Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

El Encuadernador / The Binding by Bridget Collins

192 reviews

milooo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i really really enjoyed this!! the atmosphere is extremely well established and described, and manages to root itself in a familiar real life example (victorian-esque england?) without implicating the real world and having it encroach on the story. collins is really good at describing the beauty in these small moments, painting picturesque images that really pull you into the world. the magic is a really cool concept that really makes you think  specifically about biographical writing and ownership of memories and life- do we have a right to other people’s lives? does one truly own their own memories if shared with others? is it better to forget the things that hurt us or does it hurt us more to have the pain taken away? that being said, the excellent vibes and grounds for rigorous academic analysis will not prevent this book from crushing your heart oh my GOD some of this was heartbreaking (i am insane so i kinda wish those moments had been milked a bit to really emphasise their emotional impact but oh well). i would have rated this 5 stars, but there are a few plot points here and there that simply don’t go as far as one wishes, moments that you think are going to come back later on but are never discussed. overall, this is more concentrated near the end (probably sacrificed in order to focus more on the central relationship, which as a recovering romance hater, does not help me recover from hating romance) and honestly just leaves you feeling the slightest bit unsatisfied and yearning for an epilogue at least. overall, i LOVED the first part of the book, but unfortunately the rest of it just ended up going in a different direction than i expected (not necessarily a bad thing tho! still a hella good read!!) it does get VERY dark VERY quickly, so please check the content warnings before you start!! 
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anyashadows's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

Tragic from start to finish. Not just the saddest book I've read all year so far but likely the saddest book I'll read the rest of the year too. This book hurt me.

Trigger warnings for violence, homophobia, animal cruelty/death
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shauna_grenead's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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circehighgarden's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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weaverl13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ufobabie's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

4.75

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jo_bee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An incredible read. If it starts a bit awkward, don't let that turn you away - there's reasons for it and soon enough it sucks you up and won't let you put it down. The characters are amazing, the romance is heartwrenching, there are so many hints dropped throughout the story the books come back to that are so satisfying to unravel. Some minor things are implied but never completely explained but personally I enjoy it like that. Truly enjoyed every page of it. Gets heavier in the second half so definitely check trigger warnings if you need to.
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safiewafie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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mooncraftbujo's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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