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reader89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.25
mels_reading_rook's review against another edition
Currently loving this book. It's only on hiatus because my library loan period expired.
booksarethenewblack's review against another edition
3.5
You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black
3.5 stars
I have had this book sitting on my bookshelf for so long. This is such a chunky book that it’s intimidating! I had an opportunity to read the second book as an ARC, and decided it was time to jump in! I buddy-read this with Dini, but it took us much longer than anticipated. We did it!
While the story is interesting, there are a lot of info dumps. It took us so long to get into this book. Just know that it is a slow read. It was confused throughout most of the first half. I’m so glad I buddy-read this with Dini so we could bounce thoughts off each other. I think there could have been better execution with the world-building. This world is extremely descriptive, and it suffers from it. The details are where most of the pacing gets bogged down, and it’s a snail’s pace. It takes a while to understand the bindings too. While it’s a cool world, and there are a lot of interesting aspects, there’s too much detail. With that being said, there are many parts that Virdi was able to captivate me with his writing. Most of this happens in the second half of the book. He’s juggling two timelines with Ari’s past and present. I think he did a great job weaving both stories and keeping me interested.
The characters are the best thing about this book! Ari is a character that drives me nuts most of the time, but I am desperately rooting for him. He’s so hot-headed, but it’s for the right reasons. He’s had a tough life, but he can be too rash. It’s a common theme throughout this book, and I’m curious to see if that changes in book two. Eloine is so elusive, but I’m so fascinated by her. I have a feeling she’s going to crush Ari, and I will not be ready for that. There are so many supporting characters throughout this book that I love so much.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read. Even if it suffered a lot of pacing issues, once I got into the story (about halfway), it was harder to put down! The dual timelines were also well done. I can’t wait to jump into book two and see what happens next. There’s a lot that has been left open that I need answers to!!
I own the hardcover, but thank you to Tor Books for sending a Netgalley widget. It was much easier to read with my little one! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3.5 stars
I have had this book sitting on my bookshelf for so long. This is such a chunky book that it’s intimidating! I had an opportunity to read the second book as an ARC, and decided it was time to jump in! I buddy-read this with Dini, but it took us much longer than anticipated. We did it!
While the story is interesting, there are a lot of info dumps. It took us so long to get into this book. Just know that it is a slow read. It was confused throughout most of the first half. I’m so glad I buddy-read this with Dini so we could bounce thoughts off each other. I think there could have been better execution with the world-building. This world is extremely descriptive, and it suffers from it. The details are where most of the pacing gets bogged down, and it’s a snail’s pace. It takes a while to understand the bindings too. While it’s a cool world, and there are a lot of interesting aspects, there’s too much detail. With that being said, there are many parts that Virdi was able to captivate me with his writing. Most of this happens in the second half of the book. He’s juggling two timelines with Ari’s past and present. I think he did a great job weaving both stories and keeping me interested.
The characters are the best thing about this book! Ari is a character that drives me nuts most of the time, but I am desperately rooting for him. He’s so hot-headed, but it’s for the right reasons. He’s had a tough life, but he can be too rash. It’s a common theme throughout this book, and I’m curious to see if that changes in book two. Eloine is so elusive, but I’m so fascinated by her. I have a feeling she’s going to crush Ari, and I will not be ready for that. There are so many supporting characters throughout this book that I love so much.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read. Even if it suffered a lot of pacing issues, once I got into the story (about halfway), it was harder to put down! The dual timelines were also well done. I can’t wait to jump into book two and see what happens next. There’s a lot that has been left open that I need answers to!!
I own the hardcover, but thank you to Tor Books for sending a Netgalley widget. It was much easier to read with my little one! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
thepagelady's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a few pages to get into this story but I am so glad I stuck with it! It's a slow burn character driven story and so many impressive and amazing elements! I loved the way this story is laid out! There's two timelines past and present but wrapped up in both timelines you hear about wonderful and sometimes heartbreaking mythology and folklore. The world building is beautiful and complex and the magical system is amazing! They are both told in rich and vivid details. Ari is an amazing character. There are a lot of layers and depth to him but the more you get to know him the more real he becomes. It's an amazing book and even though it's 800 plus pages it feels like we've only scratched the surface! Thank you Tor Books for sharing this wonderful book with me!
mjgrifferty's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
leopardsummer8's review against another edition
4.0
"'Say then you'll look for me. That you'll find me. That you'll set after me the way the sun always does the moon. Promise you'll find me.'"
The First Binding is one of those books that simultaneously feels like it takes a day to read but also a year. At 800 pages, it's not a light read, not to mention it takes a little bit to get into (the actual story doesn't really start until 80 pages in). It reminded me of Jennifer Lyon's The Ruin of Kings and The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez but it also had some elements reminiscent of R. F. Kuang's The Poppy War.
The story switches between past and present, detailing Ari's childhood as he tells his story to his new friend, Eloine. It's also interspersed with other stories of mythology and history, as told by people who are essentially bards. My favorite parts were the stories from Ari's childhood, as they tended to be more fast-paced and action-packed. I really hope the next book comes back to close up some loose ends from the first parts of his backstory, especially what happens to Nika and Nisha and all of his friends.
Ari is a compelling storyteller and narrator, of course, and I liked him as a protagonist. His perfect mix of snark, curiosity, and stubbornness renders him an intriguing character to follow. I liked most of his childhood friends, especially Nika and Aram, although I loved Radi too. Shola is adorable (any book with a cat automatically gets bonus points) and I'm scared to find out what happens to him. The only character I had issues with was Eloine. I don't know what it was, but I didn't get good vibes from her and maybe I'm overreacting but I feel like she's going to betray Ari and I don't like her.
If you want an epic fantasy full of stories upon stories, The First Binding is the book for you.
3.75/5
The First Binding is one of those books that simultaneously feels like it takes a day to read but also a year. At 800 pages, it's not a light read, not to mention it takes a little bit to get into (the actual story doesn't really start until 80 pages in). It reminded me of Jennifer Lyon's The Ruin of Kings and The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez but it also had some elements reminiscent of R. F. Kuang's The Poppy War.
The story switches between past and present, detailing Ari's childhood as he tells his story to his new friend, Eloine. It's also interspersed with other stories of mythology and history, as told by people who are essentially bards. My favorite parts were the stories from Ari's childhood, as they tended to be more fast-paced and action-packed. I really hope the next book comes back to close up some loose ends from the first parts of his backstory, especially what happens to Nika and Nisha and all of his friends.
Ari is a compelling storyteller and narrator, of course, and I liked him as a protagonist. His perfect mix of snark, curiosity, and stubbornness renders him an intriguing character to follow. I liked most of his childhood friends, especially Nika and Aram, although I loved Radi too. Shola is adorable (any book with a cat automatically gets bonus points) and I'm scared to find out what happens to him. The only character I had issues with was Eloine. I don't know what it was, but I didn't get good vibes from her and maybe I'm overreacting but I feel like she's going to betray Ari and I don't like her.
If you want an epic fantasy full of stories upon stories, The First Binding is the book for you.
3.75/5
hckilgour's review against another edition
I dnf’ed at 28%
This books reminded me a lot of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Except I was bored senseless.
It took so long to do anything. And there really didn’t seem to be a thing we were working towards with his story.
I also gave up at the point the pov shifted to Elowyn.
This books reminded me a lot of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Except I was bored senseless.
It took so long to do anything. And there really didn’t seem to be a thing we were working towards with his story.
I also gave up at the point the pov shifted to Elowyn.
qjbrown96's review against another edition
2.0
I’m all for taking inspiration from an author or even taking some plot points and giving it a twist, like Robert Jordan/Tolkien. But this is just straight plagiarism from Name of the Wind…
1.) You have a boy, Ari, who gets orphaned because an evil entity kills his family.
2.) Same style of writing where the protagonist is an infamous character who is telling his story of how he gained his reputation.
3.) a female character who is mysterious, goes by many names, and is always on the run
4.) Ari goes to a school to learn a particular skill to defeat said enemy who killed his family.
5.) He has a rich, dick head enemy of a student who wants him dead
6.) He has a teacher who doesn’t want to teach him but end up doing it due to Ari’s persistence.
7.) an incredibly slow story with little action but a poetic writing style
8.) Tells embellishments of his story to make his legend grow the way he wants
I was willing to overlook all of this because the story was still good and he definitely had some fun changes like including mythology and a new magic system but the absolute final straw for me was when his teacher pushed him off a ledge to prove a point of faith and then let second saved his life…that literally verbatim happened in NOTW…
I DNF’d at page 625 so who knows what other rip offs there were left
1.) You have a boy, Ari, who gets orphaned because an evil entity kills his family.
2.) Same style of writing where the protagonist is an infamous character who is telling his story of how he gained his reputation.
3.) a female character who is mysterious, goes by many names, and is always on the run
4.) Ari goes to a school to learn a particular skill to defeat said enemy who killed his family.
5.) He has a rich, dick head enemy of a student who wants him dead
6.) He has a teacher who doesn’t want to teach him but end up doing it due to Ari’s persistence.
7.) an incredibly slow story with little action but a poetic writing style
8.) Tells embellishments of his story to make his legend grow the way he wants
I was willing to overlook all of this because the story was still good and he definitely had some fun changes like including mythology and a new magic system but the absolute final straw for me was when his teacher pushed him off a ledge to prove a point of faith and then let second saved his life…that literally verbatim happened in NOTW…
I DNF’d at page 625 so who knows what other rip offs there were left
hollyn_middle's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.75