Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Binding by Bridget Collins

7 reviews

oogtube's review

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Vomit

greymalkin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Writing is decent enough and I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the idea of what binders do.  But wow does this book feel like it needs to have all the content warnings included.

I didn't much like any of the characters and the terrible abuse of all the female characters (not a single one is spared) was really upsetting.  Especially as the male characters tended to be the abusers and awful people and for the most part had zero repercussions or punishment.  I also wish that the book had lingered more on the actual bookbinding part instead of just a few descriptions of materials and tools that we never "see" used so we don't know what they do.  Since the author has actually taken a lot of bookbinding classes I expected more but it felt more like what someone might add after an evening of googling and youtube videos.  Since it was such a huge part of the magic system of the world, I wanted more details.  All the bits about "trade" and fakes were intriguing but we never get to interact with them "onscreen".  Humans are storytellers, how is that no one has written down stories before?  If they didn't, then why isn't there more of an oral tradition?  My questions really took me out of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Violence, Child death, Suicide, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Self harm

Minor: Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Stalking, and Kidnapping

In case the massive block of content warning tags is not enough, this book has multiple serial pedophilic rapists in it and disturbing homophobic violence. And no, the perpetrators don't get punished. Only their victims get punished and killed.

mimeflower's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Mental illness

lisa00's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Gaslighting

fairygodson's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

divine529's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, and Homophobia

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Self harm, Rape, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity

oliverlang's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Vomit