Books: The Binding by Bridget Collins

 

I had seen this book floating around a lot online with nothing but positive reviews, so when I spotted it in my local bookshop I knew I had to add it to my library. I wasn't entirely sure what it was about when I picked it up, but a brief read of the blurb gave me an idea. A book full of questions that needed answering, my kind of book. I love spending the entire book trying to figure out where it's going and trying to spot the clues along the way. Don't worry, this is a spoiler free review - Although I will be talking about the theme of the book. So if you want to go into it completely unaware like I did, stop reading now. 

The Binding by Bridget Collins

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.

Bridget Collins had me hooked from the first chapter with this book. I started it thinking it would be a magical secret wrapped up in mystery, however it was a beautifully unexpected story full of passion and emotions. Collins had me feeling everything her characters felt every step of the way - Truly provoking writing. 

She draws you into the story, absorbing you into their world and making you feel like you are living it with them. I love guessing where stories are going, I can't help it - Although I caught onto where she was taking the story half way through, I still enjoyed every twist and turn in the book without feeling like the story was boring and predictable.  

I don't really want to say much else about the story because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But if you haven't read it, I would highly recommend you do. Bridget Collins writing is absorbing and moving, so much so that I have already started on another one of her books! (Review coming soon). If you've read it already, I'd love to know what you thought? Did you see where it was going? Did you enjoy it? Please let me know.