Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Binding

This is one of those books where you read the summary on the back and it tells you one thing, but then you read it and get something so much more and in some cases, very different than you expected.

This book follows our main character Emmett Farmer, who at the beginning of the story falls ill and soon gets whisked off to become a binder's apprentice. Binding in this world is where people who want to forget certain memories, go to a binder (kind of like a doctor) and have that memory removed and bound in a book. Once Emmett gets into binding a bit more, he realizes that everything he thought he knew about binding is different and that he has had memories bound, but doesn't know what and things go from there. But honestly, that's only an inkling of what this book is about because at it's core, it's a love story and for the sake of spoiling things just a bit, it's queer.

The book is split into three parts and it's so unique and well done because each part is written in a different style, tone and has a different feel to it. Part one took the most time to get into, part two was incredibly captivating and part three was heartbreaking and heart-mending all at once.

The world building was lovely. It's never explicitly said what time period this is in, but it's kind of an alternate 19th century England and the time period was captured really well. The magical elements were well done too, but I wish we got more about the book binding aspects because we only got a really small dose of what book binding is and how it works.

The plot was intricately woven and while slow also fast-paced at the same time. This book was hard to put down a lot of the time because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. The plot is fascinating and it leaves you wanting more at the end. It mostly follows Emmett's life but we get a second POV in the third part, but their stories are interwoven that you can't separate one from the other.

Finally, the characters. This is honestly where the book shone for me. The characters and their lives felt so real that I felt I was there with them. Their story (and separate stories) were incredibly emotional to read, but also incredibly beautiful. At it's core, this is a book about being human and the power of memory.

There are definitely some things to be aware of going in. Trigger/Content Warnings for: abuse (physical, emotional), mentions of sexual assault/rape, suicide, substance abuse (alcohol), period typical homophobia, animal death, murder and self-hatred.

Overall, this was an incredible read; so immersive, intricate, beautiful, raw and real. I haven't cried that much during a book in a long time. I can't recommend this one strongly enough.

Content Warnings

rachelg's review

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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