I loved Binding 13, Johnny is so freaking sweet. I love him. I thought the story was very emotional and it truly tugged at my heart strings. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I’ve read and seen so many great reviews for “Binding 13” online and was extremely excited and grateful for the opportunity.

Initially, I was not going to leave feedback for this book because I was having technical errors downloading it even though it appeared in the app.

Once it was available on Kindle Unlimited and a version on Audible, I was able to download it and listen/read it.

“Binding 13” on Audible is split into two parts.

The story is good and well written. It’s also extremely sad.

I’ve had to take breaks listening/reading “Binding 13” and I’ll continue to update my review as I continue the journey with Johnny and Shannon.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read the rerelease of Chloe Walsh’s “Binding 13” in advance.

This is about to consume my entire life and I cannot wait. Also thank you Chloe for a beautiful glossary with pronunciations I deeply appreciate it

Beyond obsessed with this book and these characters.

Johnny and Shannon. Wow. They have been through it. I have never wanted to take kids out of a book like I have here. This girl! My heart hurts for her and yet she still carries on. Johnny and the way he is with her is my favorite thing. He is truly if "if he wanted to he would".

BUT this ending?!?!? I immediately need to know everything.

THE SIDE CHARACTERS. I am in love with them. Gibsie. Johnny's mom. Joey. Claire. I adore them. and they make me laugh. and they bring the story together. and the LOYALTY of this group. I cannot. I love it.

Read this book. Just do.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Omg. This book. I am SOBBING. I felt everything. The writing is immaculate. I haven’t felt so connected to characters in a book in a long time 😭😭

Off I go to break my heart some more with book 2 💔

Even though this book was super long, it did not read like a super long book! The back story was all crucial to the story and made you fall in love with the main characters and hate some of the other characters. This book has a lot of tough topics it discusses and it is not for the faint of heart. Chloe does an amazing job of navigating each with care. I found myself laughing out loud and crying at pieces. This is a serious must read!

Binding 13 is 600+ pages, and honestly, I wanted more - that's how much I loved the characters, the plot, EVERYTHING.

The novel follows Shannon Lynch and Johnny Kavanaugh, as Shannon transfers to Tommen and makes quite the entrance (thanks to Johnny Kavanaugh). After Johnny accidentally hits Shannon on her very first day, leaving her hurt and embarrassed, he vows to make sure he, nor anyone else, ever hurts her again. With his status at school and a (near) professional rugby player, it seems easy at first to take her under his wing...that is, until he finds that despite his efforts, he can't protect her from everything, especially, not those outside of school walls.

Shannon Lynch, though perceived as shy and "weak" by her father and classmates, is one of the strongest characters I have ever read. Despite being treated awfully (to say the least) by so many, she remains one of the kindest, sweetest, and genuine characters. I felt the same need as Johnny to protect her, because as I read the novel through her lens, she truly has such a good heart.

As for Johnny Kavanaugh, he is the ULTIMATE book boyfriend. When Johnny Kavanaugh makes a promise, he keeps it. He's not the stereotypical "popular jock" that we see in Sports Romances (though I wouldn't necessarily call this book one), as he is also an incredible student, son, and friend. At heart, he is such a good person, and I LOVED every single time he put anyone in their place.

As for the side characters, Walsh somehow manages to make several developed, complex, and amazing side characters. This book is the definition of found family, and I LOVE Gibsie, Claire, and Joey especially.

Of course, I'm continuing this series, and I honestly reread this book at least once every few months, because I love it THAT much.

Tropes: WHO HURT YOU x100, Found Family, Popular Boy x Shy Girl, Sports Romance (I guess), Friends to Lovers, Grumpy x Sunshine, Forbidden Romance (kind of)

Emotionally charged and poignant. A narrative centered around the theme of found family. I experienced moments of both profound sadness and genuine laughter..

I personally could not get into this book, and thought it would have been better if it was a lot shorter.

honestly, i loved this book from the very first sentence. i felt such a connection to the characters which made the book so much more enjoyable to read which i really loved.

I enjoy this author and this series so it was no surprise that this book was great. I devoured it from cover to cover and immediately recommended to my book club! This was a 4.2 star read for me.

"Do not break her, Johnny. Not when she already seems fractured."

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an advanced copy of Binding 13 in exchange for an honest review.

Binding 13 is about a young 16-year old girl named Shannon Lynch who lives in Ireland and has been through way too much in her very short time on Earth. She moves from Ballylaggin Community School to Tommen College due to extreme bullying at BCS. Once at Tommen College, Shannon meets star rugby player Johnny Kavanaugh after an unfortunate accident on the rugby pitch. From then on, Johnny is bound and determined to keep Shannon safe from anything and everything which could cost him his professional rugby career and something even more important, his heart.

I loved this book so much and Johnny and Shannon gave me all of the feels. I especially connected with Shannon because I was also bullied when I was younger (not to the extent of Shannon though). Her character is extremely realistic in that she has a hard time trusting people and she wants to just fade into the shadows and take up as little space as possible. Shannon also made me want t0 cry because she was so tramautized and no matter what she did, she could not escape abuse and bullying. Johnny kind of annoyed me at first because he seemed to me like your typical jock stereotype but Chloe Walsh surprised me with breaking a good amount of stereotypes and tropes through developing Johnny's character. The side characters definitely held their own, especially Gibsie. He was so funny and brought great comic relief in the best spots. Joey is also an amazing character. He is trying to develop his own life but is not willing to give up his sister and younger brothers.

I LOVED every minute of this book and cannot wait to read Keeping 13! 4/5 stars!

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

When I tell you, this is one of the most heart wrenching, beautifully written books I have EVER come across. I never know how I’m going to feel about YA books, just because sometimes they can be more childish than I hope. This book never once felt that way. These kids are dealing with “grown” problems and man I love them for it. I will forever be grateful for Shannon & Johnny

This was the slowest slow burn that ever did slow burn, but man was I in a chokehold from the beginning to end, even when I was shocked into mild catatonia when I realized there were 887 Kindle Pages in the book, and I had unknowingly committed to a book of such a length. This book had me sucked in from beginning to end, I read it probably in a combined 10.5 hours probably, and the ending had me at the edge of my frigggin' bed, I have never thanked God more for having a Kindle Unlimited subscription so that I could IMMEDIATELY check out the second book in the series and immediately dive in while simultaneously crying!
The characters are so fully fleshed out, you couldn't ask for better detail, some people are bothered by the excess chapters with information that isn't 100% necessary for the main storyline and at first, I was unsure if I was enjoying it, but the more chapters I read with Gibsie, and Jhonny's mam I was falling in love with their banter, and sarcasm. I have a huge spot in my heart for Gibsie, and I already know the next books are going to be his and I'm probably going to 'bulldoze' straight into them. The characters are very relatable, and believable!
I don't come from the best upbringing and although I can't 100% relate to the situation Shannon and her family are in, my heart broke for her just the same because no one deserves that type of life, but the ability to 'fall down 7, and stand up 8 times' is miraculous and beautiful in my opinion. I loved every single piece of this book, and so far, I'm 40% into book #2 and I'm just as in love. I will be taking zero criticism from anyone, at all. I'm on cloud fucking 9.

OOF my HEART! First off, I absolutely love the dynamic between Johnny and Shannon. Shannon and Joey also shared some really heartfelt (even at time tough) moments. Gibsie and Claire were such great supporting characters too. The writing felt a bit repetitive at times but the ending was shocking! I am now going to immediately pick up Keeping 13!

So excited to read more!

I was not expecting the deep emotions of this book.  I anticipated an emotional and angsty read, I did not expect to find myself laughing out loud so many times (Gibsie and Johnny in the hospital). This is a character-driven story, romance isn’t the primary focus and the pacing is a bit slow.  But, why is the book so long?  Talk about a slow burn, with a cliffhanger!!!  Yikes!!!

Honestly, I’m blown away by the build-up. There is a lot to unpack. This is a story about letting others in and facing trauma, pain, and the difficulties of life.

I need the next book IMMEDIATELY!  Johnny is definitely my kind of book boyfriend material, he’s a little bit of a jerk, but his alpha, possessive, protectiveness when it came to Shannon was TOP NOTCH perfection.  Boy, did I feel the frustration every time he pushed her away.  I’m looking forward to seeing where the next book takes their relationship.

Did not disappoint, chapter one and I was already holding back tears. Full of the teen romance drama tv show nostalgia. It was very long but very fulfilling.

this book took me awhile to get into but once it got going, i was hooked.

if you see me hauling ass to buy the next four books in this series… mind your business. i’m supposed to be reading from my physical tbr but they will technically be apart of that when i buy them… so loophole.

i really enjoyed the relationship between johnny and shannon. the fact that he was a safe place for her was so healing. i loved the friendships she had with claire and lizzie and i’m looking forward to seeing where the next book takes us.

… will be speeding through these books bc i need to read gibsie and claires ASAP!!!

thank you to netgalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for an e-arc

BOOK REVIEW 🏈🌊🏫🦋

4/5⭐️: Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh

i finally decided it was time to start this series. this book was so heartbreaking & emotional. this story follows our main characters, Johnny & Shannon and the struggles each of them face and how they come together and fall in love.

i really liked Shannon. she was super quiet & shy but sometimes she would say the funniest things. my heart broke for her and her siblings throughout the entire book, they all deserved so much better from the people who are supposed to love & protect them. i absolutely loved her friendship with Claire & Lizzie. they were such good friends i was so happy she was finally fitting in & feeling comfortable at school. also Joey is just the best, he really is such a good soul & i cannot wait to get to his books.

Johnny was so funny & i loved his relationship with Shannon. i did find his infatuation with her from the moment he saw her to be a little insta-lovey but that’s okay. he was so kind and i really loved him for Shannon. i am looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops and how they move on from such traumatic events.

the only criticism i have is that i personally felt like the book was too long. i felt like the story was really repetitive & could be told just as well with less pages. the writing was a bit young & cringe at some points. but i also get that we’re following teenagers, so i guess that is to be expected.

overall i really liked this book, it made me laugh & it made me cry. i cannot wait to get to the rest of the series!

A solid 4 star read for me. The setting, as well as the characters and their lives were very interesting. On top of reading the dialogue in Irish accents in my head, I guess I’m now a rugby fan. I liked that there was depth to the characters’ trials and tribulations (check TW for sure). It was also rewarding that Shannon didn’t just fall into Johnnys arms right away. What is the opposite of cheesy, because I feel like their friendship was that. They weren’t ~too~ frustrating in their slow burn, at least not to the point of having me yell at them through the pages.

THE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END THOUGH….Well played Chloe Walsh……Now I am legally required to read the next installment.

That being said, this book was unexpected in a couple of ways for me…For starters, the age of the characters was a surprise to me. I don’t love following 15/16/17 year olds through their romances. I feel like this book would have been much better (and less cringey/weird), if the characters were older like their audience is. Definitely an interesting choice by the author, especially for a romance novel.

Secondly, I didn’t expect it to be so long. Coupled with it being a (very) slow burn, it started to drag on a bit for me. There were definitely key parts to character development, but I feel like otherwise it didn’t need to be so long.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Chloe Walsh and Sourcebooks (Bloom Books)!