Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Binding by Bridget Collins

78 reviews

stellabombella's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Murder

spiderlilies's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

It's a little slow to start with in part I, even though I love the premise of books being stories cut out of people's memories. Emmett isn't a very strong-willed person and much of the plot simply happens to him, while he gets pushed around and most of his protestation is limited to internal dialogue. 

Part II, however, made me absolutely fall in love with the story although it becomes clear from there that this is not so much a grand story with a plot that will shift the whole binding world, but rather a more focused romance story. And I loved the romance. It had an enemies to lovers feel to it and the banter between Emmett and Lucian was a joy to read. Though be warned that the story gets pretty dark. There are a number of scenes with extremely homophobic reactions from their parents and Lucian's father is an all-around disgusting human. 

Part III gets even darker as we get to Lucian's POV and see what kind of person he had the potential of being without the influence of part II. This is where the story picks up the pace and grows even more tense, with murders, arranged marriages, and missing memories all working against our protagonists. I finished this part in one setting, because I had to know how it was going to end. Great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia

samsearle's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Murder

oogtube's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

Had a great first part, the buildup in the beginning location was everyone I wanted about a magic bookbinding apprentice- then It kinda moved onto the romance and it all went downhill. It focused FAR too much on the romance and near nothing on the concepts carefully built in the beginning and even kinda- abandoned the beginning tone in a heartless and sudden way that left you not feeling the emotional weight it really should have given. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

marleywrites's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book took awhile to grow on me, but by the end of part one I was very invested. Seeing all the pieces fall together was extremely satisfying. I loved the angst and the intense emotions. This is one I would consider rereading, especially in the fall/winter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cursing

kellyloubishop's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, Vomit, Murder, and Outing

aimee's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The book has an interesting concept, and some parts were quite enjoyable, but it wasn’t at all what I thought or hoped it would be. The ending was a little disappointing and the whole concept of binding etc. doesn’t form as big a part of the novel as you’d believe from the blurb. 

There were a few big things that happened or were hinted at and then left completely unanswered, and the first 150 pages are very slow and difficult to get through.

Also I found it a bit unbelievable that Emmett appears to be literally the only person who has no idea what binding and books actually are for most of the novel, and there were many points where he was on the verge of finding out or being told and then was distracted for some implausible reason or felt suddenly that he couldn’t ask, which just added to the sense that it was unbelievable.

The writing itself was pretty decent, and I think the second part of the story worked really well and was interesting. It was alright but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder

kaiiyo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A joy to read that left me quietly weeping in the bath
Wonderful characters and beautifully evocative writing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, and Murder

Minor: Classism

franticfreya's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

prettycloud's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has a lot going on. It's got the good historical fiction atmospherics—scenic rural landscape, old bookbinder's workshop—but it's grounded in real human interactions, with flawed characters making difficult choices. It deals with some really heavy topics—trauma, homophobia, assault, to name a few—but it's not relentlessly gloomy. It's a weird hybrid of coming of age, mystery, and romance. The first part feels like a quest for truth, like how Chasing Vermeer felt when I was a kid. There's a sense of wonder even among the awful things people do to one another, and there is beauty and hope. The latter part becomes darker and romancier: if you've read or watched Fingersmith or The Handmaiden, there's some of that energy, though without the masterminding. Would recommend if you like that sort of thing, or time loop or memory loss stories. I think part of the polarization of reviews is because this is such a teenage story even if it has more adult themes. Another reviewer here described it as a Drarry fic with the serial numbers filed off—I don't know whether that's true, but describes the vibe very well and could be useful in deciding whether to check it out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

There are some really awful and messed-up characters in this book who have a lot of power in their classist, sexist society. The main protags make mistakes and are really angry and traumatized through a lot of this, but aren't doing any of the really awful stuff. They experience homophobia, emotional abuse/gaslighting, and physical abuse

from their families

.

A beloved authority figure

dies. We watch

a beloved animal

get killed during the kidnapping. But the overall tone is hopeful.