The Binding review

Author – Bridget Collins

Pages – 448

Genre – fiction/ historical fiction

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐.75

Blurb

Imagine you could erase your grief.

Imagine you could forget your pain.

Imagine you could hide a secret.

Forever.

Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice – but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to hand-craft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books – and memories – are meticulously stored and recorded.

Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

I went into this book knowing nothing about it which is what i like to do and it kept me on my toes. When I thought the story was going in one direction it would totally change and follow a totally different plot line. It was really interesting and was my first experience reading a book like that.

We follow our main character Emmet a farmer’s son who had just recovered from an illness and is starting to get his strength back. However there is an underlying hostility towards Emmet from his family and a mysteriousness surrounding his ‘illness’. Things become even stranger when a so called witch requires him as an apprentice. The ‘witch’ is actually a binder someone who is able to take certain memories from you and put them in a book so you don’t remember. Which I found really interesting.

The book is split up into 3 parts, part one introducing you to Emmet and the world of binding. Part 2 and 3 are completely different. There are so many questions that arise in the first section and so many things left unsaid. The Book has also a really dark side that flows through the story just a trigger warning for rape, murder and abuse. I also appreciated the the different point of views and the jumps in the timeline I feel like it added to the story.

Overall i really enjoyed this book, I liked how it started out following one path but took a complete turn. I also like how we needed to get through part one to understand part 2 and 3 it was really nicely written and would be a great book to pick up on January 10th. And can we quickly just talk about the cover !! 😍😍😍

If you want to check it out you can your my link with book depository (free international shipping 🙌)

https://www.bookdepository.com/Binding-Bridget-Collins/9780008272111?ref=grid-view&qid=1546788474966&sr=1-1