reverie_and_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This story has a huge emphasis on a lgbtq+ romance, is tinged in bits of magic and placed in a gothic/victorian setting. It’s written in gentle prose and contains some issues that prompt several content warnings. The scenes are autumnal or wintery and Collins leads the reader into them well. The story is divided into three parts and told from two points of view.
So far, so good. But I was expecting a lot less romance and a lot more political or social storylines. The ending was a bit too quick, partly too neat, partly too frayed. I did like Emmett and enjoyed the promising first part of the story. It lost me a bit later on when it got darker, but not necessarily deeper. Some of the scenic descriptions were too monotonous to me and the craft of binding had much more potential to be explored. I wished Collins had put more focus onto that, because I quite liked her prose and the setting.
If you’re looking for an atmospheric romance story (and I’d say that part is strong) this might be a good choice for you. If you’ve been eyeing this and expected romance to be just a smaller part of the plot - well, now you know it isn’t.
All that being said: I liked being in this story and turned the pages quickly. I had just hoped for a bit more of something else.
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Homophobia and Domestic abuse
coffee_and_wool's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Outing, Suicide, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Classism, Incest, and Pedophilia
oogtube's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Vomit
hawkelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book unwinds melancholic through three parts, with the middle at the beginning, the beginning in the middle, and a POV change for the end, but I think it works. If you're fond of the backstory sections of Black Sails, you'll like this too. It takes place at the beginning of the machination of industry in England, though that has little to do with it. It's a love story, and a story about how power can be - and would be, was, and is - abused by the powerful and money hungry. It has a quiet sense of strength and preservation, and hope. It has its heavy moments, and for sure period typical homophobia, though, so check the cw.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Classism, and Rape
Minor: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
aimee's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Spoiler
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder
elynt2022's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content
prettycloud's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Rape, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, Kidnapping, Classism, Sexual content, Murder, and Body shaming
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 abuseSpoiler
from their familiesSpoiler
A beloved authority figureSpoiler
a beloved animalmaeverose's review against another edition
TL;DR: I love the concept of this book so much, I really liked the romance, the writing style is hit and miss for me, why does everyone have to interrupt each other in every conversati—
The Romance
Spoiler
I liked the progression of Emmett’s feelings for Lucian. The way it was written I genuinely wasn’t sure how that was gonna go at first. The slow progression of hate to attraction without Emmett even seeming to recognize it as attraction at first. Idk I just liked that. And the dance scene !! I almost wish they explored how Emmett being a binder effects their relationship being as Lucian hates binders, but also I don’t like relationship angst so I don’t entirely mind that it was kinda just dropped.Writing
Plot Structure
Spoiler
I really like how we start out following Emmett after he’s been bound, then the way he eventually finds out, immediately leading into part two which is entirely just his memory. I definitely liked part three the least, but I think part three had to have been from Lucian’s pov or it wouldn’t’ve worked. And I definitely didn’t mind it. I think it could grow on me after a re read. Overall I just think the way the plot was structured was really smart.Dislikes
There was also a plot point that was just dropped that I felt needed more explanation.
Spoiler
When Emmett used that weird voice to tell off the people who wanted to burn Seredith’s house down, it was only brought up again once. When Emmett brought it up to Seredith she basically told him ‘that was nothing’. But it definitely seemed like something..? He seemed almost possessed to me.Alta annoyed me a bit but maybe that’s a me problem…
Graphic: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Homophobia, Murder, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Blood, and Incest
Minor: Fatphobia, Slavery, Abandonment, and Cursing
There is one use of the slur for Romani people. Does the dog die:Spoiler
Yes. The dog is killed, rather violentlygeilie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Kidnapping, Classism, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, and Violence
archkyrology's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
In an attempt to play around with the memory wiping aspect to create a mystery, it just becomes confusing. The first half of the book is slow, relaxed, and curious enough to keep you reading. The second half was very fast and genuinely upsetting almost the entire time. I wish a lot of aspects had been done differently. Also a very cliffhanger ending for a book that doesn't have a sequel.
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Suicide, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Excrement, Incest, and Ableism