What an original idea. For me, this story went deeper than just a tale of magic craft. It put across the idea of being able to erase and expunge unwanted events and memories. I particularly enjoyed how the three parts of the story blended together to give a whole picture and part of that picture was a snapshot of a different kind of love that wasn’t accepted in the time of its setting. Very well written and crafted.
A thoroughly enjoyable book which I would highly recommend

Beautifully written novel set in a fantasy time and fantasy place which are so like real times and places I kept hoping for a clue as to when and where we were. Ultimately though, that didn't matter as the plot and descriptions carried me along. At times Gothic and at times full of light and wonder, it is a painful and delicately drawn love story. The concept - of the bindings - is fascinating.

I very much enjoyed reading this and wanted to stay in its world even after I had finished it.

I wasn't sure at first about this book, not my usual kind at all, I'm absolutely flabbergasted to find that it knocked me sideways, brilliant, I just didn't see it coming, lots of twists and turns, all I can say is, get it, you won't regret, even if, like me, you don't normally go for this genre, I'm nearly 60 and can honestly say it's brilliant .

Emmett Farmer is struggling with a debilitating illness which is making life hard on the farm. When a letter is received from The Bookbinder Emmett becomes her apprentice, initially against his wishes, and slowly he learns the basics of their craft. Books are memories of people, trapped in pages and removed from their minds. However when his mistress dies and Emmett moves to another bindery he discovers that he has also been the subject of a binding.
This book seems to polarise opinions and it is easy to see why. The first part of the book is magical, Emmett's story about becoming a binder is unusual and carefully managed. I just wish the book had continued in this vein. The second part about the reasons behind Emmett's binding is OK, it was pretty obvious to see where this was heading but the writing still persuaded. My issue is with the last section of the book and the relationship between Lucian and Emmett. It just felt forced and almost as if the first third of the book had been written by someone else. Some readers love the change in emphasis, I didn't.

This was an absolutely wonderful read. I genuinely couldn't put it down. Exciting, dark, mysterious, romantic and magical, The Binding delivered everything that it promised to and more.

This book comes with a beautiful cover and quite a lot of hype. It is promoted as the author’s first foray into adult fiction, she is better known for YA novels, and I think that this shows.
I actually checked who it was aimed at when I was reading it because the characters, events, plot seemed to indicate a younger target market.
There are two main threads to the story, the ‘Binding’, which plays on fantasy, magic, witchcraft and superstition and forbidden love. I’m not sure that these two are blended successfully. There seem to be parallels between the Binding and historical methods of trying to control ‘unacceptable’ behaviour or what were considered to be perversions through such things as electric shock treatments.
For me, I would have enjoyed it more without the fantasy element.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

Well this is an interesting one. The Binding by Bridget Connell is the story of how stories are made. The promise is that there are people called ‘Binders’ who will take away any bad memories and lock them securely in a book. The book will then be locked away. The only way for the people to regain their memories is if the books are burned. So far, so mystical.

We then have the main story which revolves around Emmett Farmer. He is sent to work as a binder but as the story evolves we see that he too has been bound.

I cannot lie to you, I found The Binding really difficult to get into. I wasn’t instantly lost in this world. Then something clicked and I was gone. I mean completely lost. I couldn’t put it down. It is a book that covers so many issues: class, power, LGBT. There is so much in here.

This is definitely a must read for 2019.

The Binding by Bridget Collins is available now.

For more information regarding Bridget Collins (@Br1dgetCollins) please visit www.thebindingbook.com.
For more information regarding Harper Collins (@HarperCollinsUK) please visit their Twitter page.
For more information regarding The Borough Press (@BoroughPress) please visit www.boroughpress.co.uk.

Such a great book with wonderful writing and deftly drawn characters. Set in the olden days, it is the story of Emmett, born on a farm but also born to be a binder. Binders can take memories from those who want to give them up. They write them down and the person has no recollection of the binding nor the memory that has been bound. Emmett is apprenticed to a local binder after a long illness but has to move to a more commercial binder shortly afterwards. There is a lurid black market for real books. The ending is very satisfactory and I would recommend it to young adults as well as adults.

Struggled to understand the hype here. Yes, the novel is well written. And yes, the concept of books being used as actual memories bound by paper was well thought... but it feels, like a wasted opportunity. Instead of developing this world of book binding magic, the novel focus more on a forbidden love story that fails to compel. In particular, the second act just drags on and on, and I just wanted the book to end so that I could move on to the next... never a good sign. So, all in all... just not that good.

This book promised so much. First of all even the proof copy which I received was beautifully produced. They say never judge a book by its cover, but several customers have bought this book on the strength of the cover itself.
Secondly it was a "meta book" that is a book about books. Thirdly it melded fantasy with a unique concept- that is that parts of lives (usually difficult) can be"bound" into books and then forgotten. The drawback of this is that there are unscrupulous bookbinders and people who take advantage of this situation. As a part time counsellor I found this concept intriguing.


Part 1 deals with young Emmett after an unspecified "illness" is apprenticed to an ethical bookbinder called Seredith. There he takes a dislike to a visitor, Lucian Darnay

Part 2
This follows Emmett in what I took to be a "parallel" Ireland but other reviewers think is Yorkshire as he first meets Lucian Darnay

Part 3
This jumps in time to weave together the other two parts/strands of the story.

For me Part 1 was slow in its pace and didn't draw me in enough. If I hadn't been reviewing it I probably would have given up at this point. Part 2 then recaptured my interest. and picked up momentum. Part 3 had a "Dorian Gray" type atmosphere especially with the debauched and cruelly manipulative father.

Overall though I feel slightly disappointed that this book did not live up to the "hype" and I doubt whether it will be asked for a few years down the line.
In fairness though other readers have loved it and I would love to be proved wrong.

This is the hardest review I have ever had to write because I just don't know what to make of it.

This is a story that is split into three parts: Part 1 is seen through the eyes of Emmett - he has been unwell for some time but we don't know with what. What we do know is that he is being sent to be a 'binder' working with an old lady at her cottage. We learn that 'binding' is something to do with books but what the 'binding' is and why everyone is so afraid of it remains unclear at this point. This section is also hellishly slow, I felt like I lived every single day with them!

Part 2 is again focusing on Emmett but this time it is before his illness and we find out what happened to him and how he ended up ill and working for the 'binder'. A much faster pace in this section sweeps you along. Beautifully written, the descriptions are beautiful.

Part 3 focuses on Lucian Darney, his relationship with his family and he has come to know Emmett and how their lives are entangled.

During Part 1 I almost gave up - I was about 20% in and I was struggling but something just kept drawing me back and drawing me back until I had to finish it. Part 2 was so much better, the writing seemed cleaner and the story flowed much better and it made the first part make sense too. Part 3 was almost as good as Part 2 but I hated the sudden, very abrupt ending that kind of just left the characters...hanging.

I can't say much more without ruining it for others who want to read it - what I can say is that if you do pick it up give it a chance, stick around until Part 2 as that really helps to pull the story together and the things from Part 1 make a lot more sense.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review,

Part fantasy and part historical drama The Binding is a real revelation. It is Collins’ first book for an adult audience. A twisting dark gothic tale it centres around Emmett Farmer. In the first part he is recovering from a mysterious illness and on reduced duties on the farm where he lives with his parents and sister Alta. A letter arrives out of the blue and suddenly Emmett is packed off to be an apprentice Binder.

His new employer Seradith is an old woman living alone in the middle of nowhere. With her reputation for being a witch Emmett is a little afraid of what life with her will be like. Instead she is concerned about his welfare and sets him up with some tools and leather and he begins to learn about the craft of book binding. But Seradith takes all of her customers down to the dank basement. The room that is always under lock and key. The place that Emmett cannot go. As Seradith’s health starts to fail she imparts a little more information to him about the work of the Binder. How they take away people’s memories and seal them into a personal book. The books are secured in a vault and the willing Bindee has no recollection of the stories they have shared.

Some readers may find this book a challenging read with references to abuse and sexual violence, gay relationships and the persecution of gay men in society. While the violence and sexual scenes aren’t graphic they are very evocative and even sensual which may offend a reader expecting a novel about a book binder!

The Binding is a glorious mix of Victorian morality, an ill fated love affair and the fantastic ghoulish concept of the Binder who can steal your thoughts away. Once you immerse yourself in its dark and devilish conceit you won’t be able to tear yourself away from Emmett’s story.

Supplied by Net Galley and The Borough Press in exchange for an honest review.

UK Publication date: Jan 10 2019. 448 pages.

I don’t like to give low ratings for books, but I just did not enjoy this novel and, unusually for me, could not finish it. I can see that many people really like it, and that opinion on the book is polarised quite sharply.
I liked the mysterious concept of the book and I was really looking forward to reading it. A boy with a mysterious illness is apprenticed to a bookbinder, at a time when folks are afraid to have books. His illness comes and goes, but seems to be connected to his fate as the next bookbinder. Much is unknown and the true nature of the books created by the old lady is slowly revealed.
For me, the characters seemed unevenly drawn, with inconsistent behaviour and I wasn’t keen on the writing style, which felt a little simplistic. Then, as the plot developed, it just did not draw me into it enough to make up for the aspects of the book that I didn’t like.
I have just finished an absolutely cracking book and I think that for me the contrast of my disinterest while reading this was just too stark.
Sorry, just not for me, but I am glad so many others have enjoyed it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Very disappointed with this one. What could have been a great story, especially seen the amazing premise that could have been the start of an intriguing moral and ethical debate, turned out to be only a love story. The prose itself is gorgeous and the love story itself is alright. But I feel as I've been cheated out of a great moral story.

The blurb for this book was intriguing, but the ideas that hooked me also horrified me! I love books about books, but this is quite different. In this world, books are memories, bound when someone wants to forget something from their life. Most people are repulsed by the idea while others look to profit from it.
I immediately felt for Emmett who tries so hard not to be a burden on his family. He believes he's been ill for a long time and even now finds working on his family's farm very difficult, blaming himself for everything that goes wrong. When the local binder requests him to be her apprentice, he doesn't want to go. He remembers how disgusted his father was when he saw him reading a book as a child. Now he knows better than to have anything to do with books. But it doesn't seem that he has a choice and finds himself settling into life with the binder as if he was made for it.
I found myself completely absorbed by the writing and intrigued to know what would happen to Emmett.

The binding is a mystical story where people can relay their misdeeds to a book binder. This is someone with special powers to relieve people of anything they wish to forget and place them in a book. I found it a strange novel, although I did read to the end and appreciate others would enjoy more than me.

This was a little of a rollercoaster book for me, in that the blurb -is- pretty misleading when it comes to the expectations it rises—so there were quite a few chapters when my interest ebbed and flowed, as I poised between “this is not what I wantedto read” and “that’s pretty interesting” and “I expected something different in terms of world-building”, etc. Especially, there’s a romance element that is -not- in the blurb, and since I’m not a big fan of romance for the sake of romance in general, my first reaction was pretty much ‘ugh, no, not yet another romance plot, you should’ve warned me about this, since I don’t feel like reading romance these days’.

However, as everything settled, as the plot fully came together, as I got to know the characters more, this change of mood abated, and I found that I was actually liking this novel. I do regret that the art of binding wasn’t explored more in depths, with deeper explanations of how it worked, and this is something that disappointed me until the end. Still, I nevertheless felt myself rooting for several characters, getting angry at how other people treated them, didn’t accept them, at the rampant intolerance, too. It wasn’t ‘enjoyable’ (I so wanted to slap the parents), no. The main characters were often annoying in many ways, too. But it made for a good story.

I must say that I usually have several pet peeves when it comes to romance (yes, there’s some romance in it), one of the major ones being when the lovers lose sight of priorities (typical example: “who will she chose, the boy she loves, or saving the world?” --> everybody knows that 99% of the time, the world is doomed). Here, there is strong potential for turning these characters’ world(s) upside down, but I didn’t get that feeling of thwarted sense of priorities, because all in all, most characters had bleak prospects to start with, and what hinged on them was something that wouldn’t have made so many other people happy anyway: arranged marriages, bad job prospects, abuse, cannot go back to their old lives, etc.

Speaking of abuse, the world Emmett lives in is rather bleak in that regard as well. It reminded me a lot—and that was no doubt on purpose o nthe author’s part—of 19th century novels, with a strong country/town dichotomy: the countryside as a ‘pure, natural, innocent’ world where people have a chance to be happy, vs. the town as polluted, home to crime and vice, and where the wealthy treat servants and poorer people in general as dirt, as toys that can be broken and then mended at will. While the abuse is not depicted in gory ways, and usually alluded to rather than directly witness, the allusions are not veiled either. It is very clear who rapes their servants, and who gets others murdered for the sake of their own interests. Those aren’t triggers for me, but they could still be depending on the reader. All in all, that also reminded me of other literary movements of that time: there’s no shortage of showing people being sick, reduced to their ‘bodily functions’, shown as the cowards they are, and so on. If you’ve read Zola, you’ll know what I mean. This novel doesn’t sing the praises of human beings in general, for sure, and shows most people as being weak at best, and hidden monsters at worst.

I am… bizarrely satisfied with the ending. It’s fairly open, and there are still many loose ends, but it also allows the book to close on a kind of resolution that I found fitting, balancing between “it could still turn so sour so quickly” and “well, there’s hope left and the future looks kinda good”.

Conclusion: 3.5 stars

It is hard to describe this exquisitely written novel without giving too much of the story away. I came to it with no knowledge of the author and no prior expectations, and I was utterly intrigued and captivated by the first few pages. The author is clearly a master storyteller and has woven together her story and chief characters with great imagination and originality. Suffice it to say that although a relationship of love stands at the centre, there is rich exploration of the main characters, and what has made them who they are them and what continues to form them along the way.

From the beginning we feel the pain of young Emmett Farmer, on whom a terrible and mysterious ‘illness’ has fallen such that he can no longer function as the strong older son on his parents’ farm and has to be sent away as an apprentice to a bookbinder. But this is not bookbinding as we know it, the simple sewing of papers together, however beautifully crafted; this is much deeper and more mysterious, as the binder binds people’s dreadful memories into their own book and stores them away where they can no longer cause them pain. But that’s assuming the bookbinder is a person of integrity and we soon find our that not all are ….

Beautiful – but not just a pretty piece of prose; rather, a captivating story at the centre to hold the reader’s attention and lead us on as we must find out what happens to the people we’ve been made to care about so much. An extraordinary novel.

Brilliant plot, excellent main characters that you invest in. I read this book in one sitting and I would highly recommend it.

This book was not what I expected from the blurb. I had mixed thoughts after finishing it and had to mull it over for a while before posting my review.

Pros: I love the concept of people having their bad memories removed and stored in a book, and I was intrigued by the way that others exploited that. The characters are well written and you become invested in their relationships.

Cons I wish that the exploitation angle had been explored more. I would have liked to have known more about the book collectors and the people who choose to have their memories removed.

Overall: When exploring the memory removal, the book works well. When exploring the love story, the book works well. When combining the two, the book becomes unlike anything you have read before.