Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Binding

Gros coup de cœur sur la couverture de cette édition de the borough press, j’ai dévoré le livre mais ça reste un 3 ou 3,5/5 en vrai. Je pensais qu’il y aurait plus de choses dans le récit autour des livres et de cet art du binding (en français ça parle « d’enlivreur » j’ai cru voir) qui permet d’effacer la mémoire d’une personne et l’enfermer dans un livre. En fait au cœur de ce livre c’est plutôt une histoire d’amour, une tragédie. Et même si ça arrive tard, une fois que c’est arrivé ça prend quasiment tout le livre et ne continue pas vraiment ce que le premier quart nous laissait penser que ce livre serait. J’aime bien ce genre de changement surprise mais comme je ne suis pas très romance j’étais un peu blasée. J’ai l’impression que je pourrai même spoiler en disant ça mais la plus grosse partie du roman parle de ça donc 🥲
Quand même un bon roman qui a su me donner envie de continuer, bien écrit et prenant. Et qui prend cette idée d’extraction de mémoire et en montre les pires dérives possibles.

Content Warnings

daniquevdijk_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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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!!

Content Warnings

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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lex24's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Very different style of prose to what I usually read and it did take me a while to connect with the story, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I came to appreciate the author's writing and way of looking at the world.

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karebear1092's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Very slow and there is a sense of sadness the whole way through. The writing was very engaging and kept me reading the story. I wouldn’t say it’s fantasy. There is one element of magic but is not explored much.

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ronjaorsomething's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I will say, it's not really about what it seems like in the first part. It's devastating and frustrating at times but, like, in a good way. I feel like the book description gives away too much because you only learn some of it pretty late and it's a great plot twist if you don't know.

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