Hi it's Naomi, back with another vlog for you. This time I'm going to be talking
about The Binding by Bridget Collins. So this is the author's first adult novel,
she previously was a YA author. It's a fantastic story. Why I wanted to talk
about it today is because I think so so many different types of people are going
to enjoy it. It crosses so many different genres, it's
a bit of historical fiction, it's a bit of a romance, bit of fantasy, some
elements of mystery in there as well. And I can almost tell that the author has
written young adult novels before because this is almost like the perfect
bridge between the two genres. This is probably great for someone who usually sticks
to YA but is trying to maybe branch out a little. It reminds me a
little bit of like The Night Circus and The Miniaturist and The Essex
Serpent. And there's a tiny drop of Sarah Waters' style in there as well. So the
author shows us this world of bookbinding where you can choose to have
a bookbinder come and bind your memories in a book. And once your memories are
bound, you'll forget them. So if you have a traumatic experience you can
choose to have that erased from your memory. Which I can see why a lot of
people would be quite tempted by it. So when we first sort of start reading the
book a binding is done as this almost sacred act and only in the most extreme
cases by the professional bookbinders. But as the novel moves on we start to
see it done a little bit more frequently and under the influence of quite a lot
of rich people. And that's where books start becoming dangerous. So money means
that books can be bought and sold, even when they're not supposed to. So your
darkest memories and most traumatic experiences could be up for sale to the
highest bidder. And that was a really terrifying thought. Emmet, one of the main
characters, he is a bookbinder and he is apprenticed at the beginning of the
novel to a more senior bookbinder to learn the trade. And something that we
learn about bookbinding as the novel goes on, is that bookbinders are born,
they're not made. You can't choose to join this industry, it's this innate
power that they have. And this is perhaps why outsiders look upon them as sort of
these witchy, sort of mysterious figures. But yeah binding is this calling that
you just can't escape. And I think Emmet realises that as the novel goes on.
Another thing I wanted to mention was the romance or the the love story within
the novel. I don't want to say too much about it because I do think it's the
easiest part of the novel to spoil. All I will say is that I enjoyed it. I thought
it was paced very well and I believed in it. And I won't say any
more than that because I thought the journey of the romance was really so
great in the book and I want everyone else to have the opportunity to have the
same experience. This book is such a pleasure to read so 50 pages flies by
like that you get up from this book and you realise you've accidentally read a
quarter of it without even intending to. I think this is due to the author's
style. The way she writes, it just flows so well and the world that she creates is
so, so immersive. And a word on that: it leaves you hoping that there's
perhaps a sequel or maybe even a prequel. I think both would work, she's got a lot
of characters and a huge huge world she's built up so it would be
interesting to see where she chooses to go next. Whether it's something else
written inside this world or maybe an entirely new project. I will be watching,
whatever. I also wanted to say that the book itself is beautiful. I have a proof
copy here but the finished hardbacks are absolutely stunning. The publisher have
done an amazing job of creating something that really evokes the novel and
something that also wouldn't look out of place on the shelves of Emmet's book
bindery. So overall I did just really, really love this novel. I thought
it was such... again, so immersive. Such an interesting read. I think that anyone
who's looking for a little escapism at this time of year is bound to enjoy it.
I think it would be quite an interesting read for book clubs as well and just someone
who's willing to try something new. As I said, maybe someone who usually reads
YA but wants to try something a little different.
So I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you've read it or you're going to read
it let me know what you think and I will see you guys next time. Thank you very
much for listening. If you want to hear more from me, more from the other
vloggers, or more from Waterstones in general then please do subscribe to our
Ok, bye bye.