Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Binding

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Binding by Bridget Collins

12 reviews

kynajayne's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I enjoyed the structure of this book, with the three distinct parts/acts. The concept of binding memories into books is an interesting one, and the world building around that was explored well, especially around the ethics of binding. I will say towards the end I was nearly driven to distraction with annoyance of the narrator’s inability to put two and two together, it was so obvious I was raging! But it is a good love story in an interesting world.

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thewileyseven'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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I feel complicated in this rating--I really loved the book and, especially once I got to part II, I could hardly put it down! But I also have some major qualms. The uneven pacing left a lot to be desired for me. I understand why Part I was paced the way it was (considering

the impacts of binding on Emmett's mind--I kept wondering why he spent so much time just staring off into space. Now I know!

, but ultimately Parts I and II both dragged in places for me.

I also agree with another review I read regarding the treatment of women in this book. All completely sidelined, used as plot devices, killed off to further men's emotional development, and worse. Rough! Again, I can understand why, with commentaries on gender violence, historic sexism, and more, but I dunno. The main characters' complicity in this was a bummer.

Part II, however, sang for me. Beautiful, aching, blossoming. And the system of binding is a splendid magic. Overall, I think this was 100% worth the read for me. But there are just pieces that grated at me a little too much to go unsaid.

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dananana's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective

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

4.5

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prettycloud's review

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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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uparrowhead's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was definitely a challenging read for me, weaved in the huge emotional plot of the story. It does have a hopeful ending, but there is a lot of darkness and pain that you'd need to get through first. I found it rewarding, however, and a very interesting read that touches on a few issues that are faced both now and throughout history.

Many of the reviews I've read call the book slow-placed. With that, I have to agree. However, I think that the pacing of the book fits the content and story that it tells quite well. At certain points, however, like the climax of the story, I can understand how it was annoying and boring to read through, but I mostly didn't mind it.

Something that I have to appalude Bridget Collins for is her use of language and description. Many of the settings of the book were written out in a way that easily sucked me right into the novel, and the writing in the book was, overall, of high quality.

I really enjoyed the premise of the novel; the idea that you could take someone's memories and bind them into a book that they will forget forever. It gave way and allowed the book to explore darker concepts of society, and made the story much more engaging to read through.

I do believe that certain parts of the story weren't developed as much as they could have been,

with the death of Seredith, which seemed to stop effecting Emmett as soon as the book moved into Part Two and Three, and the ending which (although heartwarming) left some questions opened and unanswered in the story.

However, I liked how the majority of the plot played out and, despite times where I wanted to throw this book across the room (which I didn't do, courtesy to it's beautiful cover), I was left satisfied and happy in the long-term of the book.

WARNING : The book does change its POVs throughout Part One, Two, and Three of the story. I personally liked how it was executed, but I know it is not for everyone, and a lot of reviews I've read on here say that it was done poorly and left readers confused.

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greymalkin's review against another edition

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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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