6 stars - I understand why there is so much hype around this book. Although it is supposed to be long, it did not feel that way. I binged the entire book. Every interaction between Shannon and Johnny had me squealing with excitement. Additionally, many heavy topics are addressed in the book.

Love this story and can’t wait to continue on and find out what happens with Shannon and Johnny!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Chloe Walsh for the ARC.

this book is all about falling in love with your soulmate, and it was incredible! it gave a loooot of slow burn, but in a good way that made it worth it when they finally connected. Johnny to Shannon was EVERYTHING! you could just see those heart eyes he had for her!

I heard all the hype over this book but it’s so long that it intimated me and wow do I regret that… this book deserves all the hype and more. I loved it so much and loved both characters.. every interaction had me squealing I can’t wait to read the second.

i genuinely do not even know how to write this review. when i first started this book, i was not understanding the hype at allll and almost dnf'd it but i am very glad i didn't. johnny & shan's story has SUBSTANCE but it is such a perfect story and very different from a lot of other YA high school romances. the book is pretty lengthy but with the tension of the slow burn, it is *chef's kiss*

nothing in the world prepared me for the heartbreak of shan's life and the kindness of johnny's soul. nothing prepared me for the emotions of this story, especially the ending???

the book is very well written and it is raw and real in the saddest way. the depth of their story is very unique compared to other YA romances and i loved it.

damn what the fuck have i just signed myself up for…

i could NOT put this down. it’s angsty and dark and cringy and, at times, VERY hard to read (how’d i go this long without finding out it’s chock full of abuse??? emotional and physical- fair warning ‼️) these struggles are so fucking real and one mr johnny and miss shannon deserve the entire world and more 🥹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

am i positively petrified to start the next book now? oh, for sure but c’est la vie, et cetera

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this electronic advance reading copy (e-ARC). I truly appreciate it! I must say that the new cover of this book is stunningly beautiful and eye-catching, which made me even more excited to dive into the story. After finishing it, I can confidently say that it was an excellent reread, and I would definitely give it a rating of 4 stars. Once again, thank you very much, NetGalley!

Shout out to mama Kavanagh for this one. Setting those realistic expectations:
“It’s important to know that a woman has needs. In real life, girls don’t all scream and carry on like porn stars ."

I heard alot of good things about this one and honestly I didn't love it. It's extremely slow in the beginning. It was kinda weird reading about a 15 year old and 17 year old at the age of 28. I started to like it around 70%. That ending tho....absolutely hated it. Now I'm mad I'm gonna have to buy the second book to see what happens.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Binding 13 has been on my radar forever and I'm so sad to say I'm only NOW reading it. This book was wild in the best way. Taking place in 2005 Ireland, this book has so many throwbacks to my own teen years I felt transported back to high school right alongside Johnny and Shannon. Chloe is a saint and provides a really detailed glossary in the front of the book with a lot of helpful Irish terms. As someone from Canada, I don't have a lot of knowledge about the school system or rugby or the Irish slang in general, so this really came in handy for me when I was reading.

Walsh was a master story-teller with this one. While marketed as young adult, I enjoyed it as a 32 year old woman and didn't necessarily feel squeamish reading it. There's sexual talk, but no actual sex on page, which helped. And even though this was mega slow burn, which I normally don't like, the absolute PINING and FEELS that I got from Johnny and Shannon were enough to keep me intrigued.

There is some HEAVY content warnings here though, friends. Please make sure to check them out before reading, and have Keeping 13 handy because you're going to need it after that cliffhanger.

Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh is the first book in the Boys of Tommen series. This book is a romance that is set in Ireland and follows Johnny and Shannon. Keep in mind that there are some trigger warnings for this book with a big one being mental and physical abuse from a character's parents. I found this book so addicting to read because I was attached to the characters from page 1. You cannot help but feel like Johnny and Shannon are real characters who have stolen your entire heart. I am also attached to all side characters. I would say that if you love a character-driven novel then you will love this. Binding 13 ends on a major cliffhanger and you will not be able to do anything besides pick it up immediately!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Wow! I was so engrossed in this story. While this is considered YA, as someone in their 30s I loved this book. I adored the relationship between the FMC & MMC and immediately had to grab the second book to continue the story.

4.5⭐️

I loved this angsty, tension-filled YA romance!! The Irish setting, the rugby, the private school vibes.. it was all so fun and felt very nostalgic of 2000s romcoms. But it also touches on heavy topics, including bullying and physical abuse/assault.

I adored Shannon, she is such a strong character and my heart hurt for everything she was facing. And JOHNNY! What a guy 🥹 I just loved how protective he was over Shannon, and their friendship is so sweet.

Keep in mind this is YA — Shannon can sometimes come off a little naive/innocent even for a 15-16 year old but I just had to remind myself she’s a teenager 😂 overall I’m excited to continue with the rest of the series!

This was such a great love story and I am so excited to continue this series. It truly did live up to the hype for me.

Wow! Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. I enjoyed this story so much and i cannot wait to continue the series!

This was just really poorly written. 145k words for a romance novel is wild, and knowing that this book has very little plot with that many words is insane. A significant amount of this book was the internal dialogue of our main characters just rehashing the same things over and over and over.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating 5/5 Stars

What a beautiful story. I get the hype over this series and it’s well deserved. This was my first book by this by Chloe Walsh and definitely was blown away. I am so invested and love these characters so much! Can’t wait to finish the rest of the series

I absolutely loved this book. I immediately knew I had to buy a physical copy and I bought the second in the series as well. I fell In love with this relationship. I love how Shannon was portrayed and her relationship with Johnny. I will be devouring this entire series I just know it. The writing style was also great. I found my slept falling for the characters and even laughing out loud

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating 4.5/5 Stars

Wowwwwww oh wow. This was my first book by this author and definitely was blown away. I am so invested and love so much

AHHHH I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat for me.

I realize Binding 13 is a young adult book, but I really felt like the age being brought up so many times between Johnny and Shannon was just too much. They were both minors when they met so I really don't think the AGE would have been the issue... more like everything else going on in their lives. I also just felt like a lot of nothing really happened for a lot of this book. I think it could have been 200 pages shorter than it was. And the ending.... I don't think Shannon's mom can be trusted so giving her that choice was pointless.

The positives
- there were some VERY funny scenes
- the emotional moment between Johnny and his dad at the end of the book saved it for me
- I'm excite for Joey and Aoife's book
- Also Gibsy

I'll be reading Keeping 13--- just not right away.

Binding 13 left me with so many emotions, I was not ready for everything these characters dealt with. I kept stalling to read it because of how long it is and I regret waiting so long. So much emotion, angst, and sadness. I was so mad about the cliffhanger!!!!! Thank god the second book, Keeping 13, is available. Chloe Walsh is a new author to me and so far she has not disappointed. I have to know what happens next for these characters. Definitely recommend this book if you can handle the trigger warnings that come with it.