The Binding

“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!