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Boys of Tommen #2
Keeping 13
His first, last, and only true love has always been rugby.
Until now.
Following a devastating injury that has left him sidelined and stripped of his beloved number 13 jersey, Johnny is struggling to hold onto his dreams. Lost, insecure, and desperately seeking comfort, he sets his sights on unraveling the mystery of the girl with the midnight-blue eyes. With his best friend, Gibsie, by his side, Johnny embarks on his quest of exposing the secrets surrounding the girl who haunts his every waking hour.
Keeping secrets has never been a problem for Shannon. The life she was born into demands nothing less. She knows that demons and evil men don't just exist in fairytales. They exist in her world, too. Traumatized beyond repair after her return from Dublin, and desperate to protect her little brothers, Shannon finds herself falling into the same old cover-up, barely keeping her head above water, as her future unravels before her eyes. Beaten and broken, her walls are up and her trust is shaken. Only one boy has the ability to climb those walls. The boy who owns her heart.
Secrets are exposed and lives are changed forever in Keeping 13, the explosive sequel to the bestselling book, Binding 13. Follow Johnny and Shannon as they try to navigate their way through the aftermath of that fateful rugby match in Dublin.
Falling in love was the easy part, what comes next is the test...
Friendship, first love, rising fame, horrifying secrets, and pain all fuel together as two teenagers from the opposite side of the tracks collide in Keeping 13, the concluding story for Johnny and Shannon.
Based in Ireland, the Boys of Tommen series is bound to captivate and lure you into the world of rugby, love, and teenage heartbreak.
***** Warning *****
Some scenes in this book may be extremely upsetting for some readers. Due to its bad language and certain scenes, Keeping 13 is recommended for mature readers.
Until now.
Following a devastating injury that has left him sidelined and stripped of his beloved number 13 jersey, Johnny is struggling to hold onto his dreams. Lost, insecure, and desperately seeking comfort, he sets his sights on unraveling the mystery of the girl with the midnight-blue eyes. With his best friend, Gibsie, by his side, Johnny embarks on his quest of exposing the secrets surrounding the girl who haunts his every waking hour.
Keeping secrets has never been a problem for Shannon. The life she was born into demands nothing less. She knows that demons and evil men don't just exist in fairytales. They exist in her world, too. Traumatized beyond repair after her return from Dublin, and desperate to protect her little brothers, Shannon finds herself falling into the same old cover-up, barely keeping her head above water, as her future unravels before her eyes. Beaten and broken, her walls are up and her trust is shaken. Only one boy has the ability to climb those walls. The boy who owns her heart.
Secrets are exposed and lives are changed forever in Keeping 13, the explosive sequel to the bestselling book, Binding 13. Follow Johnny and Shannon as they try to navigate their way through the aftermath of that fateful rugby match in Dublin.
Falling in love was the easy part, what comes next is the test...
Friendship, first love, rising fame, horrifying secrets, and pain all fuel together as two teenagers from the opposite side of the tracks collide in Keeping 13, the concluding story for Johnny and Shannon.
Based in Ireland, the Boys of Tommen series is bound to captivate and lure you into the world of rugby, love, and teenage heartbreak.
***** Warning *****
Some scenes in this book may be extremely upsetting for some readers. Due to its bad language and certain scenes, Keeping 13 is recommended for mature readers.
938 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 29, 2018
About the author
Chloe Walsh
50 books13.9k followersChloe Walsh is the bestselling author of The Boys of Tommen series, which exploded in popularity on TikTok, Goodreads, and Amazon. She has been writing and publishing New Adult and Adult contemporary romance for a decade. Her books have been translated into multiple languages. Animal lover, music addict, TV junkie, Chloe loves spending time with her family and is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness. Chloe lives in Cork, Ireland with her family.
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October 13, 2024
∞ 𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 ★’s
⁀➷ ❝𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 13,❞ 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅. ❝𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊’𝒎 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 13.❞
the title drop>>>>>
my heart goes boom🥺
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
”i don’t want easy, i want you. just the way you are. every part and every piece.”
”even the broken parts?”
he winked. “especially the broken parts.”
i’ll be happily suffering from shannonjohnny brainrot for the rest of my life. these books have altered my brain chemistry in a way no other book has and i fear no other book ever will. the emotional depth this series already has within the first two books is incredible. there’s nothing i love more than having a deeply emotional experience while reading. it’s why i fell in love with reading and this series is delivering that experience with full force. my heart physically hurts thinking about what’s to come, but i couldn’t be more excited to continue simply because as heartbreaking as these books are, they’re very healing at the same time. binding and keeping 13 are absolute masterpieces. i’m so sad that i won’t be reading johnny and shannon’s pov anymore. it’s a very bittersweet moment, but i can’t wait to eat up all the breadcrumbs of them in the upcoming books🤭
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉:
- 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣
- 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣
- 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚
- 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙨
- 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙗𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
- 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙭 𝙛𝙩. 𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙
- 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮
❥ 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈:
this book is a RIDE. an emotional rollercoaster that i never wanted to get off of. it feels like my mind is empty because my emotions have completely taken over. i was in no way prepared for this book to be heavier than the first. the first three chapters ALONE were heavier than the entire first book😭i wish i was lying. i could barely get through it and to think i’m going to have to relive that in another character’s pov makes me so fucking sick. i can’t believe i went so long without reading these books. i can’t imagine myself not knowing these precious characters and their stories. i hope i find this series in every single life time.
❥ 𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓉:
i gave a plot summary in my review for binding 13. since this is the second book, i’m not going to say as much about it. there was a cliffhanger at the end of book 1 and book 2 just throws you straight into it. i really want to stress how heavy the topics are. my heart aches and i’ve never cried sm. also the ANXIETY? i’ve never had to set a book down and take breaks as much as i had to with this one, but that’s really just the power of a good book. i love it. i’m a masochist. painful books are my favorite.i need therapy😀
❥ 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔/𝓅𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔:
the way chloe wrote these heavy topics…so raw and so real, giving you a very painfully detailed picture of what these characters go through. it’s such a talent. a talent i wish i had. i love the writing style. these books are very long, but it truly doesn’t feel like it and i find myself wishing that the books were longer. if you know how to write a good book, i don’t care how long it is…GIMME😩
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
”what do you need from me, shannon?” he croaked out, voice thick and husky. “i’ll give you anything you need, baby.” shaking his head, he groaned like he was in pain. “i just…i want to make you happy.”
”you,” i whispered. “all of you.”
”i’m already yours,” he groaned, before covering my lips with his.
╰┈➤their love could move mountains.
❥ 𝒿𝑜𝒽𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝓀𝒶𝓋𝒶𝓃𝒶𝑔𝒽
⁀➷ ❝i don’t know where that strength comes from, but it’s so humbling. i don’t even have the words to tell you how fucking incredible you are, shannon lynch.❞
i didn’t know that it was possible to fall even more in love with johnny kavanagh, but that’s exactly what happened. all men need to read about him and take notes, i’m so serious😭i absolutely love how johnny puts his very all into every single thing he does. he works so hard for his future as a rugby player, but at the same time he shows up for the people he cares about. he’s a man that doesn’t have a lot of time to spare, but makes time when he is needed. i can’t get over how good of a person he is🥺
❥ 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓃 𝓁𝓎𝓃𝒸𝒽
⁀➷ ❝i’m here for johnny the boy. not johnny the rugby player. i’ll stay for both, but i’m only in love with one.❞
her character development omg, thinking about it makes me wanna cry for HOURS. she’s so special to me and seeing her come out of her shell was the most beautiful thing. she found her voice and i couldn’t be more proud of her🥹no matter what she’s going through, she still manages to be there for the people who need her. she’s so incredibly strong and i can’t stress that enough. i don’t know how i’d handle it if i were her. i’d completely shut down. but shannon? she keeps going. she pushes through everything. i love her so much😔
❥ 𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒:
╭──────༺♡༻──────╮
𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈:
𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒓
2:04 ──────|─── 3:32
↻ ◁ 𝕀𝕀 ▷ ↺
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆: ■■■■■□□□
╰──────༺♡༻──────╯
”you make me feel like i’m enough as i am.”
”you are enough,” i breathed, wrapping my hand around his neck. “just as you are right now.”
╰┈➤the song choice paired with this moment was too perfect😩
seeing their relationship blossom was everything. it’s so hard to believe that they’re just teenagers because of their maturity level. the way they communicate and make decisions together based on what they want their future to look like is just mwah mwah mwah, chef’s kiss! what johnny and shannon have is true love and i felt it so deeply while reading about them🥹i loved watching them navigate through life together. shannon was going through such a pivotal moment in her life, but was still pushing johnny to chase his dreams. she’s so selfless because as much as she needed him, she couldn’t take one of the biggest parts of his life away. they’re absolute perfection. the standard. this is the type of relationship you should want and the type of relationship that i’m proud to have in real life<3
❝𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.❞
❝𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.❞
❥ 𝓈𝒾𝒹��� ��𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈:
i’m eating the found family trope up. it’s TOO good.
➸ edel & john kavanagh:
JOHNNY’S PARENTS!?!? they stand on business. they’re literally my favorite people ever oh my god😭it’s no wonder why johnny kavanagh is so perfect…he’s literally the son of two saints. protect this family at all costs. it’s the way i want a book with their pov so bad😩
➸ tadgh, ollie, & sean lynch:
shannon and joey’s little brothers are the cutest i can’t. tadgh is so funny and his banter with gibsie had me on the floor. ollie is the sweetest boy. him calling edel, “dellie”, is the cutest fucking thing. AND SEAN????? oh my god. i’m pretty sure he’s 3 years old and the way he says that johnny is “my onny” had me screaming and crying into my pillow. i can’t. they’re so precious and every moment involving them had me like🥺🥹
➸ joey lynch:
his pov in his two books WILL kill me. i literally won’t survive.
➸ aoife molloy:
i can’t wait for her pov because i already love her so much. her beating the shit out of bella was my one of my favorite scenes LMAOO what a queen.
➸ gerard gibson:
remember when i said that him and his humor carried my happiness so that it didn’t get left behind? well that’s still true…except the things i learned about him in this book just tells me that his book will also ruin me because i guess this entire series is just going to be incredibly painful😃
➸ claire biggs:
she’s the sweetest ever and i’m itching to get to her book with gibsie because i need to know more about them as a pair and about her as an individual.
➸ hughie biggs:
i’m so curious about him. he has to have a book right? someone please confirm and tell me he does because there’s just something about him that has me like👀
➸ patrick feely:
he’s a SINGER and can play the guitar. that’s what i learned about him. i also sense something between him and lizzie? IDK? but he’s nice to her in moments where she doesn’t deserve it.
➸ lizzie young:
as of right now, i hate her. i know i’m going to eat my words later on if she happens to get a book because there’s something going on with her that i know nothing about and surely chloe walsh is going to write a book about her to explain…right!?
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝒹𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹:
”how are you feeling…about me?”
her eyes widened. “about you?”
”yeah.” i swallowed. “about me.”
shannon was silent for so long that i was afraid she wasn’t going to answer me but then she started to speak. “sometimes i feel like i’m stranded, like i’m stuck in the same place and i’m drowning.” clasping her hands together, she continued to speak, to gut me with her truth. “it’s like i’m watching the water rising, and it’s coming higher and higher. i can see it closing in on me, taking me under.” shivering, she bit down on her lip. “it’s terrifying.”
”i bet,” i replied gruffly, trailing my fingertips up and down her jean-clad knee, unsure of what else to say and terrified of saying the wrong thing.
”and then you walk in and it recedes.” tipping her chin up, she looked me dead in the eyes and exhaled a shaky breath. “you show up and all the bad just…goes away for a little while.”
i could feel her eyes on me, and it caused a slow burn to ignite inside of me. my skin was hot, my body coiled tight with frustration and excitement. i was so fucked.
”that’s how you make me feel,” she whispered, blue eye burning their way right down to my soul. “better. alive. free. safe. important. i feel like i can breathe for the first time in days, and that’s only because you’re here—because i’m with you.”
╰┈➤this fucked me up. took the air straight from my lungs in one fell swoop.
”i’m on your team,” he added huskily. “do you get that? i’m totally with you, shannon lynch. one call, that’s all you need to make, and i’ll come. i won’t let you down, and i won’t leave you alone in this. i promise.”
”it’s just weird for me because i’ve never had someone in my corner before.” shivering, i added, “not someone like you.”
”i’m not in your corner, shannon,” johnny replied in a gruff tone. “i’m standing right beside you.”
╰┈➤the amount of times my heart has skipped a beat because of this man cannot be healthy. AM I OKAY?😭
she was crying hard against my chest. she was bleeding through her tears. releasing pain and angst, devastation and fear, and i wanted to save her from it all. her tears rained down on me, drowning me right along with her, and that was the exact moment i felt the shift, the switch from this being something sweet and innocent to something deeply complicated with a hint of forever.
i was in so much fucking trouble.
╰┈➤A HINT OF FOREVER😭😭literally shut up, i was crying so hard omg.
”closer,” i begged, rolling onto my side. “i need you.”
his arm came around me, pulling my back flush against his bare chest before settling his hand against my lower belly. “i’m right here, baby.”
”i love you, johnny kavanagh,” i choked out, clenching my eyes shut as i grabbed his arm and held it to my chest. “most in the world.”
”i love you back, shannon lynch,” he said quietly in my ear and i felt the connection i had to him in the deepest part of my soul. “most on the world.”
”for keeps?” i breathed.
he kissed my shoulder. “for keeps.”
╰┈➤i felt their connection in the deepest part of my soul too🥺
for the final song of their set, the band started to play “hear you me”.
i listened to the lyrics, feeling that familiar surge of sadness swell up inside of me at the thought of my mother. a tear fell onto my cheek as i sang softly to myself. the feel of johnny’s hand squeezing my thigh drew my attention back to him. ”i love you,” he mouthed, craning his neck to look up at me.
sniffling, i mouthed, ”i love you, too.”
keeping his eyes on mine, he continued to mouth the words of the song, swaying us gently to the music. stroking his cheek, i leaned down and pressed my lips to his, not an easy feat given that i was sitting on his shoulders, but i had to kiss him. i just had to. the hand johnny had on my thigh moved to cup the back of my head as he kissed me back, right there in the middle of a field, surrounded by sixty thousand people and jimmy eat world singing to us.
╰┈➤this moment had me in shambles. it still does. jimmy eat world?!? HEAR YOU ME!? i can’t😭
❥ 𝒻𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑜𝓉𝑒𝓈:
➛ ❝the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. that very first time i saw you? you sparked to life something inside of me and i haven’t been the same since.❞
➛ ❝i already told you, i need you for keeps. there’s no expiration date between us.❞
➛ ❝you’re my everything.❞
➛ ❝my whole heart’s inside of ya.❞
➛ ❝there’s no one else on this planet who deserves a reprieve from pain more than you, baby.❞
➛ ❝i like you because you’re you, shannon. i’ve never met another girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you. and beautiful. jesus christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. i’ve never seen anything like you in my life.❞
➛ ❝i like your trouble. i want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you. i want you.❞
➛ i physically craved johnny kavanagh to the point where i wanted to crawl into him and stay there forever. she’s so real for this because same😩
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉:
spicy kavanagh is just one of the many versions i love about him…
"i promise i'll make you feel good."
"fuck, you're so wet, baby."
"shh, just ride it out."
"you look good on my bed." clamping his hands on my thighs, he dragged my body closer, groaning loudly when we connected. "on your back," he added, hovering above me, "with me between your legs," before sealing his lips to mine.
smirking, he said, “je veux lécher la chatte de ma copine.”
i frowned. ”what?”
johnny grinned deviously. “i said, je veux être à l’intérieur de toi.”
i scrunched my nose up. “you know i’m terrible at french.”
”i’m counting on it.” he laughed as he sauntered off. “see you tonight, baby.”
when he’s a golden retriever with a dirty mouth>>>>>>
i’m entirely unwell. i knew he’d be the type to talk her through it. him talking dirty to her in french…when i translated that on google omg. i’ll let y’all translate it yourselves and experience it that way😏he’s so hot.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
i love these books.
❝𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕.❞
⁀➷ ❝𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 13,❞ 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅. ❝𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊’𝒎 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 13.❞
the title drop>>>>>
my heart goes boom🥺
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀
”i don’t want easy, i want you. just the way you are. every part and every piece.”
”even the broken parts?”
he winked. “especially the broken parts.”
i’ll be happily suffering from shannonjohnny brainrot for the rest of my life. these books have altered my brain chemistry in a way no other book has and i fear no other book ever will. the emotional depth this series already has within the first two books is incredible. there’s nothing i love more than having a deeply emotional experience while reading. it’s why i fell in love with reading and this series is delivering that experience with full force. my heart physically hurts thinking about what’s to come, but i couldn’t be more excited to continue simply because as heartbreaking as these books are, they’re very healing at the same time. binding and keeping 13 are absolute masterpieces. i’m so sad that i won’t be reading johnny and shannon’s pov anymore. it’s a very bittersweet moment, but i can’t wait to eat up all the breadcrumbs of them in the upcoming books🤭
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉:
- 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣
- 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣
- 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚
- 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙨
- 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙗𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜
- 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙭 𝙛𝙩. 𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙
- 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮
❥ 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈:
this book is a RIDE. an emotional rollercoaster that i never wanted to get off of. it feels like my mind is empty because my emotions have completely taken over. i was in no way prepared for this book to be heavier than the first. the first three chapters ALONE were heavier than the entire first book😭i wish i was lying. i could barely get through it and to think i’m going to have to relive that in another character’s pov makes me so fucking sick. i can’t believe i went so long without reading these books. i can’t imagine myself not knowing these precious characters and their stories. i hope i find this series in every single life time.
❥ 𝓅𝓁𝑜𝓉:
i gave a plot summary in my review for binding 13. since this is the second book, i’m not going to say as much about it. there was a cliffhanger at the end of book 1 and book 2 just throws you straight into it. i really want to stress how heavy the topics are. my heart aches and i’ve never cried sm. also the ANXIETY? i’ve never had to set a book down and take breaks as much as i had to with this one, but that’s really just the power of a good book. i love it. i’m a masochist. painful books are my favorite.
❥ 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔/𝓅𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔:
the way chloe wrote these heavy topics…so raw and so real, giving you a very painfully detailed picture of what these characters go through. it’s such a talent. a talent i wish i had. i love the writing style. these books are very long, but it truly doesn’t feel like it and i find myself wishing that the books were longer. if you know how to write a good book, i don’t care how long it is…GIMME😩
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
”what do you need from me, shannon?” he croaked out, voice thick and husky. “i’ll give you anything you need, baby.” shaking his head, he groaned like he was in pain. “i just…i want to make you happy.”
”you,” i whispered. “all of you.”
”i’m already yours,” he groaned, before covering my lips with his.
╰┈➤their love could move mountains.
❥ 𝒿𝑜𝒽𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝓀𝒶𝓋𝒶𝓃𝒶𝑔𝒽
⁀➷ ❝i don’t know where that strength comes from, but it’s so humbling. i don’t even have the words to tell you how fucking incredible you are, shannon lynch.❞
i didn’t know that it was possible to fall even more in love with johnny kavanagh, but that’s exactly what happened. all men need to read about him and take notes, i’m so serious😭i absolutely love how johnny puts his very all into every single thing he does. he works so hard for his future as a rugby player, but at the same time he shows up for the people he cares about. he’s a man that doesn’t have a lot of time to spare, but makes time when he is needed. i can’t get over how good of a person he is🥺
❥ 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓃 𝓁𝓎𝓃𝒸𝒽
⁀➷ ❝i’m here for johnny the boy. not johnny the rugby player. i’ll stay for both, but i’m only in love with one.❞
her character development omg, thinking about it makes me wanna cry for HOURS. she’s so special to me and seeing her come out of her shell was the most beautiful thing. she found her voice and i couldn’t be more proud of her🥹no matter what she’s going through, she still manages to be there for the people who need her. she’s so incredibly strong and i can’t stress that enough. i don’t know how i’d handle it if i were her. i’d completely shut down. but shannon? she keeps going. she pushes through everything. i love her so much😔
❥ 𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒:
╭──────༺♡༻──────╮
𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈:
𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒓
2:04 ──────|─── 3:32
↻ ◁ 𝕀𝕀 ▷ ↺
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆: ■■■■■□□□
╰──────༺♡༻──────╯
”you make me feel like i’m enough as i am.”
”you are enough,” i breathed, wrapping my hand around his neck. “just as you are right now.”
╰┈➤the song choice paired with this moment was too perfect😩
seeing their relationship blossom was everything. it’s so hard to believe that they’re just teenagers because of their maturity level. the way they communicate and make decisions together based on what they want their future to look like is just mwah mwah mwah, chef’s kiss! what johnny and shannon have is true love and i felt it so deeply while reading about them🥹i loved watching them navigate through life together. shannon was going through such a pivotal moment in her life, but was still pushing johnny to chase his dreams. she’s so selfless because as much as she needed him, she couldn’t take one of the biggest parts of his life away. they’re absolute perfection. the standard. this is the type of relationship you should want and the type of relationship that i’m proud to have in real life<3
❝𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.❞
❝𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.❞
❥ 𝓈𝒾𝒹��� ��𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈:
i’m eating the found family trope up. it’s TOO good.
➸ edel & john kavanagh:
JOHNNY’S PARENTS!?!? they stand on business. they’re literally my favorite people ever oh my god😭it’s no wonder why johnny kavanagh is so perfect…he’s literally the son of two saints. protect this family at all costs. it’s the way i want a book with their pov so bad😩
➸ tadgh, ollie, & sean lynch:
shannon and joey’s little brothers are the cutest i can’t. tadgh is so funny and his banter with gibsie had me on the floor. ollie is the sweetest boy. him calling edel, “dellie”, is the cutest fucking thing. AND SEAN????? oh my god. i’m pretty sure he’s 3 years old and the way he says that johnny is “my onny” had me screaming and crying into my pillow. i can’t. they’re so precious and every moment involving them had me like🥺🥹
➸ joey lynch:
his pov in his two books WILL kill me. i literally won’t survive.
➸ aoife molloy:
i can’t wait for her pov because i already love her so much. her beating the shit out of bella was my one of my favorite scenes LMAOO what a queen.
➸ gerard gibson:
remember when i said that him and his humor carried my happiness so that it didn’t get left behind? well that’s still true…except the things i learned about him in this book just tells me that his book will also ruin me because i guess this entire series is just going to be incredibly painful😃
➸ claire biggs:
she’s the sweetest ever and i’m itching to get to her book with gibsie because i need to know more about them as a pair and about her as an individual.
➸ hughie biggs:
i’m so curious about him. he has to have a book right? someone please confirm and tell me he does because there’s just something about him that has me like👀
➸ patrick feely:
he’s a SINGER and can play the guitar. that’s what i learned about him. i also sense something between him and lizzie? IDK? but he’s nice to her in moments where she doesn’t deserve it.
➸ lizzie young:
as of right now, i hate her. i know i’m going to eat my words later on if she happens to get a book because there’s something going on with her that i know nothing about and surely chloe walsh is going to write a book about her to explain…right!?
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝒹𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹:
”how are you feeling…about me?”
her eyes widened. “about you?”
”yeah.” i swallowed. “about me.”
shannon was silent for so long that i was afraid she wasn’t going to answer me but then she started to speak. “sometimes i feel like i’m stranded, like i’m stuck in the same place and i’m drowning.” clasping her hands together, she continued to speak, to gut me with her truth. “it’s like i’m watching the water rising, and it’s coming higher and higher. i can see it closing in on me, taking me under.” shivering, she bit down on her lip. “it’s terrifying.”
”i bet,” i replied gruffly, trailing my fingertips up and down her jean-clad knee, unsure of what else to say and terrified of saying the wrong thing.
”and then you walk in and it recedes.” tipping her chin up, she looked me dead in the eyes and exhaled a shaky breath. “you show up and all the bad just…goes away for a little while.”
i could feel her eyes on me, and it caused a slow burn to ignite inside of me. my skin was hot, my body coiled tight with frustration and excitement. i was so fucked.
”that’s how you make me feel,” she whispered, blue eye burning their way right down to my soul. “better. alive. free. safe. important. i feel like i can breathe for the first time in days, and that’s only because you’re here—because i’m with you.”
╰┈➤this fucked me up. took the air straight from my lungs in one fell swoop.
”i’m on your team,” he added huskily. “do you get that? i’m totally with you, shannon lynch. one call, that’s all you need to make, and i’ll come. i won’t let you down, and i won’t leave you alone in this. i promise.”
”it’s just weird for me because i’ve never had someone in my corner before.” shivering, i added, “not someone like you.”
”i’m not in your corner, shannon,” johnny replied in a gruff tone. “i’m standing right beside you.”
╰┈➤the amount of times my heart has skipped a beat because of this man cannot be healthy. AM I OKAY?😭
she was crying hard against my chest. she was bleeding through her tears. releasing pain and angst, devastation and fear, and i wanted to save her from it all. her tears rained down on me, drowning me right along with her, and that was the exact moment i felt the shift, the switch from this being something sweet and innocent to something deeply complicated with a hint of forever.
i was in so much fucking trouble.
╰┈➤A HINT OF FOREVER😭😭literally shut up, i was crying so hard omg.
”closer,” i begged, rolling onto my side. “i need you.”
his arm came around me, pulling my back flush against his bare chest before settling his hand against my lower belly. “i’m right here, baby.”
”i love you, johnny kavanagh,” i choked out, clenching my eyes shut as i grabbed his arm and held it to my chest. “most in the world.”
”i love you back, shannon lynch,” he said quietly in my ear and i felt the connection i had to him in the deepest part of my soul. “most on the world.”
”for keeps?” i breathed.
he kissed my shoulder. “for keeps.”
╰┈➤i felt their connection in the deepest part of my soul too🥺
for the final song of their set, the band started to play “hear you me”.
i listened to the lyrics, feeling that familiar surge of sadness swell up inside of me at the thought of my mother. a tear fell onto my cheek as i sang softly to myself. the feel of johnny’s hand squeezing my thigh drew my attention back to him. ”i love you,” he mouthed, craning his neck to look up at me.
sniffling, i mouthed, ”i love you, too.”
keeping his eyes on mine, he continued to mouth the words of the song, swaying us gently to the music. stroking his cheek, i leaned down and pressed my lips to his, not an easy feat given that i was sitting on his shoulders, but i had to kiss him. i just had to. the hand johnny had on my thigh moved to cup the back of my head as he kissed me back, right there in the middle of a field, surrounded by sixty thousand people and jimmy eat world singing to us.
╰┈➤this moment had me in shambles. it still does. jimmy eat world?!? HEAR YOU ME!? i can’t😭
❥ 𝒻𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝑜𝓉𝑒𝓈:
➛ ❝the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. that very first time i saw you? you sparked to life something inside of me and i haven’t been the same since.❞
➛ ❝i already told you, i need you for keeps. there’s no expiration date between us.❞
➛ ❝you’re my everything.❞
➛ ❝my whole heart’s inside of ya.❞
➛ ❝there’s no one else on this planet who deserves a reprieve from pain more than you, baby.❞
➛ ❝i like you because you’re you, shannon. i’ve never met another girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you. and beautiful. jesus christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. i’ve never seen anything like you in my life.❞
➛ ❝i like your trouble. i want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you. i want you.❞
➛ i physically craved johnny kavanagh to the point where i wanted to crawl into him and stay there forever. she’s so real for this because same😩
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
❥ 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉:
spicy kavanagh is just one of the many versions i love about him…
"i promise i'll make you feel good."
"fuck, you're so wet, baby."
"shh, just ride it out."
"you look good on my bed." clamping his hands on my thighs, he dragged my body closer, groaning loudly when we connected. "on your back," he added, hovering above me, "with me between your legs," before sealing his lips to mine.
smirking, he said, “je veux lécher la chatte de ma copine.”
i frowned. ”what?”
johnny grinned deviously. “i said, je veux être à l’intérieur de toi.”
i scrunched my nose up. “you know i’m terrible at french.”
”i’m counting on it.” he laughed as he sauntered off. “see you tonight, baby.”
when he’s a golden retriever with a dirty mouth>>>>>>
i’m entirely unwell. i knew he’d be the type to talk her through it. him talking dirty to her in french…when i translated that on google omg. i’ll let y’all translate it yourselves and experience it that way😏he’s so hot.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
i love these books.
❝𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕.❞
June 24, 2021
i read this in exactly 11 hours
that’s my flex now
i really said “fuck sleep” cause i haven’t slept in 2 days 🤪
that’s my flex now
i really said “fuck sleep” cause i haven’t slept in 2 days 🤪
September 21, 2023
4.75 ⭐️ !! these characters are living rent free in my head
September 11, 2024
3.85!
“For keeps?” I breathed.
He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”
In terms of writing this was so much better than binding 13 but in terms of story and pacing? Im afraid it was not (imo) I just feel like this could have been 200-300 pages shorter?? because this book followed a repetitive nature, it had no reason being like that except for its page count. See, with book 1 you at least were engrossed in the story because you wanted to know what would happen but I didnt really have that feeling when it came to this book. The same dialogues were being thrown around, Johnny was more about Shannon and his whole athletic part went away until the last parts. Shannon's story dragged as it went on as well, like the start was so good and by start I mean the first 250 pages and last 150-200 pages were really good as well but that middle?? sucked so fucking bad. I am still giving it a higher rating because I enjoyed most of this book especially the start with how things picked up right where they left off in b13 and in the end when shit went down but, for a second book for Shannon and Johnny....they felt pretty dull.
Shannon and Johnnyin terms of them as individual characters, I wanted more development on Shannon's part because tbh all the she did was talk back to her mother and Darren, and in a way I think this does contribute to character development because at least she was doing something but I wanted more. To sum it up she talks back (ok good for her) thinks about Johnny and whenever she's around him it's sex, sex and sex although I would admit how well her emotions were described and how the ptsd was shown through her point of view, I just wanted more of her overcoming it and one thing I specifically wanted was the confrontation with Bella which we did got but it was so diluted like actually so diluted smh atp. Johnny im a little conflicted because there were parts that I enjoyed so much and others were so disappointing, the disappointing one would be hi being consumed by the thoughts of Shannon like Shannon this and Shannon that and I love down bad MMC's but 900 pages is too much. I loved how Johnny treated Shannon's siblings, I loved their scenes so much and I liked how muchh cared for Shannon but I really wanted him to focus on his game as well. It was conflicting but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Them together were cute and I did understand the smut scenes like come on we literally spent a whole 800 paged book with slow burn seeping off it and even here it didnt really happen until 350 pages through but I liked their moments together. They were cute<33
The side characters are who took the spotlight!! Claire, Lizzie, Gibsie, Hughie, Feely, Joey and Aoife, Mama Kavs and Papa Kavs. I love them sm. I actually ship Hughie and Katie and Lizzie with Feely so there better not be a cheating switch tropes or im literally gonna riot. I like Lizzie and I want her story. Gibsie and Claire I cant wait for their book because I love them, ESPECIALLY GIBSIE! I want Joeys books so bad and I know his story will have me sobbing. Also I loved Joeys Mam and Da sm they are actually so precious with everything that they did!!! also that Aoife and Joey vs Bella and Cormac scene!! It healed me.
Overall, considering the hype and the avg rating, I was expecting something mind-blowing which I didnt get but I enjoyed it so much!
__
I just know this one will hit so hard, considering how things ended in the first one (or its just Hoda praying that I cry because she's hell bent on making me cry >:( )
“For keeps?” I breathed.
He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”
In terms of writing this was so much better than binding 13 but in terms of story and pacing? Im afraid it was not (imo) I just feel like this could have been 200-300 pages shorter?? because this book followed a repetitive nature, it had no reason being like that except for its page count. See, with book 1 you at least were engrossed in the story because you wanted to know what would happen but I didnt really have that feeling when it came to this book. The same dialogues were being thrown around, Johnny was more about Shannon and his whole athletic part went away until the last parts. Shannon's story dragged as it went on as well, like the start was so good and by start I mean the first 250 pages and last 150-200 pages were really good as well but that middle?? sucked so fucking bad. I am still giving it a higher rating because I enjoyed most of this book especially the start with how things picked up right where they left off in b13 and in the end when shit went down but, for a second book for Shannon and Johnny....they felt pretty dull.
Shannon and Johnnyin terms of them as individual characters, I wanted more development on Shannon's part because tbh all the she did was talk back to her mother and Darren, and in a way I think this does contribute to character development because at least she was doing something but I wanted more. To sum it up she talks back (ok good for her) thinks about Johnny and whenever she's around him it's sex, sex and sex although I would admit how well her emotions were described and how the ptsd was shown through her point of view, I just wanted more of her overcoming it and one thing I specifically wanted was the confrontation with Bella which we did got but it was so diluted like actually so diluted smh atp. Johnny im a little conflicted because there were parts that I enjoyed so much and others were so disappointing, the disappointing one would be hi being consumed by the thoughts of Shannon like Shannon this and Shannon that and I love down bad MMC's but 900 pages is too much. I loved how Johnny treated Shannon's siblings, I loved their scenes so much and I liked how muchh cared for Shannon but I really wanted him to focus on his game as well. It was conflicting but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Them together were cute and I did understand the smut scenes like come on we literally spent a whole 800 paged book with slow burn seeping off it and even here it didnt really happen until 350 pages through but I liked their moments together. They were cute<33
The side characters are who took the spotlight!! Claire, Lizzie, Gibsie, Hughie, Feely, Joey and Aoife, Mama Kavs and Papa Kavs. I love them sm. I actually ship Hughie and Katie and Lizzie with Feely so there better not be a cheating switch tropes or im literally gonna riot. I like Lizzie and I want her story. Gibsie and Claire I cant wait for their book because I love them, ESPECIALLY GIBSIE! I want Joeys books so bad and I know his story will have me sobbing. Also I loved Joeys Mam and Da sm they are actually so precious with everything that they did!!! also that Aoife and Joey vs Bella and Cormac scene!! It healed me.
Overall, considering the hype and the avg rating, I was expecting something mind-blowing which I didnt get but I enjoyed it so much!
__
I just know this one will hit so hard, considering how things ended in the first one (or its just Hoda praying that I cry because she's hell bent on making me cry >:( )
April 8, 2024
WOW. just wow. ❤️🩹
May 24, 2024
Having THE BEST TIME with this series. Imo this one was not as good as the first one but it was much more emotional comparatively. I absolutely flew through this mammoth of a book and had such a great time. Am in love with Shannon and Johnny's story and their innocent, sweet, precious love.
As the two main characters struggle with their traumas and pain, the love they find amongst each other is so pure and keeps them grounded and sane. I loved how they had such a strong support system around themselves. Their love is worth fighting for. I loved how the two battled their fights and gave unconditional support to each other. Reading this book, I realized that although I like Shannon, it's Johnny who is the stronghold and life of this book.
🩷Shannon is a vulnerable teenager who has been bullied since she was a tiny kid tbh and for her to constantly seek reassurance makes perfect sense to me. But what did get to me in the middle of the book was how repetitive her quirks got, I wish that could've been better written or filtered out making room for more growth in her character arc.
🏉Johnny is the life of this book. He has such a big heart and he genuinely puts in effort, shows support and unconditional love towards everyone he cares about. I love those traits. I love how he was never shy of reassuring Shannon even though she asked him the same questions 100 times in a day. For him? It's all about what he can do to make her and her siblings feel safe and loved.
Coming to the side characters, my heart breaks for almost all of them but I found the one I love the most in this series- Joey Lynch. I love the man he is. I love him and his broken parts, his big heart, protective self, his selflessness, and his being. He is a character that deserves the world the most and all the happiness. I can't wait to read his books. I really like Aoife, she is Joey's stability and all things good. The punch she landed on Bella was badass. Gibsie and Claire have always been great to me. Their chemistry is chef's kiss. I don't like Lizzie at all so far. I love Shannon's cute sibling brothers and appreciate the Kavanagh family to bits.
The only issue I had here was that some of the conversations were too repetitive. I didn't really care for it much in Binding 13 but in this one it was a bit too much for me to handle.
The last 200 pages were wild. I never saw them come and it made me cry so much. The ending was perfect. It felt real and things wrapped up pretty well for all. I can't wait to find out what lies ahead for Joey but am mentally not prepared to read that yet. I just know my heart will be going through it so going to take a short break before that.
~•~•~
I MUST read this right now after that ending in Binding 13 😭😭
As the two main characters struggle with their traumas and pain, the love they find amongst each other is so pure and keeps them grounded and sane. I loved how they had such a strong support system around themselves. Their love is worth fighting for. I loved how the two battled their fights and gave unconditional support to each other. Reading this book, I realized that although I like Shannon, it's Johnny who is the stronghold and life of this book.
🩷Shannon is a vulnerable teenager who has been bullied since she was a tiny kid tbh and for her to constantly seek reassurance makes perfect sense to me. But what did get to me in the middle of the book was how repetitive her quirks got, I wish that could've been better written or filtered out making room for more growth in her character arc.
🏉Johnny is the life of this book. He has such a big heart and he genuinely puts in effort, shows support and unconditional love towards everyone he cares about. I love those traits. I love how he was never shy of reassuring Shannon even though she asked him the same questions 100 times in a day. For him? It's all about what he can do to make her and her siblings feel safe and loved.
Coming to the side characters, my heart breaks for almost all of them but I found the one I love the most in this series- Joey Lynch. I love the man he is. I love him and his broken parts, his big heart, protective self, his selflessness, and his being. He is a character that deserves the world the most and all the happiness. I can't wait to read his books. I really like Aoife, she is Joey's stability and all things good. The punch she landed on Bella was badass. Gibsie and Claire have always been great to me. Their chemistry is chef's kiss. I don't like Lizzie at all so far. I love Shannon's cute sibling brothers and appreciate the Kavanagh family to bits.
The only issue I had here was that some of the conversations were too repetitive. I didn't really care for it much in Binding 13 but in this one it was a bit too much for me to handle.
The last 200 pages were wild. I never saw them come and it made me cry so much. The ending was perfect. It felt real and things wrapped up pretty well for all. I can't wait to find out what lies ahead for Joey but am mentally not prepared to read that yet. I just know my heart will be going through it so going to take a short break before that.
~•~•~
I MUST read this right now after that ending in Binding 13 😭😭
June 6, 2024
“For keeps?” I breathed.
He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”
Did I finish this book or did it finish me?
Heartbreaking, soul-crushing, profound but above all an unforgettable and a beautiful story. I expected this book to be full of sunshine and happiness, but it was so much intense, emotional and heartbreaking than B13. There were so many dark and heavy topics in this book and Chloe didn't hesitated to show us the raw, realistic and blatant vulnerability in this book. But above everything else, this book has one of the best, beautiful and genuine found family.
The romance was tender, charming, adorably awkward sweet. K13 focused more on the family dynamics, characters' growth and development, trauma and healing of the Lynch siblings. Chloe delved deeper into Lynch's family dynamics, showed us the pain and darkness that lurked inside their house, showed us that not everything in reality is always black and white, and that sometimes freedom, forgiveness and happiness costs life and death. I can't even imagine the pain the Lynch siblings has suffered for the years and its incomprehensible until you step into their shoes and Chloe reflected their pain, trauma and unhappiness in this book and let me tell you it was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking in the worst way possible.
➸ Shannon Lynch
I really liked how Shannon tried to come out of her shell in this book. It was a small growth on her part but I don't expect her to do a one-eighty in just a few months because Shannon has been through hell in her entire life. She is finally trying to let other people in her life and I liked how she's not lying to anyone even when it goes against her surviving nature. She stood up for herself against her family and her bullies when it was needed. She's so precious and strong and resilient and maybe she doesn't know it yet but she is a survivor through and through who did everything in her power to climbed back up on her feet.
“I’m here for Johnny the boy. Not Johnny the rugby player. I’ll stay for both, but I’m only in love with one.”
➸ Johnny Kavanagh The Bulldozer
Johnny Kavanagh the gentleman you are 🤌🏻💘 It still surprises me that he's just eighteen-years-old, but the way this man treats everyone in his life is admirable. His unconditional support and love for the people he loves. The things he says and the things he do melts my heart every time. Johnny is a protector (and a bulldozer) and it goes against his nature if he can't help someone he loves and Johnny played a huge role in giving Lynch siblings the life they deserved. His ambitions and passion for Rugby makes him even more attractive and I love me a man who knows his worth. Johnny may seem like a perfect golden boy on the outside but he had his own insecurities and fears about life and he is doing his absolutely best to sought them out and with Shannon by his side, he feels more like himself when she is with him.
“That from the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.”
╰┈➤ Johnny and Shannon
“You smell like home.”
“You are home.”
I loved the awkwardness between Johnny and Shannon whenever they were together, winging their way through their newly formed relationship, figuring out the physical attraction and love they have for each other. It was so pure, innocent, adorable and genuine and it was the actual representation of how teenage love feels like. I loved how they just couldn't get enough of each other and were always trying to be with each other and I hated every moment when someone cock blocked them and it happened so many times. Felt bad for Johnny and his Johnnies.
Johnny and Shannon are the definition of “true love”. The way these two love and protect each other is everything. They are so ridiculously and irrevocably in love with each other that it's insane sometimes because they are just teenagers but I still want what they have. The tenderness and care they showed each other through their actions, patience, words, touches, and love confessions is everything. How Johnny always made sure she was safe and fought for her family and how Shannon was always there for him to support his career and his passion for Rugby even though she was affraid of letting him go was everything. I loved how they let go of their armor to let the other person see the emotional scars and vulnerabilities they hid from the world. Two people loving each other for simply who they are in reality, bringing changes and happiness in each other's life, supporting each other, making compromises and sacrifices to be together is the truest form of love and Johnny and Shannon understood that assignment.
➸ Joey and Aoife
I love Joey so much and it hurts to see him like this. He was tossed into a role he didn't wanted to play. He was the father, mother, brother and the only person that brought balance and happiness in his siblings' life. He fed them, loved them, protected them. He is so selfless, always doing right by his siblings but nobody cared to do right by his side. Nobody cares for his feelings and his pain and it broke my heart because this boy deserves all the love and happiness in the world. I love how Aoife loves Joey and keeps him grounded. She was so badass when she fought Bella. Aoife and Joey had so many emotional and heartbreaking moments and honestly, I am not ready for their story because I know it's gonna ruin me in the best possible ways.
“You’re in there, aren’t you? Hmm?” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I see you, Joey Lynch.” She stroked her nose against his and whispered, “You can’t hide from me.”
➸ Gibsie and Claire
Gibsie is my precious boy. He always brings the joy and happiness with his funny and entertaining personality but behind all that lies a very vulnerable person who wants to hide all his pain with humour and laughs. Him going all mama bear for Claire was so cute. Claire is our sunshine girl. She's the best bestfriend in their group. I love how she understands Gibsie so well, always humour his weird and funny thoughts.
“You keep that head up,” he ordered, tipping her chin with his thumb. “Don’t you dare hide that angel face from the world.”
➸ Mammy K and Daddy Kav are the best parents in the world. Their love, support and care helped Lynch siblings a lot and I love how they didn't hesitated once to took all of them under their roof, nourished them, fed them, loved them. I want them to adopt me too 😭🙏🏼 I'll be a good sister, I promise.
➸ Lynch siblings: I love Tadgh's little bitch personality and his banter with Gibsie was so good. He's the only person who gets on his nerves lol. Ollie was such a cutie and Sean was the cutest kid. I love how he bonded with Johnny and how Johnny was so obsessed with Sean. Their small moments of happiness made my day.
“I want all of you to stay with my family.”
“But we’re a lot of trouble,” she whispered.
“I like your trouble. I want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you.” Leaning closer, I stroked my nose against hers. “I want you.”
➸ Lizzie: I hated her in this book. She had no right to hurt Gibsie and then later on justify it with her trauma and pain.
I hated how Darren was meddling in Lynch family's business and completely ignored Joey. I did felt bad for him and it made completely sense why he left his siblings behind but it was selfish.
The scene where it all went downhill and the Lynch siblings were grieving the loss of their mother were heartbreaking. As a woman, I have so much sympathy for Shannon's mother, Marie. I hate her for not standing up for her children but I also understand her fears because when Darren said, “All she had in the whole fucking world was him. She was a baby having babies and it broke her!”, my heart broke for Marie. She didn't deserved that ending but atleast she chose her children and did the right thing for them in the end.
The ending was bittersweet but I was satisfied with the decisions Johnny and Shannon made and I am so ready to see more of them in next books!
I hate Chloe for giving me swollen and puffy eyes but but atleast I found another fictional found family ❤️🩹 I did not expected to have this many crying sessions while reading this book but everything was worth it for Johnny and Shannon. I am never saying goodbye to this series and these characters because I will be reading this series for the rest of my life and that's how much I love them.
“When it comes to you, Shannon Lynch, I’m all in.”
“Me too.”
“Where you go, I go.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
——————
Pre-read review: I missed my precious pookies so here we are 😌💗 finally found the courage after 3 months to continue this series
He kissed my shoulder. “For keeps.”
Did I finish this book or did it finish me?
Heartbreaking, soul-crushing, profound but above all an unforgettable and a beautiful story. I expected this book to be full of sunshine and happiness, but it was so much intense, emotional and heartbreaking than B13. There were so many dark and heavy topics in this book and Chloe didn't hesitated to show us the raw, realistic and blatant vulnerability in this book. But above everything else, this book has one of the best, beautiful and genuine found family.
The romance was tender, charming, adorably awkward sweet. K13 focused more on the family dynamics, characters' growth and development, trauma and healing of the Lynch siblings. Chloe delved deeper into Lynch's family dynamics, showed us the pain and darkness that lurked inside their house, showed us that not everything in reality is always black and white, and that sometimes freedom, forgiveness and happiness costs life and death. I can't even imagine the pain the Lynch siblings has suffered for the years and its incomprehensible until you step into their shoes and Chloe reflected their pain, trauma and unhappiness in this book and let me tell you it was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking in the worst way possible.
“Well, I don’t want easy. I want you. Just the way you are. Every part and every piece.”
“Even the broken parts?”
He winked. “Especially the broken parts.”
➸ Shannon Lynch
I really liked how Shannon tried to come out of her shell in this book. It was a small growth on her part but I don't expect her to do a one-eighty in just a few months because Shannon has been through hell in her entire life. She is finally trying to let other people in her life and I liked how she's not lying to anyone even when it goes against her surviving nature. She stood up for herself against her family and her bullies when it was needed. She's so precious and strong and resilient and maybe she doesn't know it yet but she is a survivor through and through who did everything in her power to climbed back up on her feet.
“I’m here for Johnny the boy. Not Johnny the rugby player. I’ll stay for both, but I’m only in love with one.”
➸ Johnny Kavanagh The Bulldozer
Johnny Kavanagh the gentleman you are 🤌🏻💘 It still surprises me that he's just eighteen-years-old, but the way this man treats everyone in his life is admirable. His unconditional support and love for the people he loves. The things he says and the things he do melts my heart every time. Johnny is a protector (and a bulldozer) and it goes against his nature if he can't help someone he loves and Johnny played a huge role in giving Lynch siblings the life they deserved. His ambitions and passion for Rugby makes him even more attractive and I love me a man who knows his worth. Johnny may seem like a perfect golden boy on the outside but he had his own insecurities and fears about life and he is doing his absolutely best to sought them out and with Shannon by his side, he feels more like himself when she is with him.
“That from the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.”
╰┈➤ Johnny and Shannon
“You smell like home.”
“You are home.”
I loved the awkwardness between Johnny and Shannon whenever they were together, winging their way through their newly formed relationship, figuring out the physical attraction and love they have for each other. It was so pure, innocent, adorable and genuine and it was the actual representation of how teenage love feels like. I loved how they just couldn't get enough of each other and were always trying to be with each other and I hated every moment when someone cock blocked them and it happened so many times. Felt bad for Johnny and his Johnnies.
“I like you because you’re you, Shannon. I’ve never met another girl like you. I mean a girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you. And beautiful. Jesus Christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. I’ve never seen anything like you in my life.”
Johnny and Shannon are the definition of “true love”. The way these two love and protect each other is everything. They are so ridiculously and irrevocably in love with each other that it's insane sometimes because they are just teenagers but I still want what they have. The tenderness and care they showed each other through their actions, patience, words, touches, and love confessions is everything. How Johnny always made sure she was safe and fought for her family and how Shannon was always there for him to support his career and his passion for Rugby even though she was affraid of letting him go was everything. I loved how they let go of their armor to let the other person see the emotional scars and vulnerabilities they hid from the world. Two people loving each other for simply who they are in reality, bringing changes and happiness in each other's life, supporting each other, making compromises and sacrifices to be together is the truest form of love and Johnny and Shannon understood that assignment.
“You make me feel like I’m enough as I am,”
“You are enough,” I breathed, wrapping my hand around his neck. “Just as you are right now.”
➸ Joey and Aoife
I love Joey so much and it hurts to see him like this. He was tossed into a role he didn't wanted to play. He was the father, mother, brother and the only person that brought balance and happiness in his siblings' life. He fed them, loved them, protected them. He is so selfless, always doing right by his siblings but nobody cared to do right by his side. Nobody cares for his feelings and his pain and it broke my heart because this boy deserves all the love and happiness in the world. I love how Aoife loves Joey and keeps him grounded. She was so badass when she fought Bella. Aoife and Joey had so many emotional and heartbreaking moments and honestly, I am not ready for their story because I know it's gonna ruin me in the best possible ways.
“You’re in there, aren’t you? Hmm?” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I see you, Joey Lynch.” She stroked her nose against his and whispered, “You can’t hide from me.”
➸ Gibsie and Claire
Gibsie is my precious boy. He always brings the joy and happiness with his funny and entertaining personality but behind all that lies a very vulnerable person who wants to hide all his pain with humour and laughs. Him going all mama bear for Claire was so cute. Claire is our sunshine girl. She's the best bestfriend in their group. I love how she understands Gibsie so well, always humour his weird and funny thoughts.
“You keep that head up,” he ordered, tipping her chin with his thumb. “Don’t you dare hide that angel face from the world.”
➸ Mammy K and Daddy Kav are the best parents in the world. Their love, support and care helped Lynch siblings a lot and I love how they didn't hesitated once to took all of them under their roof, nourished them, fed them, loved them. I want them to adopt me too 😭🙏🏼 I'll be a good sister, I promise.
➸ Lynch siblings: I love Tadgh's little bitch personality and his banter with Gibsie was so good. He's the only person who gets on his nerves lol. Ollie was such a cutie and Sean was the cutest kid. I love how he bonded with Johnny and how Johnny was so obsessed with Sean. Their small moments of happiness made my day.
“I want all of you to stay with my family.”
“But we’re a lot of trouble,” she whispered.
“I like your trouble. I want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you.” Leaning closer, I stroked my nose against hers. “I want you.”
➸ Lizzie: I hated her in this book. She had no right to hurt Gibsie and then later on justify it with her trauma and pain.
I hated how Darren was meddling in Lynch family's business and completely ignored Joey. I did felt bad for him and it made completely sense why he left his siblings behind but it was selfish.
The scene where it all went downhill and the Lynch siblings were grieving the loss of their mother were heartbreaking. As a woman, I have so much sympathy for Shannon's mother, Marie. I hate her for not standing up for her children but I also understand her fears because when Darren said, “All she had in the whole fucking world was him. She was a baby having babies and it broke her!”, my heart broke for Marie. She didn't deserved that ending but atleast she chose her children and did the right thing for them in the end.
The ending was bittersweet but I was satisfied with the decisions Johnny and Shannon made and I am so ready to see more of them in next books!
I hate Chloe for giving me swollen and puffy eyes but but atleast I found another fictional found family ❤️🩹 I did not expected to have this many crying sessions while reading this book but everything was worth it for Johnny and Shannon. I am never saying goodbye to this series and these characters because I will be reading this series for the rest of my life and that's how much I love them.
“When it comes to you, Shannon Lynch, I’m all in.”
“Me too.”
“Where you go, I go.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
——————
Pre-read review: I missed my precious pookies so here we are 😌💗 finally found the courage after 3 months to continue this series
February 9, 2023
☆⋅⋆ ── 1st read 2020: 5 stars
☆⋅⋆ ─── 2nd read 2023: 5+ stars
johnnyshannon will always be famous for paving the way for the rest of the Boys of Tommen couples that will follow. my precious babies. i love them so much and now i'm more than excited to dive into joeyaoife's story even though i know they will break my heart.
1825 pages, 150 chapters and many many tears later .... THE HIGH RATINGS FOR THIS SERIES ARE REAL AND I'M 100% ONE THIS HYPE TRAIN!
WARNING: This review contains a lot of screaming, crying, fangirling and mental breakdowns. Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions.
SONG RECOMMENDATION:
The reason why this book (and series in general) deserves all these 5 stars is because it has HEART. It has so much HEART, SOUL AND LOVE in it. The love is real. The most beautiful thing about The Boys of Tommen Series is, that it emphasises that love comes in many shapes and sizes.
Obviously, we have the romantic love, which ofc is a big part of this series, but besides that, Binding 13 and Keeping 13 showcase all the different forms of love such as: the most amazing bromances, supportive female-female friendships, how strangers can become family, beautiful & heartbreaking sibling relationships, the love parents have for their children, the love the children have for their parents even though they can be quite embarrassing and more.
WARNING 2: Each book in this series is long, like really long. That means a huge cast ensemble and lots of different relationships between them and I will say something to each characters & their relationship, because they are worth mentioning and the reason why this series is so great. Therefore this review is going to be a long one. (Decided to do a jointed review for Binding 13 and Keeping 13)
First of all, this series was addictive to read. Lately, I've been having problems reading books in one sitting, but with Binding 13 and Keeping 13? No problem at all. I said fuck my life, fuck my responsibilities, fuck exam preparation, fuck it all, I'm just going to read this series in under 48 hours and I did.
As lengthy as these books appear, it doesn't feel long at all. I was so entranced with the story and characters that 900 pages fly by like nothing. After finishing these books, I even wished them to be longer. The reason why these books are so long is because you get a front seat to all these characters lives. Instead of telling you how these people do things, they get shown. Every milestone is shown. Every important conversation is shown. Was every scene in this book necessary? No. Would I delete anything if I could? Never.
Because of how every scene was shown, I had the feeling of being right next to all these characters. All this talk about the characters, but I haven't told you anything about them yet. So here we go:
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 (H)
OH MY GOOD!!! *SWOOON* OH MY GOD!!
You're going to hate him, cause he just THAT perfect. Johnny is boyfriend material. He's every parent dream for their daughter. Smart, Gorgeous, Handsome, Future Rugby star, but most of all he's KIND & GENEROUS. I'm telling ya that's a lethal combination for my heart. Johnny was so sweet, I might cry because no guy in real life will ever compare to him. It's actually unfair, how unrealistically perfect he is 😭😭
It's annoying how my mind can't come up with one single flaw. All I can say is that his mother and father have raised him right. His an overall great guy. No flaws detected.
All his life, his only goal was rugby. All he focus on is training and playing rugby. A big part of the story is Johny finding himself and what he is outside of rugby. I love how from the moment he meet Shannon, he realises that he hasn't lived, because he was so focused on rugby. I don't know who his biggest fan was: Shannon, Gibsie, Mammy K or me? My money is on me. 😂
↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h)
Shannon is small, shy and extremely timid. If you look up 'damsel-in-distress' in the dictionary, you would find Shannon's picture. All characteristics I don't look for in a heroine to be honest. My favorite heroines are more the type of 'Kick-them-in-the-balls-and-burn-them-alive kind of girls. The only thing I wished would be different is, that Shannon had more of a backbone and stand up for herself more. But the further I got in the story, the more I understood where she came from.
I think it's so easy to judge a character by their behaviour just because you would act differently, but I know it's hard when you haven't walked in their shoes. At the beginning I was lowkey annoyed at Shannon for not telling her bullies to fuck off, but then I haven't been bullied and tormented my whole life in school. I don't have anxiety the way Shannon has anxiety, I haven't been mentally and physically abused by my father my whole life like Shannon. I haven't been separated with my family and got put into the foster system. That's just a fraction of terrible things that happened to Shannon. So who am I to judge how she's has or has not to behave?
For what life has given her so far, Shannon is a kind, strong & most of all resilient girl. She endured everything as best as she could. She's a survivor. One of the best thing was seeing Shannon finding herself and knowing her strengths. I love the character development she went through.
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 & 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍
URG... Johnny and Shannon were so adorable together. Their interactions are so damn awkward that it's sweet to watch. It's funny how a guy like Johnny, who has all these girls at his feet, fumbling with words and acting all awkward, because it's the first time that he has a crush on a girl.
*sigh* Johnny treated Shannon with so much care and respect, just thinking about it makes me want to cry 🥺🥺🥺 he let her dictate the pace. He never rushed her to do anything. He was the most respectful guy ever. Did I tell you that I love him? I couldn't imagine a more perfect guy for Shannon. He's exactly what she needed.
Their love was just so innocent and pure. 🤍🤍🤍
↬ 𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐃 '𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄' 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐍 (H's best friend)
THE KING, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, HIMSELF!!!
This guy.. holy shit he is mental 🤣 I have almost every single line of Gibsie highlighted. He's that funny. Every time he opened his big mouth:
Gibsie is hands down my favorite character in the whole series. This series has many amazing characters, but no one is on Gibsie's level. He's something else. He outshines everyone in every scene he is. The manwhore with the biggest heart.
His relationship with basically every person on page was comedy gold. He's never serious, but when it counts, he knows exactly what to do. If someone needs his help, he is there no question asked. I'm ready to build this man a shrine in my room. 🙌
↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘
They are the definition of platonic soulmates. Johnny and Gibsie are each other's RIDE OR DIE, or in their case RIDE AND DIE cause when you're riding with Gibsie, you're 100% going to die. 🤣
Gibsie and Johnny's bromance is one of the best thing that happened to me in 2020. Their friendship is to cry for. I loved it so much. Their banter is hilarious. I don't know how many times I LOLed, because of these two. These two don't have any secrets and are constantly giving each otherunnecessary life advises. I WAS DYING!
The way they kept lift each other up during darker times. Their bromance was everything. One of the best male-male friendships in literature I'm not lying.
↬ 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐒 (h's best friend)
Claire is such a ray of sunshine. I was so happy that Shannon had Claire and Lizzie by her side who supported her all the way. Shannon never had the chance for a normal childhood, so when she transferred to the new school and had Lizzie and Claire with her that was a relief.
It was good to see that Claire gave her a bit of normality. Doing girly stuff. Talking about boys. Going shopping. I love that Claire and Shannon had each other.
↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄
Gibsie and Claire are friends since childhood and clearly care for each other, but refuse to be together. I WANT THEIR BOOK NEXT AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL BOOK #5 IS A HATE CRIME AND PHUONG-PHOBIC 😭 Claire and Gibsie already bicker like an old married couple.
Their books is the one I'm looking forward the most. I'm already so fucking invested in their love story, it hurts 😭 I hate the childhood best friends to lovers trope, but I already know that Claire and Gibsie are going to own that trope.
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h's older brother)
My poor baby. Someone go and protect this boy who has the world's responsibilities on his shoulders. All he does is work, care for his good for nothing mother, protect Shannon from their father, care for the rest of the family, while dealing with the rest of his life. Somebody give this guy a gold medal and a break!
Joey went through so much in this book and all I want for him is to be happy and healthy.
I can't wait for the next book, which is Joey and Aoife's story. They are going to pull second-chance and accidentally pregnancy trope. Two tropes I'm not particular fond of, but I know Chloe Walsh is going to pull it off somehow. I trust her.
↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 & 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘
The two amigos. The oldest siblings. The protectors. Shan and Joey got the worst end of the deal. Joey as the second oldest brother after their brother Darren walked out their house, had to protect all his baby siblings from his alcoholic & abusive father. Shannon as the only girl also got abused repetitively. It was them against the world.
Their relationship broke my heart. Brother and sister relationships are normally not that close. When you're a teen, you find you're brother/sister annoying as hell and you constantly fight. Not these two. They are as close as how two siblings who went through hell together could be. Joey and Shannon had some really deep talk that was heart wrenching.
With 16 and 18 years, you shouldn't be sitting in the car in front of your house crying and talking about leaving everything behind, cause reality is too hard. With 16 years, you shouldn't worry about your brother walking out the door and never coming back, cause the pressure of caring about your family is too much. Every time Joey and Shannon had to walk through the door to their abusive father, I just wanted to cry with them.
↬ 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀 & 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇
Never in my life, did I have a crush on parents as hard as I have with Edel Kavanagh and John Kavanagh. I don't know on who I crush harder??? Mama K is a fashion designer and the most protective mama-bear. She wouldn't even think for a second to throw herself into a fire to save her son. She's a fucking badass!! When I grow up, I want to be her!! She was also extremely funny. If she wasn't busy embarrassing Johny infront of Shan, she was cockblocking him hardcore 😂 I love her so much.
But John Kavanagh 🥵🥵🥵 I reached that age where it should be acceptable to crush on the son and the father at the same time LOL. If you read this book, you'll know. There is just something about successful lawyer, who are smart, kind and treat their family right that does something to me. Don't judge 🥵 😂 There is one scene where Daddy K is in the principal's office of Johnny's school and PLEASE the power play...
↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
I WANT THE KAVANGHS TO ADOPT ME, PLEASE. I say that every couple of days and in real life it's not possible to get adopted that often, but you know we're talking about fictional families here so I don't see the problem. I'm going to cry if they say no.
Mother a fashion designer, Father a lawyer, Son is a popular rugby player. Smart, gorgeous & generous. How does it feel like to be god's favorite?
I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM. These three together are literally family goals. The way John & Edel kept supporting Johnny was nothing short but amazing.
They are the best. I don't know better people.
↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
Speaking of god. When god gave out luck, he ran out when he got to the Lynch family. It's sad how unlucky the Lynch siblings were.
I hated their father and mother with a passion. I was so furious at the mother that she didn't protect her children better. Because of her they are all completely messed up. For the father I have nothing to say except that he deserves his ending.
As messed up as they are, I love all the Lynch siblings so much. Joey, Shannon, Tadhg, Ollie and Sean. They are all adorable and I loved their relationship with each other. Siblings that went through hell together, stay together.
𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒
I'm just trying to insert how perfect Johnny is wherever I can. To no one's surprise he was perfect with Shannon's younger brothers. Tadhg, Ollie and Sean adore him.
I'm missing so many other relationship dynamics that are worth mentioning like Gibsie + Tadhg, Johnny + his dog or all the guys in the rugby team (shoutout to Feely & Hughie), but I'm running out of characters oops..
If you made it until here, I appreciate it very much and thanks for reading, but what are you guys waiting for? If you can read this bad written, almost 15k review, you can also start Binding 13 😂
This book will not be for everyone, mostly because most people will see Shannon as weak, but everyone should at least try to experience this book. ALL THESE FEELS!!!!
☆⋅⋆ ─── 2nd read 2023: 5+ stars
"I love you," she whispered, fingers digging into my neck as she pulled my face down to hers and kissed my lips. "A crazy fucking amount." "I love you, too –" my voice cracked and I exhaled a strangled breath before adding, "Most in the world."
johnnyshannon will always be famous for paving the way for the rest of the Boys of Tommen couples that will follow. my precious babies. i love them so much and now i'm more than excited to dive into joeyaoife's story even though i know they will break my heart.
1825 pages, 150 chapters and many many tears later .... THE HIGH RATINGS FOR THIS SERIES ARE REAL AND I'M 100% ONE THIS HYPE TRAIN!
WARNING: This review contains a lot of screaming, crying, fangirling and mental breakdowns. Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions.
SONG RECOMMENDATION:
Family Portrait - P!nk
Bruises - Lewis Capaldi
Jane - Picture This
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
Breath Me- Sia
The reason why this book (and series in general) deserves all these 5 stars is because it has HEART. It has so much HEART, SOUL AND LOVE in it. The love is real. The most beautiful thing about The Boys of Tommen Series is, that it emphasises that love comes in many shapes and sizes.
Obviously, we have the romantic love, which ofc is a big part of this series, but besides that, Binding 13 and Keeping 13 showcase all the different forms of love such as: the most amazing bromances, supportive female-female friendships, how strangers can become family, beautiful & heartbreaking sibling relationships, the love parents have for their children, the love the children have for their parents even though they can be quite embarrassing and more.
WARNING 2: Each book in this series is long, like really long. That means a huge cast ensemble and lots of different relationships between them and I will say something to each characters & their relationship, because they are worth mentioning and the reason why this series is so great. Therefore this review is going to be a long one. (Decided to do a jointed review for Binding 13 and Keeping 13)
First of all, this series was addictive to read. Lately, I've been having problems reading books in one sitting, but with Binding 13 and Keeping 13? No problem at all. I said fuck my life, fuck my responsibilities, fuck exam preparation, fuck it all, I'm just going to read this series in under 48 hours and I did.
As lengthy as these books appear, it doesn't feel long at all. I was so entranced with the story and characters that 900 pages fly by like nothing. After finishing these books, I even wished them to be longer. The reason why these books are so long is because you get a front seat to all these characters lives. Instead of telling you how these people do things, they get shown. Every milestone is shown. Every important conversation is shown. Was every scene in this book necessary? No. Would I delete anything if I could? Never.
Because of how every scene was shown, I had the feeling of being right next to all these characters. All this talk about the characters, but I haven't told you anything about them yet. So here we go:
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 (H)
OH MY GOOD!!! *SWOOON* OH MY GOD!!
You're going to hate him, cause he just THAT perfect. Johnny is boyfriend material. He's every parent dream for their daughter. Smart, Gorgeous, Handsome, Future Rugby star, but most of all he's KIND & GENEROUS. I'm telling ya that's a lethal combination for my heart. Johnny was so sweet, I might cry because no guy in real life will ever compare to him. It's actually unfair, how unrealistically perfect he is 😭😭
It's annoying how my mind can't come up with one single flaw. All I can say is that his mother and father have raised him right. His an overall great guy. No flaws detected.
All his life, his only goal was rugby. All he focus on is training and playing rugby. A big part of the story is Johny finding himself and what he is outside of rugby. I love how from the moment he meet Shannon, he realises that he hasn't lived, because he was so focused on rugby. I don't know who his biggest fan was: Shannon, Gibsie, Mammy K or me? My money is on me. 😂
↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h)
Shannon is small, shy and extremely timid. If you look up 'damsel-in-distress' in the dictionary, you would find Shannon's picture. All characteristics I don't look for in a heroine to be honest. My favorite heroines are more the type of 'Kick-them-in-the-balls-and-burn-them-alive kind of girls. The only thing I wished would be different is, that Shannon had more of a backbone and stand up for herself more. But the further I got in the story, the more I understood where she came from.
I think it's so easy to judge a character by their behaviour just because you would act differently, but I know it's hard when you haven't walked in their shoes. At the beginning I was lowkey annoyed at Shannon for not telling her bullies to fuck off, but then I haven't been bullied and tormented my whole life in school. I don't have anxiety the way Shannon has anxiety, I haven't been mentally and physically abused by my father my whole life like Shannon. I haven't been separated with my family and got put into the foster system. That's just a fraction of terrible things that happened to Shannon. So who am I to judge how she's has or has not to behave?
For what life has given her so far, Shannon is a kind, strong & most of all resilient girl. She endured everything as best as she could. She's a survivor. One of the best thing was seeing Shannon finding herself and knowing her strengths. I love the character development she went through.
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 & 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍
URG... Johnny and Shannon were so adorable together. Their interactions are so damn awkward that it's sweet to watch. It's funny how a guy like Johnny, who has all these girls at his feet, fumbling with words and acting all awkward, because it's the first time that he has a crush on a girl.
*sigh* Johnny treated Shannon with so much care and respect, just thinking about it makes me want to cry 🥺🥺🥺 he let her dictate the pace. He never rushed her to do anything. He was the most respectful guy ever. Did I tell you that I love him? I couldn't imagine a more perfect guy for Shannon. He's exactly what she needed.
Their love was just so innocent and pure. 🤍🤍🤍
↬ 𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐃 '𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄' 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐍 (H's best friend)
THE KING, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, HIMSELF!!!
This guy.. holy shit he is mental 🤣 I have almost every single line of Gibsie highlighted. He's that funny. Every time he opened his big mouth:
Gibsie is hands down my favorite character in the whole series. This series has many amazing characters, but no one is on Gibsie's level. He's something else. He outshines everyone in every scene he is. The manwhore with the biggest heart.
His relationship with basically every person on page was comedy gold. He's never serious, but when it counts, he knows exactly what to do. If someone needs his help, he is there no question asked. I'm ready to build this man a shrine in my room. 🙌
↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘
They are the definition of platonic soulmates. Johnny and Gibsie are each other's RIDE OR DIE, or in their case RIDE AND DIE cause when you're riding with Gibsie, you're 100% going to die. 🤣
Gibsie and Johnny's bromance is one of the best thing that happened to me in 2020. Their friendship is to cry for. I loved it so much. Their banter is hilarious. I don't know how many times I LOLed, because of these two. These two don't have any secrets and are constantly giving each other
The way they kept lift each other up during darker times. Their bromance was everything. One of the best male-male friendships in literature I'm not lying.
↬ 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐒 (h's best friend)
Claire is such a ray of sunshine. I was so happy that Shannon had Claire and Lizzie by her side who supported her all the way. Shannon never had the chance for a normal childhood, so when she transferred to the new school and had Lizzie and Claire with her that was a relief.
It was good to see that Claire gave her a bit of normality. Doing girly stuff. Talking about boys. Going shopping. I love that Claire and Shannon had each other.
↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄
Gibsie and Claire are friends since childhood and clearly care for each other, but refuse to be together. I WANT THEIR BOOK NEXT AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL BOOK #5 IS A HATE CRIME AND PHUONG-PHOBIC 😭 Claire and Gibsie already bicker like an old married couple.
Their books is the one I'm looking forward the most. I'm already so fucking invested in their love story, it hurts 😭 I hate the childhood best friends to lovers trope, but I already know that Claire and Gibsie are going to own that trope.
↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h's older brother)
My poor baby. Someone go and protect this boy who has the world's responsibilities on his shoulders. All he does is work, care for his good for nothing mother, protect Shannon from their father, care for the rest of the family, while dealing with the rest of his life. Somebody give this guy a gold medal and a break!
Joey went through so much in this book and all I want for him is to be happy and healthy.
I can't wait for the next book, which is Joey and Aoife's story. They are going to pull second-chance and accidentally pregnancy trope. Two tropes I'm not particular fond of, but I know Chloe Walsh is going to pull it off somehow. I trust her.
↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 & 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘
The two amigos. The oldest siblings. The protectors. Shan and Joey got the worst end of the deal. Joey as the second oldest brother after their brother Darren walked out their house, had to protect all his baby siblings from his alcoholic & abusive father. Shannon as the only girl also got abused repetitively. It was them against the world.
Their relationship broke my heart. Brother and sister relationships are normally not that close. When you're a teen, you find you're brother/sister annoying as hell and you constantly fight. Not these two. They are as close as how two siblings who went through hell together could be. Joey and Shannon had some really deep talk that was heart wrenching.
With 16 and 18 years, you shouldn't be sitting in the car in front of your house crying and talking about leaving everything behind, cause reality is too hard. With 16 years, you shouldn't worry about your brother walking out the door and never coming back, cause the pressure of caring about your family is too much. Every time Joey and Shannon had to walk through the door to their abusive father, I just wanted to cry with them.
↬ 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀 & 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇
Never in my life, did I have a crush on parents as hard as I have with Edel Kavanagh and John Kavanagh. I don't know on who I crush harder??? Mama K is a fashion designer and the most protective mama-bear. She wouldn't even think for a second to throw herself into a fire to save her son. She's a fucking badass!! When I grow up, I want to be her!! She was also extremely funny. If she wasn't busy embarrassing Johny infront of Shan, she was cockblocking him hardcore 😂 I love her so much.
But John Kavanagh 🥵🥵🥵 I reached that age where it should be acceptable to crush on the son and the father at the same time LOL. If you read this book, you'll know. There is just something about successful lawyer, who are smart, kind and treat their family right that does something to me. Don't judge 🥵 😂 There is one scene where Daddy K is in the principal's office of Johnny's school and PLEASE the power play...
↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
I WANT THE KAVANGHS TO ADOPT ME, PLEASE. I say that every couple of days and in real life it's not possible to get adopted that often, but you know we're talking about fictional families here so I don't see the problem. I'm going to cry if they say no.
Mother a fashion designer, Father a lawyer, Son is a popular rugby player. Smart, gorgeous & generous. How does it feel like to be god's favorite?
I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM. These three together are literally family goals. The way John & Edel kept supporting Johnny was nothing short but amazing.
They are the best. I don't know better people.
↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
Speaking of god. When god gave out luck, he ran out when he got to the Lynch family. It's sad how unlucky the Lynch siblings were.
I hated their father and mother with a passion. I was so furious at the mother that she didn't protect her children better. Because of her they are all completely messed up. For the father I have nothing to say except that he deserves his ending.
As messed up as they are, I love all the Lynch siblings so much. Joey, Shannon, Tadhg, Ollie and Sean. They are all adorable and I loved their relationship with each other. Siblings that went through hell together, stay together.
𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒
I'm just trying to insert how perfect Johnny is wherever I can. To no one's surprise he was perfect with Shannon's younger brothers. Tadhg, Ollie and Sean adore him.
I'm missing so many other relationship dynamics that are worth mentioning like Gibsie + Tadhg, Johnny + his dog or all the guys in the rugby team (shoutout to Feely & Hughie), but I'm running out of characters oops..
If you made it until here, I appreciate it very much and thanks for reading, but what are you guys waiting for? If you can read this bad written, almost 15k review, you can also start Binding 13 😂
This book will not be for everyone, mostly because most people will see Shannon as weak, but everyone should at least try to experience this book. ALL THESE FEELS!!!!
Read
December 30, 2023free palestine 🇵🇸
(the author is problematic.)
𓏲 . ˙ ˖ 🩷 ꒱
[5 ★]
i love them 🥹 my loves my soul my heart beats for them. this is one of those books you wanna savor reading as well as finish reading all in a go and then reread as soon as you finish. it was addictive as fuck. this is definitely one of those books which will stay with me forever.
i’ve found my home with all these people - johnny, shannon, gibsie, claire, joey, aoife, tadhg, sean, mrs. kavanagh, mr. kavanagh, hughie, lizzie, katie and feely. i was living for joeyaoife crumbs. i laughed at every gibsieclaire crumb. i just love them so much.
they’re everything. that’s all i can say. 💗
(the author is problematic.)
𓏲 . ˙ ˖ 🩷 ꒱
[5 ★]
i love them 🥹 my loves my soul my heart beats for them. this is one of those books you wanna savor reading as well as finish reading all in a go and then reread as soon as you finish. it was addictive as fuck. this is definitely one of those books which will stay with me forever.
i’ve found my home with all these people - johnny, shannon, gibsie, claire, joey, aoife, tadhg, sean, mrs. kavanagh, mr. kavanagh, hughie, lizzie, katie and feely. i was living for joeyaoife crumbs. i laughed at every gibsieclaire crumb. i just love them so much.
they’re everything. that’s all i can say. 💗
September 21, 2023
fuck this book, honestly. my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined 😔
The beginning of this book was so good! I was literally so hooked and invested, looking forward to where Chloe Walsh was going to take us, and hoping and praying that it would be to great places so I could see what the hype was all about.
Well, she definitely took us somewhere. And that was, in circles.
If you ask me, I don't know her personally, but I think she lets all the intrusive thoughts in her head win and includes everything in the book except stuff that is actually necessary (read: character development, bonding moments, good dialogue). And she loves going in circles! You won't believe the number of times certain scenes are repeated in this book - truly blew my mind.
I'll just mention all the positives first because there's just one: Joey Lynch. Being an older sister with a somewhat dysfunctional family, I understood him on an astronomical level. He was the only character that honestly got any kind of an emotional reaction from me. I could feel his pain, and multiple times I just wanted to get into the book and physically hug him 🥹
Now the negatives. Oh boy, here we go:
1. I do not appreciate it when you give me a book that's 900+ pages long, and the characters don't have any sort of development or growth: I so badly wanted to see Shannon grow as a person and come out of her shell. I wanted to see her go to counseling (no idc if she's broke, she goes to a private institution, and I bet they have counselors). I wanted to see her handle her anxiety. I wanted to see what interests her. But all I got was her being horny, and her codependency on Johnny. She's still the damsel in distress she was in the first book. Yes, getting almost killed made her talk back to her brother, and mother, but it doesn't help her in any way. They get into the same 'johnny' argument multiple times throughout the book. Not once did she learn how to fight back for herself. All the 'killing them with kindness' at the end was a load of bs, I honestly rolled my eyes so hard at that. Even Shannon's mother had a lot of scope for improvement, but we got nothing.
2. Johnny: Just where do I start? What intrigued me the most about him was his dedication towards rugby in the first book (although we got a fat load of tell and no show there). Here, it all goes down the drain because he has a girlfriend, like seriously? We don't get to see his academy evaluation that he was freaking out about for the entirety of the last book. We get barely one or two paragraphs worth details of his first televised match. He isn't even fucking happy when he achieves something he has been working hard for the past 12 years of his life. Doesn't even crack a smile. Why? Because he's worried about 'leaving shannon behind.' Like, seriously, what the actual fuck?
3. The romance: *disappointed sigh* I was not rooting for them as a couple. They seriously gave me nothing except exaggerated love confessions that weirded me out because I really did not see where and how the hell had they fallen in love. They were also codependent as hell. Once they got together, almost every single interaction ended up with them entangled with each other, racing off to hornytown. Half of the book was them kissing -> shannon being max horny -> johnny saying it was a bad idea -> them getting cockblocked in the middle of it -> repeat (I'M NOT KIDDING, this exact scene happened like 4/5 times). And their first time, such a cliché scene, honestly made me feel bad for shannon because ain't no way they're convincing me he's experienced in bed with the way that was written. Moreover, I did not need so many explicitly written smut scenes between two teenagers.
4. The side characters: I loved Johnny's parents and Gibsie-Claire so much in the last book, I was seriously looking forward to seeing all their interactions. I'll just repeat anmol's words, because she put it perfectly - almost every single side character in this book was either a comic relief or a cockblocker or somebody who was against johnnyxshannon. That's it.
5. The dialogue: Oh my god, you will not fucking believe this. Almost every. single. conversation in this book revolved around sex. Johnny and shannon are constantly horny. Johnny and Gibsie are always talking about johnny getting the 'hole' (Which, yikes). Claire wants to know all the details of their sex life. We have multiple conversations where johnny's parents after his dick, or his sex life, and preaching to him and shannon about how they shouldn't have sex at such a young age and all that nonsense. We get a scene of his parents fucking too, and they're just talking with the kids while being half-naked. We get a condom shopping scene. We get Shannon's BABY brothers talking about shannon and johnny shoving tongues in each others mouths, or him being allowed to touch her boobs. We get darren telling shannon to not have sex. We get shannon's mom screaming about how johnny is a r/pist to want to have sex with her minor daughter. We get an elaborate discussion about gibsie's dick, just after . When johnny's drunk he's talking about his dick. Like I think I've made my point. But seriously, that's all everybody talked about in this book, and it frustrated me to NO END!
6. Appearance: The way they talked about each other's physical appearance was borderline disturbing at some points.
She's so small, Gibs. And she's only sixteen.
I was painfully aware of the sheer size of him. I was so small in his arms. I was breakable to this boy and it was a troubling thought.
He was big and strong and dangerously powerful. Given the chance, he could do some serious physical damage to my body.
Yeah, no. I don't like this 😬
7. The hero complex: Seriously, everyfuckingbody in the Kavanagh household has a huge hero complex, and I was not here for it. Johnny multiple times takes the blame on himself and burdens himself with guilt when it's not fucking necessary, and nobody is blaming him at all and he's not going to get into trouble, it's just overdramatic and gave me headaches 😭🙏🏻
8. Sob-stories: The way everybody in this book suddenly has a traumatic past or a story that we're just shown a 'hint' of riled me up. Multiple unnecessary conflicts happened at the end of the book, and situations where you just cannot justify what the characters were doing took place so we got those 'hints' for their books, and it really tested my patience.
9. Shannon: I know I've talked about her, but I think what gets overlooked is how selfish her character is, and I despised her sometimes.
I didn't understand why he had to leave, and I didn't want him to go, but he had signed the paperwork himself just before he stopped talking. He wanted to leave, and I was terrified of Monday coming, because I honestly didn't know how I was going to survive all of this without him.
Her brother is going through addiction problems, but all she can think about is herself? Like girl bffr? Multiple times throughout the book, she sees how much joey is wronged and the mental damage he goes through from just being near their mother, but she faults him for leaving. Meanwhile, she isn't making any such choices for her younger brothers, nope.
I have much more to ramble about, but this is getting super long, and I just don't have the energy. Safe to say, nobody could pay me enough to read any of this author's books ever again.
I know I'm all over the place here so you should read her review instead. It's much better, I promise.
also, anmol, words cannot express how amazing I think you are 💘
--
buddy reading with my wangxian twin, wouldn't have continued this series if not for her
pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood 😭
The beginning of this book was so good! I was literally so hooked and invested, looking forward to where Chloe Walsh was going to take us, and hoping and praying that it would be to great places so I could see what the hype was all about.
Well, she definitely took us somewhere. And that was, in circles.
If you ask me, I don't know her personally, but I think she lets all the intrusive thoughts in her head win and includes everything in the book except stuff that is actually necessary (read: character development, bonding moments, good dialogue). And she loves going in circles! You won't believe the number of times certain scenes are repeated in this book - truly blew my mind.
I'll just mention all the positives first because there's just one: Joey Lynch. Being an older sister with a somewhat dysfunctional family, I understood him on an astronomical level. He was the only character that honestly got any kind of an emotional reaction from me. I could feel his pain, and multiple times I just wanted to get into the book and physically hug him 🥹
Now the negatives. Oh boy, here we go:
1. I do not appreciate it when you give me a book that's 900+ pages long, and the characters don't have any sort of development or growth: I so badly wanted to see Shannon grow as a person and come out of her shell. I wanted to see her go to counseling (no idc if she's broke, she goes to a private institution, and I bet they have counselors). I wanted to see her handle her anxiety. I wanted to see what interests her. But all I got was her being horny, and her codependency on Johnny. She's still the damsel in distress she was in the first book. Yes, getting almost killed made her talk back to her brother, and mother, but it doesn't help her in any way. They get into the same 'johnny' argument multiple times throughout the book. Not once did she learn how to fight back for herself. All the 'killing them with kindness' at the end was a load of bs, I honestly rolled my eyes so hard at that. Even Shannon's mother had a lot of scope for improvement, but we got nothing.
2. Johnny: Just where do I start? What intrigued me the most about him was his dedication towards rugby in the first book (although we got a fat load of tell and no show there). Here, it all goes down the drain because he has a girlfriend, like seriously? We don't get to see his academy evaluation that he was freaking out about for the entirety of the last book. We get barely one or two paragraphs worth details of his first televised match. He isn't even fucking happy when he achieves something he has been working hard for the past 12 years of his life. Doesn't even crack a smile. Why? Because he's worried about 'leaving shannon behind.' Like, seriously, what the actual fuck?
3. The romance: *disappointed sigh* I was not rooting for them as a couple. They seriously gave me nothing except exaggerated love confessions that weirded me out because I really did not see where and how the hell had they fallen in love. They were also codependent as hell. Once they got together, almost every single interaction ended up with them entangled with each other, racing off to hornytown. Half of the book was them kissing -> shannon being max horny -> johnny saying it was a bad idea -> them getting cockblocked in the middle of it -> repeat (I'M NOT KIDDING, this exact scene happened like 4/5 times). And their first time, such a cliché scene, honestly made me feel bad for shannon because ain't no way they're convincing me he's experienced in bed with the way that was written. Moreover, I did not need so many explicitly written smut scenes between two teenagers.
4. The side characters: I loved Johnny's parents and Gibsie-Claire so much in the last book, I was seriously looking forward to seeing all their interactions. I'll just repeat anmol's words, because she put it perfectly - almost every single side character in this book was either a comic relief or a cockblocker or somebody who was against johnnyxshannon. That's it.
5. The dialogue: Oh my god, you will not fucking believe this. Almost every. single. conversation in this book revolved around sex. Johnny and shannon are constantly horny. Johnny and Gibsie are always talking about johnny getting the 'hole' (Which, yikes). Claire wants to know all the details of their sex life. We have multiple conversations where johnny's parents after his dick, or his sex life, and preaching to him and shannon about how they shouldn't have sex at such a young age and all that nonsense. We get a scene of his parents fucking too, and they're just talking with the kids while being half-naked. We get a condom shopping scene. We get Shannon's BABY brothers talking about shannon and johnny shoving tongues in each others mouths, or him being allowed to touch her boobs. We get darren telling shannon to not have sex. We get shannon's mom screaming about how johnny is a r/pist to want to have sex with her minor daughter. We get an elaborate discussion about gibsie's dick, just after . When johnny's drunk he's talking about his dick. Like I think I've made my point. But seriously, that's all everybody talked about in this book, and it frustrated me to NO END!
6. Appearance: The way they talked about each other's physical appearance was borderline disturbing at some points.
She's so small, Gibs. And she's only sixteen.
I was painfully aware of the sheer size of him. I was so small in his arms. I was breakable to this boy and it was a troubling thought.
He was big and strong and dangerously powerful. Given the chance, he could do some serious physical damage to my body.
Yeah, no. I don't like this 😬
7. The hero complex: Seriously, everyfuckingbody in the Kavanagh household has a huge hero complex, and I was not here for it. Johnny multiple times takes the blame on himself and burdens himself with guilt when it's not fucking necessary, and nobody is blaming him at all and he's not going to get into trouble, it's just overdramatic and gave me headaches 😭🙏🏻
8. Sob-stories: The way everybody in this book suddenly has a traumatic past or a story that we're just shown a 'hint' of riled me up. Multiple unnecessary conflicts happened at the end of the book, and situations where you just cannot justify what the characters were doing took place so we got those 'hints' for their books, and it really tested my patience.
9. Shannon: I know I've talked about her, but I think what gets overlooked is how selfish her character is, and I despised her sometimes.
I didn't understand why he had to leave, and I didn't want him to go, but he had signed the paperwork himself just before he stopped talking. He wanted to leave, and I was terrified of Monday coming, because I honestly didn't know how I was going to survive all of this without him.
Her brother is going through addiction problems, but all she can think about is herself? Like girl bffr? Multiple times throughout the book, she sees how much joey is wronged and the mental damage he goes through from just being near their mother, but she faults him for leaving. Meanwhile, she isn't making any such choices for her younger brothers, nope.
I have much more to ramble about, but this is getting super long, and I just don't have the energy. Safe to say, nobody could pay me enough to read any of this author's books ever again.
I know I'm all over the place here so you should read her review instead. It's much better, I promise.
also, anmol, words cannot express how amazing I think you are 💘
--
buddy reading with my wangxian twin, wouldn't have continued this series if not for her
pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood 😭
March 1, 2024
—— 5.✰ stars.
・❥・ Mood of the book:
: ̗̀➛ Bruises by Lewis Capaldi
: ̗̀➛ Paradise by Coldplay
: ̗̀➛ Family Line by Conan Gray
It has taken me a while to write this review because my thoughts and feelings are still chaotic as fuck, the pain, the suffering that these books have caused me cannot be described in words, just as the joy and the tears of pride that came from my eyes in the few (VERY FEW) moments of happiness. I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about these books, these characters, and these feelings for a long time, and this paragraph alone clearly explains the well-deserved 5.✰ stars. I have some complaints, I'm not going to lie, but they have been totally overshadowed by all of the above.
'for keeps?'
'for keeps'
GOOD!! AFTER THE INTENSE MOMENT!! LET'S GO! For this review I will do a part without spoilers and then a small part with spoilers so I can expand on the characters.
Once again I insist that before reading the books, check the trigger warnings, since it deals with complicated and sensitive topics as well as explicit sexual content.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I'm sorry to be repetitive, but I can't not mention giuls, who passionately insisted that I read these books, and who has been accompanying me during them too, I love you a crazy fucking amount ye bleeding eejit.
'You show up and all the bad just...goes away for a little while'
The book begins exactly where the first book ends, so I can't say much about it without spoilers, but I can say that Johnny and Shannon will have to face difficult decisions, in their relationship, in their families, and especially in their futures.
'That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.'
If you think the first book is painful, wait for this one. I have to say that in terms of the plot, I liked the first book more, but only for the simple fact that I am the number 1 fan of slow burn, but since the romance is not the main point of the book, I don't care.
'-You smell like home.
-You are home.'
The author's way of writing is simple, but at the same time, when you least expect it, she hits you in the face with a quote that takes your breath away.
'I felt like she had taken a knife to my chest, cut me right open, and every bit of me was bleeding into her'
The pace of the book is difficult to describe, because it is objectively slow, but it is so addictive that the pages fly and it feels like you have read a 400-page book instead of one with more than 800.
'I want your trouble, and your complications, and everything else that comes with you.'
As I already said on my Binding 13 review, the romance between Johnny and Shannon is one of the purest and sweetest romances I have read, if not the most. Reading Johnny's thoughts about Shannon made me feel butterflies in my stomach, it was like reliving the feeling of first love all over again.
Quoting mother Taylor, Johnny can be described as 'in a world of boys, he is a gentleman' his way of treating Shannon?? CRYING AND SOBBING HARD.
'Like a crazy fucking amount'
When I say that romance is not the most important thing in this book, I say it because in my humble opinion, the most important thing is the relationships, not only between the main characters, but also between siblings, friends and other secondary couples. For me it is necessary to highlight the relationship between Gibsie and Johnny, which could not be more fun and endearing, and the relationship between Joey and his brothers that breaks my heart into millions of pieces.
'Every bit of me misses every bit of you'
Thank you so much if you read until here, the following text will be full of spoilers, so avoid it if you didn't read the book.
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
Ok, the development of their relationship was cute, but it is true that it was the least important thing to me, as I have said before, I really enjoy slowburn, so when a relationship is established, I tend to get a little bored, but it wasn't the case. Between all of Shannon's family drama and Johnny's recovery and decisions about his future, the book is entertaining and their relationship progresses well. I'm glad Johnny decided to stay one more year and wait to make the national team, so he can enjoy his teenage years more.
'Because when it comes to you, Shannon Lynch, I’m all in.' 'Me too.' 'Where you go, I go.' 'Promise?' 'I promise.'
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑱𝒐𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒐𝒊𝒇𝒆 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
'I cried for my broken home, for my fucked-up family, for my little brothers, but mostly I cried for Joey, for self-destructing and detonating the one good thing he had in his life.'
The truth is that this couple did not have it easy in this book, and it scares me a lot to read reedeming 6 knowing that turbulence is coming. I like them a lot as a couple, Aoife seems like a bad bitch with the biggest heart in the world, when she hit Bella to defend Shannon?? GO BAD BITCH GO BAD BITCH GO.
'Nothing will put him back together again. Dad threw him off the wall and you lost the pieces to put him back together'
'There is something very special about that boy, but he is lost, and if someone doesn't step up and do something, he will never find his way back'
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑻𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒚'𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
Ugh, let's see how should I say this without sounding like a bad person, I was not at all sad about the death of Teddy Lynch, and about Marie's death... I have a conflict, because although I feel sorry for her because she has not had a life to not easy at all, she couldn't even stand up for her children, she was a coward her entire life and continued choosing Teddy over her children until almost the end. I know it's a toxic relationship and it's very easy to judge from the outside, but it's impossible to empathize with her given Shannon's point of view and Joey and Tadgh's words towards her.
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
On this topic I also have conflict, I don't like Darren at all, but I can empathize with him more than with his mother. I can understand why he left home, because no one deserves to endure what those brothers endured, but as a person with a little brother, I couldn't abandon him to his fate like that, but I guess it's putting yourself in the situation. MY FEELINGS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE ISTG, FUCKING CHLOE.
Thank you so much for reading until here.
⤳ Old Updates:
I will never recover from these books 😭. Definitely for the keeps and crazy fucking amount 💗. rtc
Feb 13: YAY MORE PAIN 😍 let’s get it lads!!
'i want you just the way you are, every part and every piece' 'Even the broken parts?' 'Especially the broken parts.'
・❥・ Mood of the book:
: ̗̀➛ Bruises by Lewis Capaldi
: ̗̀➛ Paradise by Coldplay
: ̗̀➛ Family Line by Conan Gray
It has taken me a while to write this review because my thoughts and feelings are still chaotic as fuck, the pain, the suffering that these books have caused me cannot be described in words, just as the joy and the tears of pride that came from my eyes in the few (VERY FEW) moments of happiness. I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about these books, these characters, and these feelings for a long time, and this paragraph alone clearly explains the well-deserved 5.✰ stars. I have some complaints, I'm not going to lie, but they have been totally overshadowed by all of the above.
'for keeps?'
'for keeps'
GOOD!! AFTER THE INTENSE MOMENT!! LET'S GO! For this review I will do a part without spoilers and then a small part with spoilers so I can expand on the characters.
Once again I insist that before reading the books, check the trigger warnings, since it deals with complicated and sensitive topics as well as explicit sexual content.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ I'm sorry to be repetitive, but I can't not mention giuls, who passionately insisted that I read these books, and who has been accompanying me during them too, I love you a crazy fucking amount ye bleeding eejit.
'You show up and all the bad just...goes away for a little while'
•┈••✦ 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 ✦••┈•:
The book begins exactly where the first book ends, so I can't say much about it without spoilers, but I can say that Johnny and Shannon will have to face difficult decisions, in their relationship, in their families, and especially in their futures.
'That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.'
If you think the first book is painful, wait for this one. I have to say that in terms of the plot, I liked the first book more, but only for the simple fact that I am the number 1 fan of slow burn, but since the romance is not the main point of the book, I don't care.
'-You smell like home.
-You are home.'
•┈••✦ 𝒑𝒂𝒄�� 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈✦••┈•:
The author's way of writing is simple, but at the same time, when you least expect it, she hits you in the face with a quote that takes your breath away.
'I felt like she had taken a knife to my chest, cut me right open, and every bit of me was bleeding into her'
The pace of the book is difficult to describe, because it is objectively slow, but it is so addictive that the pages fly and it feels like you have read a 400-page book instead of one with more than 800.
•┈••✦ 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 ✦••┈•:
'I want your trouble, and your complications, and everything else that comes with you.'
As I already said on my Binding 13 review, the romance between Johnny and Shannon is one of the purest and sweetest romances I have read, if not the most. Reading Johnny's thoughts about Shannon made me feel butterflies in my stomach, it was like reliving the feeling of first love all over again.
Quoting mother Taylor, Johnny can be described as 'in a world of boys, he is a gentleman' his way of treating Shannon?? CRYING AND SOBBING HARD.
'Like a crazy fucking amount'
When I say that romance is not the most important thing in this book, I say it because in my humble opinion, the most important thing is the relationships, not only between the main characters, but also between siblings, friends and other secondary couples. For me it is necessary to highlight the relationship between Gibsie and Johnny, which could not be more fun and endearing, and the relationship between Joey and his brothers that breaks my heart into millions of pieces.
'Every bit of me misses every bit of you'
Thank you so much if you read until here, the following text will be full of spoilers, so avoid it if you didn't read the book.
•┈••✦ 𝑺𝑷𝑶𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑨𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫 ✦••┈•:
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
'I'm all in, Shannon. Scars and all. Fucked up father and all'
Ok, the development of their relationship was cute, but it is true that it was the least important thing to me, as I have said before, I really enjoy slowburn, so when a relationship is established, I tend to get a little bored, but it wasn't the case. Between all of Shannon's family drama and Johnny's recovery and decisions about his future, the book is entertaining and their relationship progresses well. I'm glad Johnny decided to stay one more year and wait to make the national team, so he can enjoy his teenage years more.
'Because when it comes to you, Shannon Lynch, I’m all in.' 'Me too.' 'Where you go, I go.' 'Promise?' 'I promise.'
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑱𝒐𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒐𝒊𝒇𝒆 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
'Because Aoife gave him something that day, something to cling to. Hopes for the future.'
'I cried for my broken home, for my fucked-up family, for my little brothers, but mostly I cried for Joey, for self-destructing and detonating the one good thing he had in his life.'
The truth is that this couple did not have it easy in this book, and it scares me a lot to read reedeming 6 knowing that turbulence is coming. I like them a lot as a couple, Aoife seems like a bad bitch with the biggest heart in the world, when she hit Bella to defend Shannon?? GO BAD BITCH GO BAD BITCH GO.
'Nothing will put him back together again. Dad threw him off the wall and you lost the pieces to put him back together'
'There is something very special about that boy, but he is lost, and if someone doesn't step up and do something, he will never find his way back'
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑻𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒚'𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
Ugh, let's see how should I say this without sounding like a bad person, I was not at all sad about the death of Teddy Lynch, and about Marie's death... I have a conflict, because although I feel sorry for her because she has not had a life to not easy at all, she couldn't even stand up for her children, she was a coward her entire life and continued choosing Teddy over her children until almost the end. I know it's a toxic relationship and it's very easy to judge from the outside, but it's impossible to empathize with her given Shannon's point of view and Joey and Tadgh's words towards her.
*:･ﾟ｡ 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏 *ੈ✩‧₊˚
On this topic I also have conflict, I don't like Darren at all, but I can empathize with him more than with his mother. I can understand why he left home, because no one deserves to endure what those brothers endured, but as a person with a little brother, I couldn't abandon him to his fate like that, but I guess it's putting yourself in the situation. MY FEELINGS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE ISTG, FUCKING CHLOE.
Thank you so much for reading until here.
⤳ Old Updates:
I will never recover from these books 😭. Definitely for the keeps and crazy fucking amount 💗. rtc
Feb 13: YAY MORE PAIN 😍 let’s get it lads!!
July 30, 2024
Edit: it CONSUMED me and left no crumbs :)
Will I finish this book or will it finish me?. . .
Will I finish this book or will it finish me?. . .
March 26, 2020
So this was long...way too long...and sometimes really tedious as a result...but I still LOVED it.
Did I mention it was long?
And sometimes tedious?
Cause it was.
There were so many unnecessary scenes...
SO many superfluous conversations...
SO many blue Val balls...
But you know what?
Cause I adored this thing.
In the end, I adored all the unnecessary scenes. Because, yes, while they weren't really intrinsic as far as plot and character-building went, I loved spending more time with these characters and getting more moments and angles with them.
I adored all the superfluous dialogue. Because, yes, while some of it had NO point whatsoever and did nothing to move the story forward, again: I loved spending more time with these characters.
Plus, witty.
Also, just as in the first book, this one dealt with hard-hitting topics in a way that didn't feel false or over-dramatized. Were some of the events VERY dramatic? Absolutely. But they never felt contrived.
As I have already said, I loved all the characters, especially Johnny and Shannon's friend group. Especially Johnny (of course). The slow build of his and Shannon's relationship (while sometimes frustrating for someone used to reading a LOT of fast-movingsmut romance) was SO worth it in the end. Blue balls and all.
I cannot WAIT until Joey's book...and I'm so glad I ended up starting this series right before book three comes out. The wait for book four might slay me.
Did I mention it was long?
And sometimes tedious?
Cause it was.
There were so many unnecessary scenes...
SO many superfluous conversations...
SO many blue Val balls...
But you know what?
Cause I adored this thing.
In the end, I adored all the unnecessary scenes. Because, yes, while they weren't really intrinsic as far as plot and character-building went, I loved spending more time with these characters and getting more moments and angles with them.
I adored all the superfluous dialogue. Because, yes, while some of it had NO point whatsoever and did nothing to move the story forward, again: I loved spending more time with these characters.
Plus, witty.
Also, just as in the first book, this one dealt with hard-hitting topics in a way that didn't feel false or over-dramatized. Were some of the events VERY dramatic? Absolutely. But they never felt contrived.
As I have already said, I loved all the characters, especially Johnny and Shannon's friend group. Especially Johnny (of course). The slow build of his and Shannon's relationship (while sometimes frustrating for someone used to reading a LOT of fast-moving
I cannot WAIT until Joey's book...and I'm so glad I ended up starting this series right before book three comes out. The wait for book four might slay me.
March 16, 2024
"Hi, Johnny."
"Hi, Shannon." 🥹
3.5 Stars Rounded Up!⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story picks up right where book 1 ends in the middle of Shannon and Johnny's tumultuous relationship - but for everyone that has been commenting and are worried - there is a HEA here! ❤️
I'm going to keep this pretty short because there's not much detail that I can go into as this is book 2 and heavy on spoilers.
When I first started this series I was a major skeptic - the writing is very wattpadish and an editor would have been really appreciated. If I never hear 'Shannon like the river' again it will be too soon. But these characters wormed their way into my heart despite all of the flaws that I found with the books. So, I cannot even be a hater here- Johnny, Shannon and all of the others have won me over!
╰┈➤ I loved the growth of Shannon in this book. I will say, that even though I felt terrible for her in book 1 with everything that she had going on at home, and at school and well- in general. She frustrated me to no end. Okay, that's harsh, but I did find myself rooting for her to stand up for herself in some way when possible. I don't do well with frail FMC's so forgive me for some of my criticism of her.
In this book, her growth starts to shine. She's still insecure and a little grating for me but I found that the more she felt comfortable and loved - she really started to thrive and I loved seeing that for her.
╰┈➤ Johnny is just amazing. What an amazing, loving, caring, understanding, green flag hunk of a man. I loved how no matter what nothing would deter him from being there for Shannon, and how tender and patient he was with her.
Not only was he marvelous with her but with her family. Oh, that makes my heart sing! Her tight relationship with her brothers and despite being amidst all of the family turmoil - he held fast and was a true example of how a love interest should treat his woman/partner.
╰┈➤ Johnny's parents - omg. Shut the front door. They are the best and I love them so much!
I feel like I've been through such a long journey with these characters and I love them all so much - I can't wait to continue and read Joey's story because he is life and deserves all the best.
Overall, yes. I have many issues with these books and the writing but at it's core it's a story about tragedy, love, sacrifice, resilience, growth, compassion, hope and family. I highly recommend them!
✨Shy Girl/ Popular Boy
✨ Sports Romance
✨Found Family
✨Dual POV
✨Hurt/Comfort
✨Friends to Lovers
╰┈➤ 𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼
“Every bit of me misses every bit of you.”
“My whole heart's inside of ya.”
“I loved her more than I knew what to do with. I could see it all ahead of me: my life, my future, my career, and her. The girl I knew would play the leading role in all of it. I'd thrown it all in with her and I had no doubts. Not a single one. She was my teammate now.”
“You show up and all the bad just...goes away for a little while.”
“That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.”
“We're all a little fractured.”
“I want your trouble, and your complications, and everything else that comes with you.” 💕
"Hi, Shannon." 🥹
3.5 Stars Rounded Up!⭐⭐⭐⭐
This story picks up right where book 1 ends in the middle of Shannon and Johnny's tumultuous relationship - but for everyone that has been commenting and are worried - there is a HEA here! ❤️
I'm going to keep this pretty short because there's not much detail that I can go into as this is book 2 and heavy on spoilers.
When I first started this series I was a major skeptic - the writing is very wattpadish and an editor would have been really appreciated. If I never hear 'Shannon like the river' again it will be too soon. But these characters wormed their way into my heart despite all of the flaws that I found with the books. So, I cannot even be a hater here- Johnny, Shannon and all of the others have won me over!
╰┈➤ I loved the growth of Shannon in this book. I will say, that even though I felt terrible for her in book 1 with everything that she had going on at home, and at school and well- in general. She frustrated me to no end. Okay, that's harsh, but I did find myself rooting for her to stand up for herself in some way when possible. I don't do well with frail FMC's so forgive me for some of my criticism of her.
In this book, her growth starts to shine. She's still insecure and a little grating for me but I found that the more she felt comfortable and loved - she really started to thrive and I loved seeing that for her.
╰┈➤ Johnny is just amazing. What an amazing, loving, caring, understanding, green flag hunk of a man. I loved how no matter what nothing would deter him from being there for Shannon, and how tender and patient he was with her.
Not only was he marvelous with her but with her family. Oh, that makes my heart sing! Her tight relationship with her brothers and despite being amidst all of the family turmoil - he held fast and was a true example of how a love interest should treat his woman/partner.
╰┈➤ Johnny's parents - omg. Shut the front door. They are the best and I love them so much!
I feel like I've been through such a long journey with these characters and I love them all so much - I can't wait to continue and read Joey's story because he is life and deserves all the best.
Overall, yes. I have many issues with these books and the writing but at it's core it's a story about tragedy, love, sacrifice, resilience, growth, compassion, hope and family. I highly recommend them!
✨Shy Girl/ Popular Boy
✨ Sports Romance
✨Found Family
✨Dual POV
✨Hurt/Comfort
✨Friends to Lovers
╰┈➤ 𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼
“Every bit of me misses every bit of you.”
“My whole heart's inside of ya.”
“I loved her more than I knew what to do with. I could see it all ahead of me: my life, my future, my career, and her. The girl I knew would play the leading role in all of it. I'd thrown it all in with her and I had no doubts. Not a single one. She was my teammate now.”
“You show up and all the bad just...goes away for a little while.”
“That very first time I saw you? You sparked to life something inside of me.”
“We're all a little fractured.”
“I want your trouble, and your complications, and everything else that comes with you.” 💕
Read
December 5, 20232/5
It took me three months to finish it because every time Shannon was described as tiny, small and pea-sized, I had to close the book and ask myself if life was worth living.
It's not that the book was bad, but I felt like I was back on Wattpad. The writing style was fine and the story, while extremely repetitive, was interesting enough for me to finish it. At times I even cried. Though I can't imagine ever reading it again.
Shannon and Johnny The main and my least favorite couple. They had cute and heartbreaking moments, but they are not my type of characters. Sometimes I had to stop reading, because their conversations were so awkward that I needed to take a break. If this book was only focused on them I don’t know if I could do it.
I don't even want to start with the fact that they tried to do intimate things on almost every occasion they were together. And. I especially don't want to talk about their first time. I want to erase this scene from my memory. Actually, I want to erase every intimate scene from my memory, because reading them felt illegal to me. She was sixteen and he seventeen. I forgot why I stopped reading books about minors.
I think the biggest disappointment of the book was when Johnny came back from a rugby trip and when he saw Shannon his first thought was her body. How it changed while he was gone.
The last thing that made me finish this book in three months.
Please stoppp. I know she is tiny. You don’t have to constantly reminded me of it.
Aofie and Joey Their moments here made me cry. I need to read their book. I actually put up with this one for them. I hope their story won’t disappoint me, because Joey is my favorite character so far.
Gerard and Claire I love Claire, but Gibsie was giving me shudders sometimes. I know he had no filter, but the things this guy said. I didn't know whether to laugh or be terrified. I'm quite disappointed because the 'funny' of the group of friends usually becomes my favorite. Unfortunately, that is not the case here.
I had to stop reading for a week when he started talking about Johnny's mom like that.
Johnny’s parents I want both of them. If my marriage doesn't look like theirs, I don't want it.
I was screaming when Johnny's dad called his mom ‘sweetheart'. She was literally an angel, it fit.
Lizzie and Feely or .. Hughie.. God, I hope Feely. I’m terrified, because I heard Lizzie might cheat with Hughie, and Katie with Feely. I’m praying it’s a joke. Cheating is the worst thing that exists. Lizzie and Feely would be so cute. Lizzie is giving a black cat girlfriend energy and Feely was so sweet, shy and plays the guitar. They had some moments at the end of the book together and I would love to read about them. They have a good chance of being my second favorite couple here. After Joey and Aofie. I hope.
Ughhhh they would be so cute WHYY. I hope this weird cheating foursome won’t happen.
I know Lizzy isn't the nicest or friendliest person, but I loved those moments when she cared for Shannon.
Katie and Hughie They are a couple and PLEASE Chloe, keep them that way. Preferably until the end of this series. They were moments of them kissing, hugging, sneaking to you know and they were honestly cute.
It probably won’t be my favorite series ever, but I had fun. I would love to love it like I see people doing on the internet, but I just can't. I can’t wait to get read the next book though!
Boys of Tommen series
1. Binding 13 2 stars
2. Keeping 13 3 stars
3. Saving 6 3 stars
4. Redeeming 6 tbr
It took me three months to finish it because every time Shannon was described as tiny, small and pea-sized, I had to close the book and ask myself if life was worth living.
It's not that the book was bad, but I felt like I was back on Wattpad. The writing style was fine and the story, while extremely repetitive, was interesting enough for me to finish it. At times I even cried. Though I can't imagine ever reading it again.
Shannon and Johnny The main and my least favorite couple. They had cute and heartbreaking moments, but they are not my type of characters. Sometimes I had to stop reading, because their conversations were so awkward that I needed to take a break. If this book was only focused on them I don’t know if I could do it.
I don't even want to start with the fact that they tried to do intimate things on almost every occasion they were together. And. I especially don't want to talk about their first time. I want to erase this scene from my memory. Actually, I want to erase every intimate scene from my memory, because reading them felt illegal to me. She was sixteen and he seventeen. I forgot why I stopped reading books about minors.
I think the biggest disappointment of the book was when Johnny came back from a rugby trip and when he saw Shannon his first thought was her body. How it changed while he was gone.
The last thing that made me finish this book in three months.
"I bet he's huge and you're so tiny…"
"She's really small okay? Fucking tiny."
"tiny, little girl,"
"She was so small, so fucking tiny,"
Please stoppp. I know she is tiny. You don’t have to constantly reminded me of it.
Aofie and Joey Their moments here made me cry. I need to read their book. I actually put up with this one for them. I hope their story won’t disappoint me, because Joey is my favorite character so far.
"You can't scare me away." Her blonde hair pillowed around them as she whispered, "You're mine, remember?"
"Jesus –" Shuddering, Joey pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. "You don't wait, do you hear me?" Sniffling, he cupped her cheeks in his trembling hands and looked into her eyes. "You live your life, okay?"
"You shut up, Joey Lynch," she sobbed, gripping his sides. "I love you." "
You shut up, Aoife Molloy," he shot back gruffly and pressed a kiss to her brow. "I love you, too."
Gerard and Claire I love Claire, but Gibsie was giving me shudders sometimes. I know he had no filter, but the things this guy said. I didn't know whether to laugh or be terrified. I'm quite disappointed because the 'funny' of the group of friends usually becomes my favorite. Unfortunately, that is not the case here.
I had to stop reading for a week when he started talking about Johnny's mom like that.
"And that body –"
"That's my mother, ye sick bastards!" I snapped, bristling. "You don't hear me talking about any of yer Ma's like that!" "Because none of our mothers look like your mother," Gibsie snickered. "Mammy K." He sighed dramatically. "Mmm."
Johnny’s parents I want both of them. If my marriage doesn't look like theirs, I don't want it.
"You're just plain whipped for going along with her."
"She's my wife," he mused. "Your mother can whip me in whatever way she wants"
I was screaming when Johnny's dad called his mom ‘sweetheart'. She was literally an angel, it fit.
"Look at them."
"I see them, Edel," Dad replied calmly. "I see everything you're seeing, sweetheart."
Lizzie and Feely or .. Hughie.. God, I hope Feely. I’m terrified, because I heard Lizzie might cheat with Hughie, and Katie with Feely. I’m praying it’s a joke. Cheating is the worst thing that exists. Lizzie and Feely would be so cute. Lizzie is giving a black cat girlfriend energy and Feely was so sweet, shy and plays the guitar. They had some moments at the end of the book together and I would love to read about them. They have a good chance of being my second favorite couple here. After Joey and Aofie. I hope.
"And I'm so sorry," Lizzie sobbed. "They know," Feely replied. Turning to Lizzie, he crooked a finger and said, "Come here." "Wh-what?"
"I said come here," he repeated in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "Now." Stunned, I watched as Lizzie complied without a word and walked over to him. "Now, you and I are going to go for a walk and let them all cool off," Feely said, taking ahold of her hand. "And we're going to come back when everyone here remembers that they're not perfect angels." "O-okay." Sniffling, Lizzie nodded and let Feely lead her away from the campsite."
"I'd leave right now if I had my way."
"Good choice," Feely interjected quietly, giving her a small nod. Lizzie blushed. "I know."
Ughhhh they would be so cute WHYY. I hope this weird cheating foursome won’t happen.
I know Lizzy isn't the nicest or friendliest person, but I loved those moments when she cared for Shannon.
"She's all prickles, but there's a good person under that. She's a lot like Joey in ways. She makes it very hard for people to love her, but it's a defense mechanism. Trust me, I know."
Katie and Hughie They are a couple and PLEASE Chloe, keep them that way. Preferably until the end of this series. They were moments of them kissing, hugging, sneaking to you know and they were honestly cute.
It probably won’t be my favorite series ever, but I had fun. I would love to love it like I see people doing on the internet, but I just can't. I can’t wait to get read the next book though!
Boys of Tommen series
1. Binding 13 2 stars
2. Keeping 13 3 stars
3. Saving 6 3 stars
4. Redeeming 6 tbr
November 14, 2024
06.10.2024
i'm starting this one right away bc wtf was THAT ending in book one???
14.10.2024
⚠️❗
i might spoil a few things so if you have't read the book and plan to... it's up to you if you keep reading my review.
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧
book playlist
• somewhere only we know by keane (found family moments w the lynchs and kavanaghs)
• right now by one direction (johnny & shannon)
• someone to stay by vancouver sleep clinic (johnny saying i love you and staying through thick and thin)
• the beach by the neighbourhood (spicyyyy jhonny & shannon)
• broken home by 5sos (joey leaving home)
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧
I lost the battle, i totally get it now, johnny you're everything that's good in this book you have all i need in a book bf 🛐✨🤌🏽
I really liked this one, but i'm not sure yet if i liked it better than the first one. I'd say that i liked both of them for different reasons.
⋆˚࿔ shannon: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ she's still an okay fmc to me, i wouldn't say i love her bc at the end i think she didn't have a LOT of growth, she's very fragile, with little self-confidence, always doubting herself.
This was our last chance to get to know her more as a fmc and I felt like everything that happened to her was tied to Johnny and she as an individual didn't exist. We know that the path for Johnny is rugby, but what about Shannon???? Literally in the last few chapters they give a hint that she might be interested in being a veteran, but that's it.
Shannon never shows any interest in anything, she never has something else to move forward and do something in her future, it seemed like a waste of character development to me, and i don't hate her, because I think all of it is a result of how she lived up until that point, but I don't think she's a great memorable character either.
⋆˚࿔ johnny: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ he's the star of this book, i will say that until the end of times, he's such a supportive bf, always caring and trying to understand her, he's there for her 24/7 and he's always willing to leave everything aside just to make sure she's okay, he just wants her to be happy, to feel calm and at peace, and that extends to the people she loves as well, like her siblings and even friends.
And besides all of that i felt he DID had some character development, regarding how he saw himself and rugby tied together at the start of the story and how by the end he understands that rugby IS a very important part of his life, but also to know that he's so much more than that and he wants to enjoy other things in his youth before that and it's okay.
I really loved seeing his dynamic with shannon's siblings, specially sean, like, that's his onny, and i swear i was just expecting him to call him daddy lmao.
⋆˚࿔ joey: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ it was clear that everything was being set up to open up Joey and Aoife's story.
As soon as I found out Joey's history with drugs my world fell apart. I just want Joey to have all the good things in this world, to be able to drop the weight on his shoulders, to be able to feel worthy of a happy ending, without worrying about anything other than his well-being and happiness.
It broke my heart to see how he was slowly falling apart and the last straw was seeing how, despite having gone through the same thing with Darren 5 years before, he also left home and left his siblings.
My only comfort right now is knowing that the next two books are his and that he will have a happy ending and I will be able to see him smile and have the family he deserves, but at the same time it BREAKS me knowing that first I will have to see him suffer (and suffer myself, of course).
「 ✦ 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ✦ 」
With the first 30% i thought this was going to be 5 stars but then the story got very repetitive. Most of the middle part of the book was Johnny and Shannon having very intimate moments (some cute with deep, important conversations), then getting more and more spicy and finally being cockblocked for whatever reason. I swear it happened at least 5 times and it got tiring at one point.
It was just after the fire that i felt everything moved a lot quicker, and i appreciated that. And about that... i joked about shannon's mom being killed off in this one but i was not expecting for that to ACTUALLY happen, so.. just imagine my face. I was too tuned to speak 💀
The lack of character growth for Shannon and not having a personality besides loving Johnny also affected my rating. And, just like the previous book, some chapters were unnecessarily stretched and the book could have had 200 less pages without affecting the plot.
But still, this book is 4 stars for me because I enjoyed it a lot, I love most of the characters, I care about them and I just want them to be happy.
i'm starting this one right away bc wtf was THAT ending in book one???
14.10.2024
⚠️❗
i might spoil a few things so if you have't read the book and plan to... it's up to you if you keep reading my review.
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧
book playlist
• somewhere only we know by keane (found family moments w the lynchs and kavanaghs)
• right now by one direction (johnny & shannon)
• someone to stay by vancouver sleep clinic (johnny saying i love you and staying through thick and thin)
• the beach by the neighbourhood (spicyyyy jhonny & shannon)
• broken home by 5sos (joey leaving home)
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾..𖥔 ݁ 🪐˖⊱‧
I lost the battle, i totally get it now, johnny you're everything that's good in this book you have all i need in a book bf 🛐✨🤌🏽
I really liked this one, but i'm not sure yet if i liked it better than the first one. I'd say that i liked both of them for different reasons.
⋆˚࿔ shannon: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ she's still an okay fmc to me, i wouldn't say i love her bc at the end i think she didn't have a LOT of growth, she's very fragile, with little self-confidence, always doubting herself.
This was our last chance to get to know her more as a fmc and I felt like everything that happened to her was tied to Johnny and she as an individual didn't exist. We know that the path for Johnny is rugby, but what about Shannon???? Literally in the last few chapters they give a hint that she might be interested in being a veteran, but that's it.
Shannon never shows any interest in anything, she never has something else to move forward and do something in her future, it seemed like a waste of character development to me, and i don't hate her, because I think all of it is a result of how she lived up until that point, but I don't think she's a great memorable character either.
“My binding 13.”
I choked out a pained laugh, thinking about that stupid bet. “You heard about that?”
“Yeah.” Half-sobbing/ half-laughing, Shannon smiled and nodded. “I won.”
“Hands down.” I kissed her puffy lips. “Undisputed.”
“Now, I'm keeping 13,” she told me. “So come home to me when you're done, okay?”
“I will.”
⋆˚࿔ johnny: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ he's the star of this book, i will say that until the end of times, he's such a supportive bf, always caring and trying to understand her, he's there for her 24/7 and he's always willing to leave everything aside just to make sure she's okay, he just wants her to be happy, to feel calm and at peace, and that extends to the people she loves as well, like her siblings and even friends.
And besides all of that i felt he DID had some character development, regarding how he saw himself and rugby tied together at the start of the story and how by the end he understands that rugby IS a very important part of his life, but also to know that he's so much more than that and he wants to enjoy other things in his youth before that and it's okay.
I really loved seeing his dynamic with shannon's siblings, specially sean, like, that's his onny, and i swear i was just expecting him to call him daddy lmao.
“I loved her more than I knew what to do with. I could see it all ahead of me: my life, my future, my career, and her. The girl I knew would play the leading role in all of it. I'd thrown it all in with her and I had no doubts. Not a single one. She was my teammate now.”
⋆˚࿔ joey: 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ it was clear that everything was being set up to open up Joey and Aoife's story.
As soon as I found out Joey's history with drugs my world fell apart. I just want Joey to have all the good things in this world, to be able to drop the weight on his shoulders, to be able to feel worthy of a happy ending, without worrying about anything other than his well-being and happiness.
It broke my heart to see how he was slowly falling apart and the last straw was seeing how, despite having gone through the same thing with Darren 5 years before, he also left home and left his siblings.
My only comfort right now is knowing that the next two books are his and that he will have a happy ending and I will be able to see him smile and have the family he deserves, but at the same time it BREAKS me knowing that first I will have to see him suffer (and suffer myself, of course).
「 ✦ 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 ✦ 」
With the first 30% i thought this was going to be 5 stars but then the story got very repetitive. Most of the middle part of the book was Johnny and Shannon having very intimate moments (some cute with deep, important conversations), then getting more and more spicy and finally being cockblocked for whatever reason. I swear it happened at least 5 times and it got tiring at one point.
It was just after the fire that i felt everything moved a lot quicker, and i appreciated that. And about that... i joked about shannon's mom being killed off in this one but i was not expecting for that to ACTUALLY happen, so.. just imagine my face. I was too tuned to speak 💀
The lack of character growth for Shannon and not having a personality besides loving Johnny also affected my rating. And, just like the previous book, some chapters were unnecessarily stretched and the book could have had 200 less pages without affecting the plot.
But still, this book is 4 stars for me because I enjoyed it a lot, I love most of the characters, I care about them and I just want them to be happy.
September 28, 2024
|| 1.0 star ||
This book genuinely gave me the biggest headache. It was so slow and so repetitive and so long. Not to mention, the non-stop drama and angst was really getting on my nerves, especially since it never actually led anywhere. Nothing actually ever happened; every relationship, every character, every situation, they all pretty much stayed the exact same from beginning to end.
This whole book honestly felt like a big trauma dump without anything else happening. These characters are literally nothing more than the heroine HAVING trauma and the hero OBSESSING over her trauma. It got old very quickly.
Johnny no longer seemed to care about any of his own future plans or passions and only spent his time worrying about Shannon, while she did nothing other than shiver at the big, bad world and needing constant reassurance about the most basic things. Which, admittedly, makes sense for a girl who went through as much trauma as she did, but she never grew from it. She stayed the same fragile and scared girl with no personality and no brain from start to finish.
Furthermore, how is it possible that there have been so many pages about this couple, and I still felt like there was NO DEPTH to their relationship?? There was no development whatsoever and all of their interactions were beyond dramatic or just about sex. There was no lightness, no romance, no true feelings. It was just non-stop intensity about her being a fragile mess and him wanting to bulldozer all over everything to save her. It was cute the first few times, but almost 2000 pages into their relationship, and I can safely say it became boring and annoying as hell. I just got the ick over her acting like a child 24/7 and him treating her like she was made out of glass all the time. It was definitely not a normal relationship dynamic; it was trauma bonding for Shannon and a savior complex for Johnny.
Also, their dialogue was literally the exact same every single time; all of their scenes together were pretty much identical. I kid you not. It was insufferable and so badly written.
I’m actually convinced every other relationship in this book was better written and developed than the main couple. I actually especially liked Gibsie. His friendship with Johnny was probably the best, and his potential romance with Claire was also full of life and banter. Shannon’s brothers had a few heartbreaking scenes with Johnny’s family as well. Ollie was a sweetheart, but Sean? Oh my, that sweet little baby broke my heart. The way Johnny took care of him was the sweetest thing.
I also just want to say one last quick thing: The whole Bella storyline never made sense to me and just pissed me off beyond compare. The fact that nobody ever put this horrible girl in her place was just insane. You’re telling me the most popular guys in school can’t ruin a slutty, jealous girl who’s behaving like a deranged stalker? No way. I’m not buying it. She should have been at the bottom of the food chain at that school in minutes, but somehow it never happened? Insane.
Anyway, long story short, this was just a very very bad book. The whole thing literally read like Wattpad to me and this author desperately needed an editor to skim the hell out of these million pages about absolutely nothing.
'Boys of Tommen' series:
1. Binding 13 - 3.0 stars
2. Keeping 13 - 1.0 star
5. Taming 7 - 2.0 stars
This book genuinely gave me the biggest headache. It was so slow and so repetitive and so long. Not to mention, the non-stop drama and angst was really getting on my nerves, especially since it never actually led anywhere. Nothing actually ever happened; every relationship, every character, every situation, they all pretty much stayed the exact same from beginning to end.
This whole book honestly felt like a big trauma dump without anything else happening. These characters are literally nothing more than the heroine HAVING trauma and the hero OBSESSING over her trauma. It got old very quickly.
Johnny no longer seemed to care about any of his own future plans or passions and only spent his time worrying about Shannon, while she did nothing other than shiver at the big, bad world and needing constant reassurance about the most basic things. Which, admittedly, makes sense for a girl who went through as much trauma as she did, but she never grew from it. She stayed the same fragile and scared girl with no personality and no brain from start to finish.
Furthermore, how is it possible that there have been so many pages about this couple, and I still felt like there was NO DEPTH to their relationship?? There was no development whatsoever and all of their interactions were beyond dramatic or just about sex. There was no lightness, no romance, no true feelings. It was just non-stop intensity about her being a fragile mess and him wanting to bulldozer all over everything to save her. It was cute the first few times, but almost 2000 pages into their relationship, and I can safely say it became boring and annoying as hell. I just got the ick over her acting like a child 24/7 and him treating her like she was made out of glass all the time. It was definitely not a normal relationship dynamic; it was trauma bonding for Shannon and a savior complex for Johnny.
Also, their dialogue was literally the exact same every single time; all of their scenes together were pretty much identical. I kid you not. It was insufferable and so badly written.
I’m actually convinced every other relationship in this book was better written and developed than the main couple. I actually especially liked Gibsie. His friendship with Johnny was probably the best, and his potential romance with Claire was also full of life and banter. Shannon’s brothers had a few heartbreaking scenes with Johnny’s family as well. Ollie was a sweetheart, but Sean? Oh my, that sweet little baby broke my heart. The way Johnny took care of him was the sweetest thing.
I also just want to say one last quick thing: The whole Bella storyline never made sense to me and just pissed me off beyond compare. The fact that nobody ever put this horrible girl in her place was just insane. You’re telling me the most popular guys in school can’t ruin a slutty, jealous girl who’s behaving like a deranged stalker? No way. I’m not buying it. She should have been at the bottom of the food chain at that school in minutes, but somehow it never happened? Insane.
Anyway, long story short, this was just a very very bad book. The whole thing literally read like Wattpad to me and this author desperately needed an editor to skim the hell out of these million pages about absolutely nothing.
'Boys of Tommen' series:
1. Binding 13 - 3.0 stars
2. Keeping 13 - 1.0 star
5. Taming 7 - 2.0 stars
March 16, 2024
➸ 5 stars
— I love this book, like… a crazy fucking amount.
I really don’t think I’ll ever be the same person I was before reading these books they really changed me and I’m so glad I read them. This is truly such a heartbreaking and beautiful book; I cannot how many times I cried while reading this I was going through it! These characters will forever have a special place in my heart and I’ll never stop thinking about them I absolutely loved the found family in this book. I took my time reading this one simply because I never wanted to reach the end and once I did reach it, I was honestly so happy and couldn’t stop smiling just because I was able to read this book and the beautiful story of these characters. I’m so excited to continue this series and read about the other characters stories and i will continue it eventually, but for now I just want to stay here with these two for a while longer <3
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ shannon like the river — oh my gosh I love her so much she’s the strongest, caring, and loving girl ever! she’s been through so much since book one and seeing her journey and growth makes me want to cry; her happiness means the world to me and gives me the biggest smile ever I love her so much and I’m so proud of her she deserves the world.
“𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝐦𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐛𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 ���𝐨𝐫…𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧��, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.”
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ johnny kavanagh — this book just made me love him even more he’s the most caring and compassionate and sweetest person ever and seeing his dreams coming true at the end made me cry and had me cheering and supporting along with all the other characters; he deserves everything he worked for and more. I’m so happy that we got to see him let loose more at the end and be free and live his life!
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭…𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞.” “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥,” “𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ johnny & shannon — I love them so much they’re so cute together! the amount of love and care they have for each other is so beautiful! they have my heart I’m so happy they found each other <3
I really hope to see more of Johnny and Shannon in the rest of the series! I know their books ended but I just don’t want to let go of them yet! Chole Walsh, a book about them in the future would be really nice please and thank you (i’m begging you)
➸ all the other characters :)
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ joey lynch — oh my gosh this boy… he’s been through so much and he’s literally holding everything on his shoulders. reading about his made me cry more times that I can count, I felt his pain through the pages and my heart dropped whenever he was in a chapter, my heart just breaks for him… I want to give him the biggest hug ever and never let go. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick up his books because im absolutely terrified to read his pov and I don’t think I’m prepared for the pain they’ll bring if im being honest. He deserves the world and happiness.
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ aofie molloy — gosh I love her and what she did for Shannon made me love her even more! the small interactions she had with Joey made my heart break and I really want to read more about her and their relationship eventually when I pick her their books.
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ gibsie — I LOVE GIBSIE SO MUCH! he never failed to make me laugh he’s the funniest character ever! I feel like underneath all the jokes and sarcasm theres a extremely complex character and I can’t wait for his book to read more into him and what goes on in his mind.
⤷ gibsie and johnny’s friendship is one I could talk about for hours! they are literally each others other half & partners in crime and are always there for each other!
⤷ the gibsie and claire crumbs we got in this book made me so happy but so impatient for their book THEY ARE SO CUTE and I just need to read their story right now I just know the slow burn is going to be worth and and the angst and yearning I NEED IT!
⤷ i really want to see more of him and shannon, their friendship is so cute and i love how caring he is for her!
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ the lynch brothers — my heart breaks for them they are so young… seeing them happier at the end and acting like carefree kids made me cry. their relationship with johnny also made me cry because of how caring and loving he is to them!
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ mr & mrs kavanagh — I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! the amount of support and love they have for johnny makes my heart feel so full and warm I love the relationship they have THEY ARE THE BEST PARENTS EVER! not to mention what they did for the lynch siblings is so caring they deserve the world and i would absolutely eat up a book about them!
“I love you, Johnny Kavanagh,” “Most in the world.”
“I love you back, Shannon Lynch,” “Most in the world.”
“For keeps?”
“For keeps.”
— I love this book, like… a crazy fucking amount.
I really don’t think I’ll ever be the same person I was before reading these books they really changed me and I’m so glad I read them. This is truly such a heartbreaking and beautiful book; I cannot how many times I cried while reading this I was going through it! These characters will forever have a special place in my heart and I’ll never stop thinking about them I absolutely loved the found family in this book. I took my time reading this one simply because I never wanted to reach the end and once I did reach it, I was honestly so happy and couldn’t stop smiling just because I was able to read this book and the beautiful story of these characters. I’m so excited to continue this series and read about the other characters stories and i will continue it eventually, but for now I just want to stay here with these two for a while longer <3
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ shannon like the river — oh my gosh I love her so much she’s the strongest, caring, and loving girl ever! she’s been through so much since book one and seeing her journey and growth makes me want to cry; her happiness means the world to me and gives me the biggest smile ever I love her so much and I’m so proud of her she deserves the world.
“𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝐦𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐛𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 ���𝐨𝐫…𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧��, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.”
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ johnny kavanagh — this book just made me love him even more he’s the most caring and compassionate and sweetest person ever and seeing his dreams coming true at the end made me cry and had me cheering and supporting along with all the other characters; he deserves everything he worked for and more. I’m so happy that we got to see him let loose more at the end and be free and live his life!
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭…𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞.” “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥,” “𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ johnny & shannon — I love them so much they’re so cute together! the amount of love and care they have for each other is so beautiful! they have my heart I’m so happy they found each other <3
“𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”
“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞?”
“𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭.”
“𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤,” “𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭.”
I really hope to see more of Johnny and Shannon in the rest of the series! I know their books ended but I just don’t want to let go of them yet! Chole Walsh, a book about them in the future would be really nice please and thank you (i’m begging you)
➸ all the other characters :)
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ joey lynch — oh my gosh this boy… he’s been through so much and he’s literally holding everything on his shoulders. reading about his made me cry more times that I can count, I felt his pain through the pages and my heart dropped whenever he was in a chapter, my heart just breaks for him… I want to give him the biggest hug ever and never let go. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick up his books because im absolutely terrified to read his pov and I don’t think I’m prepared for the pain they’ll bring if im being honest. He deserves the world and happiness.
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ aofie molloy — gosh I love her and what she did for Shannon made me love her even more! the small interactions she had with Joey made my heart break and I really want to read more about her and their relationship eventually when I pick her their books.
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ gibsie — I LOVE GIBSIE SO MUCH! he never failed to make me laugh he’s the funniest character ever! I feel like underneath all the jokes and sarcasm theres a extremely complex character and I can’t wait for his book to read more into him and what goes on in his mind.
⤷ gibsie and johnny’s friendship is one I could talk about for hours! they are literally each others other half & partners in crime and are always there for each other!
⤷ the gibsie and claire crumbs we got in this book made me so happy but so impatient for their book THEY ARE SO CUTE and I just need to read their story right now I just know the slow burn is going to be worth and and the angst and yearning I NEED IT!
⤷ i really want to see more of him and shannon, their friendship is so cute and i love how caring he is for her!
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ the lynch brothers — my heart breaks for them they are so young… seeing them happier at the end and acting like carefree kids made me cry. their relationship with johnny also made me cry because of how caring and loving he is to them!
𓍢ִ໋ ˖ ➸ mr & mrs kavanagh — I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! the amount of support and love they have for johnny makes my heart feel so full and warm I love the relationship they have THEY ARE THE BEST PARENTS EVER! not to mention what they did for the lynch siblings is so caring they deserve the world and i would absolutely eat up a book about them!
July 31, 2024
3.5 ★'s
The characters in this series has my heart forever and ever.
This was such a beautiful wrap up to Johnny & Shannon's story.
To get to it right off the bat, the reason why this is getting a slightly lower rating is that I didn't enjoy the pacing in this as much as with Binding 13. Especially in the first half it felt quite repetitive, and like it wasn't really going anywhere.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy this book. I still desperately love this series and it's characters. There are definitely some scenes in this book that I will keep in my heart forever.
However, for this being a romance, I will say the romance is not what stood out most to me.
✦“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him before.”
“That’s because the world can only handle one Gerard Gibson.”✦
I need a moment for Gibsie. His comedic timing, insane mind and unconditional love towards Johnny is everything and more. I loved seeing the snippets of him and Claire as well, as understanding his motivators a bit better. I am so looking forward to reading his book to understand what goes on inside that mind of his. He was such a highlight for me throughout this book, even if the pacing was slower at times you could always count on Gibsie to say something inappropriate to bring a smile to your lips.
✧"“I made it worse for you” he strangled out.
“You made it bearable” I whispered.”✧
Another major highlight was Johnny's parents. Their endless support and love made my heart feel all warm and toasty. Their instant welcoming of Shannon and Joey made me sob my heart out, as well as with the rest of the family. There are no other fictional characters that compare in the utter goodness those people emit. They did absolutely everything right in how they raised Johnny, because what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.🎵
Everything from how he communicates, to how he acts. Even when he fucks up he does it right.
This man can do no wrong. I love how reassuring he is with Shannon, knowing her situation, being unsure what the right things to say are but always manages to get the right words out.
Their love is clear as day and they truly bring out the best out of each other. Even though it's young love, their first love, they both share the experience of growing up too fast. You can tell how this also have an impact on their relationship, in how seriously they take it, how they respect each other and how they play for keeps.
✦“I felt the shift; the switch from this being something sweet and innocent, to deeply complicated with the hint of forever.”✦
✧“You promise?”
“I promise a million, billion promises.”✧
_________
⌞pre-read:⌝
Yeah, we're gonna have to start this right away🥲
The characters in this series has my heart forever and ever.
This was such a beautiful wrap up to Johnny & Shannon's story.
To get to it right off the bat, the reason why this is getting a slightly lower rating is that I didn't enjoy the pacing in this as much as with Binding 13. Especially in the first half it felt quite repetitive, and like it wasn't really going anywhere.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy this book. I still desperately love this series and it's characters. There are definitely some scenes in this book that I will keep in my heart forever.
However, for this being a romance, I will say the romance is not what stood out most to me.
✦“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him before.”
“That’s because the world can only handle one Gerard Gibson.”✦
I need a moment for Gibsie. His comedic timing, insane mind and unconditional love towards Johnny is everything and more. I loved seeing the snippets of him and Claire as well, as understanding his motivators a bit better. I am so looking forward to reading his book to understand what goes on inside that mind of his. He was such a highlight for me throughout this book, even if the pacing was slower at times you could always count on Gibsie to say something inappropriate to bring a smile to your lips.
✧"“I made it worse for you” he strangled out.
“You made it bearable” I whispered.”✧
Another major highlight was Johnny's parents. Their endless support and love made my heart feel all warm and toasty. Their instant welcoming of Shannon and Joey made me sob my heart out, as well as with the rest of the family. There are no other fictional characters that compare in the utter goodness those people emit. They did absolutely everything right in how they raised Johnny, because what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.🎵
Everything from how he communicates, to how he acts. Even when he fucks up he does it right.
This man can do no wrong. I love how reassuring he is with Shannon, knowing her situation, being unsure what the right things to say are but always manages to get the right words out.
Their love is clear as day and they truly bring out the best out of each other. Even though it's young love, their first love, they both share the experience of growing up too fast. You can tell how this also have an impact on their relationship, in how seriously they take it, how they respect each other and how they play for keeps.
✦“I felt the shift; the switch from this being something sweet and innocent, to deeply complicated with the hint of forever.”✦
✧“You promise?”
“I promise a million, billion promises.”✧
_________
⌞pre-read:⌝
Yeah, we're gonna have to start this right away🥲
September 23, 2024
ᯓ★
「 “i can only tell you what i know, that from the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. that very first time i saw you? you sparked to life something inside of me. and i haven’t been the same since.” 」
「 “well, i don’t want easy. i want you, just the way you are, every part and every piece.” “even the broken parts?” “especially the broken parts.” 」
── ꒰ 🍸 ꒱ thoughts → spoiler free
update from my last review: my heart was indeed put back in my chest. i am devastatingly attached to these characters. they are everything to me. this was heartbreaking, tear jerking, soul mending, and had me laughing out loud like an idiot. i would be reading this and would start laughing and my boyfriend would look over at me like?? oh just probably laughing at gibsie..
these characters are ”for keeps” forever in my heart and i love them ”a crazy fucking amount.” i wanna experience reading these again for the first time. these are some thicker boi books but don’t let that mislead you. this is your sign to go read this series.
i am so excited for joey and aoife’s books even tho it will probably inflict more pain but that’s okay! all joey has suffered and all he’s done for his siblings.. i’m ready so bring on the sobbing and suffering.
˗ˋˏ shannon lynch ˎˊ˗
she got her happy ending. my angel got what she deserved after all she endured. in the end she finally started to maintain a peaceful, normal, and healthy life, gain happiness + confidence and start to find herself. i wanted to see her more after she’s started to maintain a normal life. like i wanted MOREEE. her new dreams, future plans, her style, girl idk like her favorite color lmao? yes i’m aware those are literally SUCH random examples but hopefully you catch my drift.
˗ˋˏ johnny kavanagh ˎˊ˗
the man of the moment. he is the standard. he is everythinggg. the way he always reassures her. the way he loves her despite her baggage, scars and all. love me a man who would do anything for his girl. guys- that scene where he rocked her on the floor singing “here comes the sun” to her because he remembered it calms her down!? johnnys relationship with her little brothers!? my heart can’t take it. johnny do you wanna get wifed up and have like 5 kids!? ugh okay i need to shut up about this man. i could blabber on forever about him so i’ll stop now..
“do you hear me? i’m here, i’m in, i care, and i’m not going the fuck away.”
”i want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you. i want you.”
”you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. i’ve never seen anything like you in my life.”
˗ˋˏ johnnyshannon ˎˊ˗
i love them so much it’s unbearable. *sigh* the one thing i will say is their conversations/interactions in the first half felt so repetitive and it lowkey killed me inside at times.. but why is this over. ugh. i need more of them.
“because when it comes to you, shannon lynch, i’m all in.” “me too.” “where you go, i go.” “promise?” “i promise.”
˗ˋˏ gerard gibson ˎˊ˗
my big bloody eejit, i freaking love you. the way bro brings me literal joy reading the crazy, hilarious, out of pocket ass shit that comes out of his mouth!? he somehow always manages to make me die laughing. also johnny and gibsie’s friendship is unmatched >> and the tadhg and gibsie banter was sendinggg me. but uhm? miss chloe? i needed taming 7 and clairegibsie literally yesterday
”don’t you mind him, babe. you did a great job.” with his free hand, he tugged on her ponytail, forcing her to look up at him. ”you keep that head up,” he ordered, tipping her chin with his thumb. ”don’t you dare hide that angel face from the world.”
˗ˋˏ edel and john ˎˊ˗
you are very dear to me. oh my gosh. my heart is so full. these are my fav parents i’ve ever read about in a book. no comparison. it’s like they healed a part of me that i didn’t need healed!? mammy k is a literal icon. i wanna be her when i grow up. i’m gonna leave it at that because i will end up writing spoilers if i say anymore. undoubtedly, guaranteed, you’ll feel the same way if you read this ᡣ𐭩
₊˚🎧⊹ book playlist (calyne’s version)
full playlist on my spotify linked in my bio!
you could start a cult (with lizzy mcalpine) — niall horan
⁀➴ darlin’ i will give up everything. who i’ll be and who i am. you can have it all. baby you could start a cult, you see. anywhere you go, i’ll be. you are so much more than beautiful to me. oh, i’ll follow you, ‘til there’s no tomorrow.
⁀➴ what i know of reality i let go of it happily when i look in your eyes. mmm, i swear it’s true no mountain that i wouldn’t move or sea i wouldnt part in two. to wake up by your side is all i wanna do.
take on the world — you me at six
⁀➴ no i won’t, i won’t pretend to know what you’ve been through. you should know, i wish it was me, not you.
⁀➴ nobody knows you the way that i know you. look in my eyes, i will never desert you. and just say the word. we’ll take on the world.
⁀➴ never forget, we were built to last. step out of the shadows and into my life. silence the voices that haunt you inside.
⁀➴ i wont let go, with you by my side. the calm, the storm, we’ll face it all.
those eyes — new west
⁀➴ when we’re out in a crowd laughing loud and nobody knows why. when we’re lost at a club, getting drunk and you give me that smile. going home in the back of a car and your hand touches mine. when we’re done making love and you look up and give me those eyes.
⁀➴ ’cause all of the small things that you do are what remind me why i fell for you. and when we’re apart, and i’m missing you i close my eyes and all i see is you. and the small things you do.
home — edith whiskers
⁀➴ well, holy moly, me oh my, you’re the apple of my eye. girl, i’ve never loved one like you. man, oh, man, you’re my best friend, i scream it to the nothingness.
⁀➴ aint nothing please me more than you. oh, home, let me come home. home is whenever i’m with you.
⁀➴ we laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night. nothing new is sweeter than with you.
here comes the sun — the beatles
⁀➴ the smile’s returning to their faces. little darlin’, it seems like years since it’s been here. here comes the sun. here comes the sun, and i say it’s alright.
「 “i can only tell you what i know, that from the very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. that very first time i saw you? you sparked to life something inside of me. and i haven’t been the same since.” 」
「 “well, i don’t want easy. i want you, just the way you are, every part and every piece.” “even the broken parts?” “especially the broken parts.” 」
── ꒰ 🍸 ꒱ thoughts → spoiler free
update from my last review: my heart was indeed put back in my chest. i am devastatingly attached to these characters. they are everything to me. this was heartbreaking, tear jerking, soul mending, and had me laughing out loud like an idiot. i would be reading this and would start laughing and my boyfriend would look over at me like?? oh just probably laughing at gibsie..
these characters are ”for keeps” forever in my heart and i love them ”a crazy fucking amount.” i wanna experience reading these again for the first time. these are some thicker boi books but don’t let that mislead you. this is your sign to go read this series.
i am so excited for joey and aoife’s books even tho it will probably inflict more pain but that’s okay! all joey has suffered and all he’s done for his siblings.. i’m ready so bring on the sobbing and suffering.
˗ˋˏ shannon lynch ˎˊ˗
she got her happy ending. my angel got what she deserved after all she endured. in the end she finally started to maintain a peaceful, normal, and healthy life, gain happiness + confidence and start to find herself. i wanted to see her more after she’s started to maintain a normal life. like i wanted MOREEE. her new dreams, future plans, her style, girl idk like her favorite color lmao? yes i’m aware those are literally SUCH random examples but hopefully you catch my drift.
˗ˋˏ johnny kavanagh ˎˊ˗
the man of the moment. he is the standard. he is everythinggg. the way he always reassures her. the way he loves her despite her baggage, scars and all. love me a man who would do anything for his girl. guys- that scene where he rocked her on the floor singing “here comes the sun” to her because he remembered it calms her down!? johnnys relationship with her little brothers!? my heart can’t take it. johnny do you wanna get wifed up and have like 5 kids!? ugh okay i need to shut up about this man. i could blabber on forever about him so i’ll stop now..
“do you hear me? i’m here, i’m in, i care, and i’m not going the fuck away.”
”i want your trouble and your complications and everything else that comes with you. i want you.”
”you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. i’ve never seen anything like you in my life.”
˗ˋˏ johnnyshannon ˎˊ˗
i love them so much it’s unbearable. *sigh* the one thing i will say is their conversations/interactions in the first half felt so repetitive and it lowkey killed me inside at times.. but why is this over. ugh. i need more of them.
“because when it comes to you, shannon lynch, i’m all in.” “me too.” “where you go, i go.” “promise?” “i promise.”
˗ˋˏ gerard gibson ˎˊ˗
my big bloody eejit, i freaking love you. the way bro brings me literal joy reading the crazy, hilarious, out of pocket ass shit that comes out of his mouth!? he somehow always manages to make me die laughing. also johnny and gibsie’s friendship is unmatched >> and the tadhg and gibsie banter was sendinggg me. but uhm? miss chloe? i needed taming 7 and clairegibsie literally yesterday
”don’t you mind him, babe. you did a great job.” with his free hand, he tugged on her ponytail, forcing her to look up at him. ”you keep that head up,” he ordered, tipping her chin with his thumb. ”don’t you dare hide that angel face from the world.”
˗ˋˏ edel and john ˎˊ˗
you are very dear to me. oh my gosh. my heart is so full. these are my fav parents i’ve ever read about in a book. no comparison. it’s like they healed a part of me that i didn’t need healed!? mammy k is a literal icon. i wanna be her when i grow up. i’m gonna leave it at that because i will end up writing spoilers if i say anymore. undoubtedly, guaranteed, you’ll feel the same way if you read this ᡣ𐭩
₊˚🎧⊹ book playlist (calyne’s version)
full playlist on my spotify linked in my bio!
you could start a cult (with lizzy mcalpine) — niall horan
⁀➴ darlin’ i will give up everything. who i’ll be and who i am. you can have it all. baby you could start a cult, you see. anywhere you go, i’ll be. you are so much more than beautiful to me. oh, i’ll follow you, ‘til there’s no tomorrow.
⁀➴ what i know of reality i let go of it happily when i look in your eyes. mmm, i swear it’s true no mountain that i wouldn’t move or sea i wouldnt part in two. to wake up by your side is all i wanna do.
take on the world — you me at six
⁀➴ no i won’t, i won’t pretend to know what you’ve been through. you should know, i wish it was me, not you.
⁀➴ nobody knows you the way that i know you. look in my eyes, i will never desert you. and just say the word. we’ll take on the world.
⁀➴ never forget, we were built to last. step out of the shadows and into my life. silence the voices that haunt you inside.
⁀➴ i wont let go, with you by my side. the calm, the storm, we’ll face it all.
those eyes — new west
⁀➴ when we’re out in a crowd laughing loud and nobody knows why. when we’re lost at a club, getting drunk and you give me that smile. going home in the back of a car and your hand touches mine. when we’re done making love and you look up and give me those eyes.
⁀➴ ’cause all of the small things that you do are what remind me why i fell for you. and when we’re apart, and i’m missing you i close my eyes and all i see is you. and the small things you do.
home — edith whiskers
⁀➴ well, holy moly, me oh my, you’re the apple of my eye. girl, i’ve never loved one like you. man, oh, man, you’re my best friend, i scream it to the nothingness.
⁀➴ aint nothing please me more than you. oh, home, let me come home. home is whenever i’m with you.
⁀➴ we laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night. nothing new is sweeter than with you.
here comes the sun — the beatles
⁀➴ the smile’s returning to their faces. little darlin’, it seems like years since it’s been here. here comes the sun. here comes the sun, and i say it’s alright.
July 30, 2024
4.5 stars rounded up
”I loved her more than I knew what to do with. I could see it all ahead of me: my future, my career, and her. The girl I knew would play the leading role in all of it. I’d thrown it all in with her and I had no doubts. Not a single one. She was my teammate now.”
Is this perfect? No, but I adore these characters. I feel like I know them and I could read another 800 pages without getting bored. I can’t put into words my thoughts about this book right now as this story is consuming me. I haven’t read a book where I can go from having laughing stitches, to anger, to sobbing and falling in love — all in one chapter. I was definitely sobbing into my pillow reading this. I’m already missing Mr Rugby and Shannon, like the river 😭
I can’t wait to read Joey’s books because I know it’ll twist the knife some more ❤️🩹
”I loved her more than I knew what to do with. I could see it all ahead of me: my future, my career, and her. The girl I knew would play the leading role in all of it. I’d thrown it all in with her and I had no doubts. Not a single one. She was my teammate now.”
Is this perfect? No, but I adore these characters. I feel like I know them and I could read another 800 pages without getting bored. I can’t put into words my thoughts about this book right now as this story is consuming me. I haven’t read a book where I can go from having laughing stitches, to anger, to sobbing and falling in love — all in one chapter. I was definitely sobbing into my pillow reading this. I’m already missing Mr Rugby and Shannon, like the river 😭
I can’t wait to read Joey’s books because I know it’ll twist the knife some more ❤️🩹
October 12, 2024
𐙚pre-review (06/13/24)𐙚
omg the second time hit harder! if anything this makes me want my copy of gibsie’s book EVEN MOREEEEE!!!!!! 😭😫if I have to go hunt down these delivery ppl like I need a doctor to take my heart to the tattoo shop and tattoo every word from this book on there and put my heart back and stitch me up 💖
❤ check my Unpublished Book review for the Keeping 13 review since gr isn't letting me post my full one here❤
omg the second time hit harder! if anything this makes me want my copy of gibsie’s book EVEN MOREEEEE!!!!!! 😭😫
❤ check my Unpublished Book review for the Keeping 13 review since gr isn't letting me post my full one here❤
August 2, 2024
˗ˏˋ 2-3 / 5 ★’s ´ˎ˗
RTC- tbh, I don't know how to rate this book😭 so let's leave it between 2 and 3 stars.
────── ⋆⋅🤍⋅⋆ ──────
˚˖𓍢ִ໋💗 ·˚ pre-read ˚ · ˖ with some tissues in my hands, I’m ready to cry and heal my heart with this book😭❤️🩹✨
br with my girl lilly 🌷💕
RTC- tbh, I don't know how to rate this book😭 so let's leave it between 2 and 3 stars.
────── ⋆⋅🤍⋅⋆ ──────
˚˖𓍢ִ໋💗 ·˚ pre-read ˚ · ˖ with some tissues in my hands, I’m ready to cry and heal my heart with this book😭❤️🩹✨
br with my girl lilly 🌷💕
May 28, 2022
♾/5 GOOODBYEEEEE this series is way too mf perfect!!! I wanna cry and die and throw up all at once. pls I need the other books immediately. i’m so soft for johnny & shannon it’s insane, i’ll protect them at all costs.
clairegibsie 🥹🥹🥹🥹 (my most anticipated ones)
joeyaoife!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY DESERVES THE WORLD 🤞🏻
“you love me?”
“a crazy fucking amount” <3
clairegibsie 🥹🥹🥹🥹 (my most anticipated ones)
joeyaoife!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY DESERVES THE WORLD 🤞🏻
“you love me?”
“a crazy fucking amount” <3
August 30, 2024
―﹙⛸️﹚3.75 stars ⊹
JOHNNY KAVANAGH, I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU AND IT'S A CRAZY FUCKING AMOUNT.
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ tropes
⤷ rich boy x poor girl
⤷ healing
⤷ found family
⤷ boy obsessed
— TW: child abuse & neglect by a parent with alcoholism (on-page), foster care system experiences recounted, anxiety & panic attacks, alcohol consumption, substance addiction (secondary character), physical injury & illness and hospitalisation for surgery recounted, murder by arson, attempted murder by knife, drowning, graphic bullying (on-page)
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ plot summary
after the tragic incident in dublin, johnny and shannon's lives are forever changed. despite facing numerous internal struggles, johnny finally opens up about his feelings for shannon. however, his hopes are shattered when a devastating injury forces him to give up his dreams, including the number 13. determined to persevere, johnny fights to hold onto his aspirations even after losing his jersey. meanwhile, shannon is dealing with her own turmoil after being brutally attacked by her father. traumatized and overwhelmed with trying to shield her brothers, shannon reaches her breaking point. their destinies were fraught with difficulty, and their prospects hung by a thread. even as shannon grappled with inner turmoil, johnny remained resolute in his mission to protect her from the looming threat.
𖣠 johnny + shannon
⤷ opposites attract
johnny and shannon are finally united in this book. their love story is just so adorable and sweet. the sensation of experiencing something fresh and lovely with the person you adore is just the greatest feeling ever. this book is all about the characters and nothing else. there's a ton of growth in the characters and their relationships. i absolutely adore how shannon gets all flustered and excited around him, while johnny's eyes are only for shannon. aww. they're just perfect.
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ thoughts and overview
alright, i have to admit that this book really made me work for it, but boy was it worth it! i loved how even the side characters were given their moment to shine. the writing may not have been top-notch, but it definitely kept me hooked. and oh my goodness, the tears were flowing. i was a complete mess - puffy eyes, snotty nose, the whole shebang. this book is just full of pain and angst.
so, even though i was in agony, this book just didn't sit right with me. the storyline seemed to be stuck in slow motion. the number of cockblocks getting in the way was just too much. it drove me absolutely bonkers. and didn't the plot seem like it was on a never-ending loop?
gibsie really dropped the ball with me when he got all weird. i mean, i still love the guy, but when he started making creepy comments about johnny's mom, i nearly lost my lunch. I know he’s got a lot of secrets and i can’t wait to read his book.
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ overall ratings
⤷ binding 13 — 5 stars
⤷ keeping 13 — 3.75 stars
⤷ saving 6 — tbr
⤷ redeeming 6 — tbr
⤷ taming 7 — tbr
౨ৎ ⋮ "For keeps?" I breathed.
He kissed my shoulder. "For keeps."
JOHNNY KAVANAGH, I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU AND IT'S A CRAZY FUCKING AMOUNT.
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ tropes
⤷ rich boy x poor girl
⤷ healing
⤷ found family
⤷ boy obsessed
— TW: child abuse & neglect by a parent with alcoholism (on-page), foster care system experiences recounted, anxiety & panic attacks, alcohol consumption, substance addiction (secondary character), physical injury & illness and hospitalisation for surgery recounted, murder by arson, attempted murder by knife, drowning, graphic bullying (on-page)
౨ৎ ⋮ "You're so fucking beautiful that it's painful to look at you. I've never seen anything like you in my life."
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ plot summary
after the tragic incident in dublin, johnny and shannon's lives are forever changed. despite facing numerous internal struggles, johnny finally opens up about his feelings for shannon. however, his hopes are shattered when a devastating injury forces him to give up his dreams, including the number 13. determined to persevere, johnny fights to hold onto his aspirations even after losing his jersey. meanwhile, shannon is dealing with her own turmoil after being brutally attacked by her father. traumatized and overwhelmed with trying to shield her brothers, shannon reaches her breaking point. their destinies were fraught with difficulty, and their prospects hung by a thread. even as shannon grappled with inner turmoil, johnny remained resolute in his mission to protect her from the looming threat.
౨ৎ ⋮ “Well, I don’t want easy. I want you. Just the way you are. Every part and every piece.”
“Even the broken parts?”
He winked. “Especially the broken parts.”
𖣠 johnny + shannon
⤷ opposites attract
johnny and shannon are finally united in this book. their love story is just so adorable and sweet. the sensation of experiencing something fresh and lovely with the person you adore is just the greatest feeling ever. this book is all about the characters and nothing else. there's a ton of growth in the characters and their relationships. i absolutely adore how shannon gets all flustered and excited around him, while johnny's eyes are only for shannon. aww. they're just perfect.
౨ৎ ⋮ “I like you because you’re you, Shannon. I’ve never met another girl like you. I mean a girl as kind, and caring, and trustworthy, and loyal as you. And beautiful. Jesus Christ, you are so fucking beautiful that it’s painful to look at you. I’ve never seen anything like you in my life.”
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ thoughts and overview
alright, i have to admit that this book really made me work for it, but boy was it worth it! i loved how even the side characters were given their moment to shine. the writing may not have been top-notch, but it definitely kept me hooked. and oh my goodness, the tears were flowing. i was a complete mess - puffy eyes, snotty nose, the whole shebang. this book is just full of pain and angst.
౨ৎ ⋮ The very first day you walked into my life, you changed me. That very first time i saw you? you sparked to life something inside of me and I haven’t been the same since."
so, even though i was in agony, this book just didn't sit right with me. the storyline seemed to be stuck in slow motion. the number of cockblocks getting in the way was just too much. it drove me absolutely bonkers. and didn't the plot seem like it was on a never-ending loop?
gibsie really dropped the ball with me when he got all weird. i mean, i still love the guy, but when he started making creepy comments about johnny's mom, i nearly lost my lunch. I know he’s got a lot of secrets and i can’t wait to read his book.
౨ৎ ⋮ "Your binding 13" Shannon smiled. "Now I'm keeping 13."
⊹ 🥽 ᨘ໑ ▸ overall ratings
⤷ binding 13 — 5 stars
⤷ keeping 13 — 3.75 stars
⤷ saving 6 — tbr
⤷ redeeming 6 — tbr
⤷ taming 7 — tbr
March 31, 2024
(problematic author !! )
i'm not ready for their story to be over 😭 . i don't know how to move on from this... i don't think i will ever get over this book..
After reading Binding 13 & Keeping 13, my expectations are way too high now, gosh. i really thought i was gonna get bored of it because it was like over 800 pages !! but NO, I ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE THING, i didn't even realise i was at the end until i saw ' the end ' . it was too good !! like YES ! .
i'm not ready for their story to be over 😭 . i don't know how to move on from this... i don't think i will ever get over this book..
After reading Binding 13 & Keeping 13, my expectations are way too high now, gosh. i really thought i was gonna get bored of it because it was like over 800 pages !! but NO, I ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE THING, i didn't even realise i was at the end until i saw ' the end ' . it was too good !! like YES ! .
July 19, 2024
Y'all Johnny Kavanagh is MY husband. Bye.
January 26, 2024
it's funny how
binding 13
got me out of my reading slump, and keeping 13 put me back into one.
🪦🪦 here lies those trees who sacrificed their lives in the form of 900 pages and many many copies for absolute nothingness. i find a dog shit more interesting than whatever chloe walsh pooped here.
this book was an absolute torture in my ass. (don't torture your ass guys it's not pleasurable, trust me, trust this book.)
as much as I loved the first book, this one came with disappointment so immeasurable, my day is completely ruined.
this won't be a long review, well bcz there's nothing this book offered to talk about in the first place.
1. REPEAT AFTER FUCKING REPEAT. i'm telling y'all if this ain't a copy paste of the first book- except johnny apparently no longer cares about rugby since that factor was completely shoved under the carpet, L bombs here and there since the start of the book, two horny idiots humping each other every chance they get and then running off bcz "no sex rule", gibsie whoring around sexualising people's mums and sisters, more dick talk, and yes, the heroic brother is back with his milk: Darren.
2. the character arc was not arcing. the fact that the side characters were wayyy moreee interesting than the main couple was beyond embarrassing💀 i absolutely adored shannon+johnny in binding 13, i'd sell my soul for them, but sorry my comrades, they did not do it for me in this one. i was dragging my pathetic ass through their povs, hoping for another glance of gibsie, clarie, mammy kav, daddy kav, joey, hell anyone except these two. their private interactions physically pained me. here's how it always went:
J: Hi Shannon.
S: Hi Johnny.
J: are you okay?
S: um... idk i guess? what do you think?
J: you're literally so tiny lolz, but it's about what you want, are you okay?
S: ig not... i'm so so scared johnny, my father is back in da town💔 also, you're so big.
J: i love you. anyways, are you okay?
S: um i- i- yeah?
J: you sure right?
S: yeah
J: are you okay? don't lie to me, you tiny little toddler
S: chile anyways let's kiss
*cut to dry humping*
J: no we should not be doing this
S: you're literally so bigger than me, my tiny little body wants all of you.
J: you sure?
S: no actually i'm not lol. yk i can't say yes, how else will i repeat this cycle?
J: you okay shan?
S: johnny i'm so scared-
AND THIS IS HOW IT WENT EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. IT NEVER ENDED. MY MISERY NEVER SUBSIDED.
shannon's character arc is what dissatisfied me the most. she was the most plain boring character ever. i get her past, her trauma. i understand her and i get why she reacts to things the way she does, i get why she's so scared all the damn time, but by the end i wanted her to stand up on her feet and fight her own battles. throughout the book she was so codependent on joey and johnny, and i understand why, but i wanted that to change by the end. that's the character development i was expecting, but all the girl ever did was kiss and hump johnny.
johnny completely lost his individuality in this one. his sheer passion for rugby, his drive, his craziness for the sport, all poof in the air like that. it was as if being shannon's support system was the only role he was programmed to play. and ofc, role no. 2 was to sexually please her. why do we even need men for anyway?
joey slayed as always. he's the only one that kept me going. he's the protector we all need in our lives. my poor baby has been mentally ruined, COMPLETELY, and i love it bcz that means he's gonna serve well in his book babyy!
ik this was going downhill when my love gibsie also started annoying me to no ends. he was hella weird in this one. i still do love him (i think?) but he needs to stop seriously. the repeated sexual comments that he passed to others mothers and sisters gave me an ick. all he ever does is make sexual innuendos and talk about fucking and fucking and more fucking. and i don't blame claire for the insecurity she has in their relationship, gibsie's a manwhore, every woman he meets, his very first thought is how fuckable she is. i see no depth in his character. but ik that's not the case (taming 7 is coming soon babyy), ik he has some past and humour is his coping mechanism (he just like me fr). but as far as this book is concerned, he was annoying as hell.
i'm so afraid to continue this series. these books are longer than my will to live (which is a lot), but if they continue the same way, it won't be long before my will to live would be cut short and this series would bore me to death!
until next time folks xx.
🪦🪦 here lies those trees who sacrificed their lives in the form of 900 pages and many many copies for absolute nothingness. i find a dog shit more interesting than whatever chloe walsh pooped here.
this book was an absolute torture in my ass. (don't torture your ass guys it's not pleasurable, trust me, trust this book.)
as much as I loved the first book, this one came with disappointment so immeasurable, my day is completely ruined.
this won't be a long review, well bcz there's nothing this book offered to talk about in the first place.
1. REPEAT AFTER FUCKING REPEAT. i'm telling y'all if this ain't a copy paste of the first book- except johnny apparently no longer cares about rugby since that factor was completely shoved under the carpet, L bombs here and there since the start of the book, two horny idiots humping each other every chance they get and then running off bcz "no sex rule", gibsie whoring around sexualising people's mums and sisters, more dick talk, and yes, the heroic brother is back with his milk: Darren.
2. the character arc was not arcing. the fact that the side characters were wayyy moreee interesting than the main couple was beyond embarrassing💀 i absolutely adored shannon+johnny in binding 13, i'd sell my soul for them, but sorry my comrades, they did not do it for me in this one. i was dragging my pathetic ass through their povs, hoping for another glance of gibsie, clarie, mammy kav, daddy kav, joey, hell anyone except these two. their private interactions physically pained me. here's how it always went:
J: Hi Shannon.
S: Hi Johnny.
J: are you okay?
S: um... idk i guess? what do you think?
J: you're literally so tiny lolz, but it's about what you want, are you okay?
S: ig not... i'm so so scared johnny, my father is back in da town💔 also, you're so big.
J: i love you. anyways, are you okay?
S: um i- i- yeah?
J: you sure right?
S: yeah
J: are you okay? don't lie to me, you tiny little toddler
S: chile anyways let's kiss
*cut to dry humping*
J: no we should not be doing this
S: you're literally so bigger than me, my tiny little body wants all of you.
J: you sure?
S: no actually i'm not lol. yk i can't say yes, how else will i repeat this cycle?
J: you okay shan?
S: johnny i'm so scared-
AND THIS IS HOW IT WENT EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. IT NEVER ENDED. MY MISERY NEVER SUBSIDED.
shannon's character arc is what dissatisfied me the most. she was the most plain boring character ever. i get her past, her trauma. i understand her and i get why she reacts to things the way she does, i get why she's so scared all the damn time, but by the end i wanted her to stand up on her feet and fight her own battles. throughout the book she was so codependent on joey and johnny, and i understand why, but i wanted that to change by the end. that's the character development i was expecting, but all the girl ever did was kiss and hump johnny.
johnny completely lost his individuality in this one. his sheer passion for rugby, his drive, his craziness for the sport, all poof in the air like that. it was as if being shannon's support system was the only role he was programmed to play. and ofc, role no. 2 was to sexually please her. why do we even need men for anyway?
joey slayed as always. he's the only one that kept me going. he's the protector we all need in our lives. my poor baby has been mentally ruined, COMPLETELY, and i love it bcz that means he's gonna serve well in his book babyy!
ik this was going downhill when my love gibsie also started annoying me to no ends. he was hella weird in this one. i still do love him (i think?) but he needs to stop seriously. the repeated sexual comments that he passed to others mothers and sisters gave me an ick. all he ever does is make sexual innuendos and talk about fucking and fucking and more fucking. and i don't blame claire for the insecurity she has in their relationship, gibsie's a manwhore, every woman he meets, his very first thought is how fuckable she is. i see no depth in his character. but ik that's not the case (taming 7 is coming soon babyy), ik he has some past and humour is his coping mechanism (he just like me fr). but as far as this book is concerned, he was annoying as hell.
i'm so afraid to continue this series. these books are longer than my will to live (which is a lot), but if they continue the same way, it won't be long before my will to live would be cut short and this series would bore me to death!
until next time folks xx.
August 1, 2024
1.5 ★'s
i'm so disappointed by this series so far. SPOILERS AHEAD!!
i would have dnf'd this book if i didn't do this as a buddy read. it was so hard to get into but i tried to keep hope that it would get better until i realized it wouldn't around 60% thru the book.
i was eating up the drama with her dad definitely. but all of johnny's and shannon's conversations are so surface level and cringe. yes, they talked about her dad but there conversations weren't that deep at all.
and then out of no where shannon's dad just decides to burn there house down, resulting in his and shannon's mothers death? it was so anti-climatic. it's like when you're watching a tv show and a character gets useless/boring so they write them off.
^ side note: i was reading back through this, and it was probably written like that because she needed to end the book and it was unlikely he would turn himself in but something needed to happen otherwise he would always be a threat.
the best scene out of this book was when johnny kidnapped ollie, tadhg, and sean. those three were carrying the book tbh. chloe should give them books later on i would eat those up
and then we shannon and johnny face the biggest problem of there relationship (imo) when johnny gets the contract and has to leave for a month and a half. all we got in the book was a letter from him and a phone call. the 6 weeks we're probably not even more than 3 chapters. then he gets a 2 year contract in dublin and decides to wait a year before signing anything... what happens when he signs?! it was just so stupid.
i don't even like johnny that much. all he is is cute quotes that he says to shannon because she can't handle herself.
my biggest problem with this book is how they depend on each other. they're a coping mechanism to each other. sure it's cute how much they love each other but they need to learn how to love themselves first before they can be in a demanding relationship. when shannon's dad came back, shannon called johnny not because she wanted to live for herself, but because she wanted to live for johnny. she needs to learn that she's her own priority, johnny can be too but she never put herself first. it was about time johnny left her to do something for himself.
i felt like joey going to rehab was a big subplot that was going on and then he just comes back... out of no where and it was barely talked about. i'm sure it was that way though so that way there would be any entry into joey's books but i feel like we should have at least had a scene of him coming out of rehab and seeing his brothers, shannon, and aoife for the first time after.
i am a little sad to say goodbye to shannon and johnny, because after all that there books are over. but i am so happy i finally finished this book because it was such a chore to read. i think gibsie's book will be my fav.
--
so excited for this one 🤭
br with my beloved liani 💜
i'm so disappointed by this series so far. SPOILERS AHEAD!!
i would have dnf'd this book if i didn't do this as a buddy read. it was so hard to get into but i tried to keep hope that it would get better until i realized it wouldn't around 60% thru the book.
i was eating up the drama with her dad definitely. but all of johnny's and shannon's conversations are so surface level and cringe. yes, they talked about her dad but there conversations weren't that deep at all.
and then out of no where shannon's dad just decides to burn there house down, resulting in his and shannon's mothers death? it was so anti-climatic. it's like when you're watching a tv show and a character gets useless/boring so they write them off.
^ side note: i was reading back through this, and it was probably written like that because she needed to end the book and it was unlikely he would turn himself in but something needed to happen otherwise he would always be a threat.
the best scene out of this book was when johnny kidnapped ollie, tadhg, and sean. those three were carrying the book tbh. chloe should give them books later on i would eat those up
and then we shannon and johnny face the biggest problem of there relationship (imo) when johnny gets the contract and has to leave for a month and a half. all we got in the book was a letter from him and a phone call. the 6 weeks we're probably not even more than 3 chapters. then he gets a 2 year contract in dublin and decides to wait a year before signing anything... what happens when he signs?! it was just so stupid.
i don't even like johnny that much. all he is is cute quotes that he says to shannon because she can't handle herself.
my biggest problem with this book is how they depend on each other. they're a coping mechanism to each other. sure it's cute how much they love each other but they need to learn how to love themselves first before they can be in a demanding relationship. when shannon's dad came back, shannon called johnny not because she wanted to live for herself, but because she wanted to live for johnny. she needs to learn that she's her own priority, johnny can be too but she never put herself first. it was about time johnny left her to do something for himself.
i felt like joey going to rehab was a big subplot that was going on and then he just comes back... out of no where and it was barely talked about. i'm sure it was that way though so that way there would be any entry into joey's books but i feel like we should have at least had a scene of him coming out of rehab and seeing his brothers, shannon, and aoife for the first time after.
i am a little sad to say goodbye to shannon and johnny, because after all that there books are over. but i am so happy i finally finished this book because it was such a chore to read. i think gibsie's book will be my fav.
--
so excited for this one 🤭
br with my beloved liani 💜
July 6, 2024
"Well, I don’t want easy. I want you,” he cut me off by saying. “Just the way you are.” “Every part and every piece.”
I grimaced. “Even the broken parts?”
He winked. “Especially the broken parts.”
I had to process what I went through emotionally before I could write this review; so here we go. The books that hold special places in my heart are the ones that make me 'feel' and go through all the emotions in one story and that is exactly what Keeping 13 did. From screaming to laughing out loud, from feeling warm and giddy to hot with anger, and lastly even sobbing with tears as I felt my heart break.💔😭
Keeping 13 is a beautiful an unforgettable story that is both heartfelt and gutwrenching. Chloe's writing makes this story truly addicting between the character development and the special moments that build the relationships within the story. Even though this story is both sweet and full of love, it also touches on very dark and troubling subjects and the way it affects all of characters involved.
*:･ﾟ✧ THINGS I LOVED *:･ﾟ✧
💕Johnny & his parents(Edel and John)-the unconditional and non-judgemental love Johnny's parents give freely in this book is so remarkably beautiful. Edel and John are a whole vibe and serious relationship goals. These two show you the true meaning of fighting behind your children.
💕Shannon & Claire-such an amazing friendship between two girls who support each other and challenge each other.
💕Johnny & Gibsie---omg these two are the epitomy of friendship and they will have you dying laughing. Childhood friends turned brothers.
💕Claire & Gibsie--I love them! (These two have Sweet Home Alabama...grew up as kids and are in love vibes, but wont admit it.)
💕Joey and Aoife--I am so glad to see more of Aoife in this book and I believe she is everything Joey needs and more.
💕Johnny's relationship with the Lynch Siblings---so sweet and heartfelt.
💕Johnny & Shannon-˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚-Oh my!!! These two...what can I say! I'll just let the quotes speak for themselves.
"For the first time in almost eighteen years, I felt like I was standing at a pivotal crossroads in my life. I didn’t need to ask myself which path I was going to take—my feet were already moving toward her—"
“That’s how you make me feel,”
“Better. Alive. Free. Safe. Important. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in days, and that’s only because you’re here—because I’m with you.”
"I’ve never been able to connect with anyone like that.”
“Until one day I looked up from my life and there you were. All blue eyes and full of secrets.”
“And I’ve never felt more connected.”
“I’m with you. All of you. Every part. Good and bad. I’m staying. So don’t hide this part from me.”
“I’m here for Johnny the boy,”
“Not Johnny the rugby player.”
“I’ll stay for both, but I’m only in love with one.”
“You smell like home.” Shivering, I curled my body around hers and pressed a kiss to the curve of her jaw. “You are home.”
“Where you go, I go.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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