Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Binding

Picked this book out of the shelf on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at the romance! Did not take the turn I was expecting, but again just so pleasantly surprised so I didn't mind. You can tell that this is the author's first foray into adult fiction, and there are some regrettable parts in the plot, but I think it's an overall earnest queer story.

I will say that the premise of memory-bound books could've been fleshed out more, towards the end, it felt more like a gimmick but that might be more of a personal preference as again, I didn't really know what to expect.

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c_lizziebeth's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.25

The text itself is so all over the place: mature and literary and trying to be poetic and then trashy and plain and funny and YA. It was a wonderful concept and a wild read, to me

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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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franticfreya's review against another edition

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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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prettycloud's review against another edition

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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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