace at which the author described Emmett's mundane activities slowly, but also peacefully. In the beginning, Emmett feels lost and alone. He feels like he's missing something because he has no memory of the year from when he was sick. To make matters worse, his family feels distant from him and they send him off to become a binder, a trade people think to be witchcraft. And to make matters even worse, nobody seems to be explaining anything to him. Neither his parents nor his master from whom he's learning the trade of binding.

Another thing I appreciated was how Seredith revered books as they were people's memories and essentially a part of them. But there were other binders who sold them as stories. This comparison was described in very rich tones.

So keeping this as spoiler-free as possible - part two is also from Emmett's POV but part three is not him. Having a different POV for part three was, in my opinion, a very good move. Not only does Emmett end up taking a back-seat, we get to see how the story intertwines for our characters. I was rooting so hard for these guys by the end and the ending did not disappoint :D

Pros:
- Different type of setting
- Books
- People cherishing books (well, one of them at least)
- Emmett and Lucian were so much fun to read
- Strong-willed characters

Cons:
- Worst father in literature
- Bad families all around
- Homophobiaaa!! (See above 2 points) The earth should swallow you guys wholeee!

Beware:
- Books with your names on them
- Families who don't care about your happiness.
P.S. The hardcover is mesmerizing!

I picked up this book knowing only a very little about it and with having read none of the author's previous work so I really had no real expectations from this book. I know other reviewers have commented on the hype this book seems to have been getting but in my small area of Scotland I have to say I've not been aware of this and so I truly didn't have any preformed opinions.

I loved the premise of this book whereby people who have done or experienced traumatic or difficult things can go to a ‘binder' who will take those memories from them and put them into a book, therefore, allowing the person to return to their life with no knowledge of their difficult past and that the book will forever be the only remaining evidence of their memories. This makes for a wonderful opportunity within a fantasy setting to really push the boundaries of our characters as they struggle to remember clearly their past and the ability to discover through books the past of other's and how people could manipulate this to stop others from remembering things they have done to them.

Collins kicks off this book with plenty of mystery as we follow Emmett Farmer, a young boy who receives a letter telling him he is to be apprenticed to a ‘binder' where he will learn the trade of being a ‘bookbinder'. Bookbinders are viewed with suspicion by people in the countryside, seen as trading in the occult and leaving those whose memories they take as only shell's of the people they once were. Books are objects of evil and rarely touched. For Emmett this life is one he's unprepared for and when he finds himself living in the middle of the marshes with an elderly woman ‘binder' after having only just recovered from a mysterious illness which he is sure is linked to his new trade it offers us as the reader plenty of unanswered questions and mystery to keep us glued.

Yes, this book is packed with potential, from the mystery of what's happened to Emmett and why he is sick through the mysteries of ‘binding' and how it works to the mysterious Lucian Darnay who comes to be bound and then seems to fall into Emmett's life. There is a darkness to this book, the evil reasons why certain characters have been bound and the hidden secrets they've been made to forget offer us huge potential. And this for me was the problem. This book ultimately failed to take advantage of the darkness that it could have offered and instead became almost a love story alone.

As we move through Part Two and Three of the book we become less involved in the whole ‘binding' process and instead focus on the background of Emmett's life and his family and his first love. It's a controversial relationship for it's time to be sure but essentially this part of the book is fully dedicated to it and whilst I loved the two characters together I just felt that we lost certain magic in this section of the book as it became a romance. This meant that in Part Three of the book we are really just resolving the situation created in Part Two of the book to allow our romantic leads to resolve everything.

So whilst I enjoyed this book I was left somewhat disappointed, there are lots of characters we meet along the journey whose stories are never quite fleshed out, characters whose darkness and manipulation of binding would have made for fascinating and dark storytelling which is what I was hoping for from the beginning of this book. Instead, we have essentially a star-crossed lovers scenario that seems tame in comparison to where the book could have gone. And the ending, all just a bit too sudden for me. We resolved the outstanding reason the lovers couldn't be together and bang it was done. No further discussions at all. Literally one page it's resolved and next page ‘The End'. This left me feeling unfulfilled and disappointed.

If I reflect on this book it's with a sense of missed opportunities from the author. The concept for the story is excellent, it has lots of potential but it was squandered a little to tell a story of forbidden love. The characters who really grabbed my attention and made me want to see them brought to justice were never addressed or their stories explored more. I had to give this one a 3 out of 5 stars because all the groundwork was there, the foundations were solid but just not built upon into an exciting storyline.

I am utterly disappointed. I had such high hopes for this book. The premise sounded amazing, the concept interesting and that cover is so beautiful 😍. I imagined a romp through a story of intrigue, mystery and a little bit of magic. Instead what I got was a romance. And not even a particularly unique or well written romance. Bleh. Biggest disappointment of the year so far ☹️

actual rating: 3.5 stars
this book was so great and magical: it made me smile, almost cry, frustrated, and would also make me angry. the thing is, part I of the book was sooo boringly slow. it took me a crazy amount of time to get through part I, and it bored me so much that i would even avoid picking it up. otherwise, parts II and III were amazing: well-paced and very engaging! in the last two-thirds of the book i couldn't put it down. also i ship lucian and emmett sosososososo hard i love them together and this has been my favourite forbidden love story i've read so far ugh

“I didn't know happiness was that simple.” Enchanting, captivating, could not put it down. Every page I read, I could picture like a Ghibli movie. Heart-wrenching and satisfying. Thank you, [a:Bridget Collins 14717647 Bridget Collins https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548771665p2/14717647.jpg].

Captivating story. Excellent debut storytelling that definitely makes me want to keep and eye out for further Bridget Collins works!

I found it interesting the way the story was split distinctly into 3 parts from 3 different perspectives though at first I was dismayed when it got to the end of the first part and the perspective changed - I was like “nooo I need to know what happens next, not what already happened!” But actually I did find the differing perspectives kept the overall story engaging. As I neared the last few chapters I had a sense of loss that the story was almost over and it didn't feel like there would be resolution. There was certainly a conclusion, one built on hope and some mystery remaining (perfect for a sequel?) but I did feel that the ending did seem rushed in comparison to the slower descriptive prose that dominated the rest of the book.

I wasn't expecting any of this. I liked the idea of the book, a book about the power of stories. But there was much more to unfold and every turn was a new discovery. The writing was funny at times, I felt like there were some metaphors and allegories that were a bit over the top, and some descriptions that felt unnecessary or, better said, random. But after a while I got used to it (even though it was never really bothering). In any case, I couldn't put it down, it was absorbing and the world, the characters, were so interesting to me, I wish it would have lasted a bit more. This doesn't happen often.

Emmett is a hard-working son of a farmer. He has been ill and while on the mend receives a letter requesting he be taken as an apprentice for the bookbinder Seredith. Unsure of how or why he has been chosen, Emmett finds himself on her doorstep.

He soon learns that bookbinders take memories of those willing to give and willing to forget said memories. Memories become books and books are locked away...except by those who wish to use those books for profit.

Emmett has been told he's a binder born. What does that mean for him? Why is there a book with his name? What secret is he harboring dark enough to forget?

I went into this one blind and initially really enjoyed it. About halfway through the entire premise changed and it was no longer about binding but about romance and how this romance was a dark secret. I was immensely disappointed as the idea of binding memories and the process (vaguely touched upon) fascinated me.