Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Binding

It's a little bit hard for me to review because 1. the blurb doesn't tell you what the story is about and 2. it's not the type of book I usually gravitate towards, due in part to the somewhat misleading blurb (the blurb purposefully did 't including main plot points for story reasons). I was expecting exciting magical memory stuff, but instead this was an extremely character driven novel that was far more focused on the experiences of the main characters and the evil ways that memory binding could be used. Despite this, the story was lovely, and I definitely cried through the end of Part Two when Emmett and Lucien get found out. The prose was very nice, although it got a little flowery for me at times. None of these things are really criticisms of the book itself (except maybe the blurb I guess) and I can definitely see other people loving this book more than me, but I still definitely enjoyed it overall.

Content Warnings

katy_bee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A reread for me as it was this month's book club pick. I lived it the first time around and I wondered if it would lube up to memory. Actually it has, I feel swept up in Emmett and Lucian's story, the ways in which they're trapped, make mistakes, try and be authentic, let people down and ultimately find a way through. The world building around book binding is consistent and well drawn (although if magic worlds simply aren't your thing, this might feel a bit much in places). The background characters are also interesting. Women are mostly victims in the narrative and in particular they're victims of sexual violence- so heed the content warnings - but for me that felt in keeping with the world and narrative. I would have liked to see some light at the end of the tunnel for some of those characters whose trauma seemed perhaps diminished by the fact that their stories simply end when Emmett and Lucian's story is tied up but they're the main characters so perhaps unsurprising.

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oogtube's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

marleywrites's review against another edition

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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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