Reviews

The First Binding by R.R. Virdi

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kylerbooks14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The writing style was so easy to fall into. Every time I picked up this book it was easy to fall into this story. I liked the characters well enough but considering how long this book was I was hoping to get more side character depth. I found the side characters very surface level. Also there was no dates or years when all these events were taking place, which was more a mild annoyance than anything else.

bookishpea's review against another edition

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3.0

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of The First Binding.

While I have only rated this book 3 stars, I can acknowledge that it would be much higher for others. It is simply a matter of personal taste. I don't mind big books (and this book is huge!) but I have always prefered straight-to-point, quick-paced books. This book is the complete opposite. Every single small detail is described in depth. There were even a few pages dedicated to the cutlery an inn used and how detailing and the material of it reflects their status. To some, this massive amount of detail and description will be amazing, but for me it was sadly too much.

I can admit that the in-depth descriptions provided some of the best world-building I have ever read. I could imagine each location very vividly and the world created was beautiful. I think this is what kept me reading. I wanted to discover new places in this vast world.

We follow the story of Ari, both in his childhood and as an adult in the present. We are told about his childhood through the stories he is telling a friend. I think the switches between the past and present were sometimes a bit jarring. Sometimes we were in the past for so long that when we came back to the present I forgot this isn't just a book about his childhood. Also, this book is all about stories, with Ari being a storyteller, and sometimes I'd get confused because Ari is telling his story and within that another story is mentioned which is linked to another story and yeah... I might just be a bit slow but sometimes I struggled to follow.

I initially wanted to say that considering the size of the book, nothing really happens. But, thinking about it logically, a lot does happen! We get almost his full childhood and then a few interesting storylines in a different country in the present. I think the reason I feel like nothing happened is because it didn't build up to anything. Eloine was made to be extremely mysterious but the book ends with no answers about her. Ari's 'adult' storyline is so stretched out in between all the stories yet the actual 'action' felt rushed into one chapter. The end of the childhood storyline was a lot more impactful but I felt a lot of the impact was lost because it was followed by a boring conversation between adult Ari and Eloine.

Overall, am I happy I read this book? Yes. Would I recommend it? Only if you like descriptive books. Will I read the rest of the series when it is released? Probably not.

ramtinaat1377's review against another edition

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5.0

I once heard the saying that "experience is important but how we look to them is way more important."
It's quite easy to compare this book with the name of the wind, but we can see how the protagonists turned into way different characters, and i think that's the whole point of the first binding.
This book sure overstayed it's welcome, but overall, i think that this is a good book from a good author, and they don't exactly define taxes for the stars i spend; so, enjoy

leitnerkev's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a really, really good book. A high quality fantasy story. I can tell you I would have been obsessed with it if I'd read it in my teens. The style and ambiance of the prose is stellar and its centralization of storytelling is its best quality. I can say it got too long, however, as can happen when an author is too in love with their own tale. If it had been a 500 page book, this would have been 5 stars. Anyway, recommended.

bookworm2148's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

3.5

First and most importantly I hate to be left in a place. This book, despite being exceedingly long dumps you into a non ending. I listened to this story and the narrator was enjoyable and provided distinct voices for the various characters. The feminine voices were a little rough though. The book very much tries to emulate Patrick Rothfus, and I thought it was pretty successful. It did feel derivative instead of celebratory at times. The incessant imbeded rhymes were unnecessary and took more than they added from the narrative. Overall though it was an interesting story with an unreliable narrator and an epic journey of revenge. Ari is not very likable despite actually saving a cat. He's impulsive, prideful and clueless. But kudos to the author for creating him that way. If you loved The Name of the Wind and wanted a South Asian version of it, this is the novel for you.

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