NetGalley Review — my rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Binding 13” by @authorchloewalsh was an unexpected and absolutely welcome surprise. This story follows Shannon, a timid Irish girl. She’s been bullied by her classmates and beaten by her father her entire life. But she’s starting a new school — enter Johnny, rugby royalty and absolute dream. He has nothing on his mind but going pro straight outta school and no one is gonna get in his way.

WOW. Just absolutely amazing. I blind requested this book. I thought the premise was decent and I’m a sucker for trigger warnings. The sheer size (almost 700 pages) scared me once I saw it and omg, I was mad as hell when I noticed it said YA.

Boy, was I wrong. This is easily going to be one of my favorite books of 2023. I think I felt every feeling possible with this book & the end left me on a cliffhanger. Basically over here BEGGING @read_bloom to approve me for “Keeping 13” asap so I can pick it up immediately!!

“Binding 13” was published November 28 so runnnnn to get this book. Give it a shot. You won’t regret the ride.

#netgalley #sourcebloombooks #chloewalsh #binding13 #johnnyshannon

Chloe Walsh's "Binding 13" is a rollercoaster of emotions, blending the rough and tumble world of rugby with the tender intricacies of first love. Shannon's character is equally well-crafted, carrying the weight of a painful history with strength and resilience. The author tackles serious issues such as bullying and trauma with sensitivity, providing depth to Shannon's narrative and drawing readers into her journey of self-discovery. The chemistry between Johnny and Shannon is undeniable, and Walsh skillfully develops their relationship amidst the challenges they face. This novel goes beyond the typical sports romance by delving into the lives of its characters, exploring the highs and lows of fame, friendship, and the secrets that threaten to unravel everything. The Irish setting adds a charming layer to the narrative, making the story feel both intimate and universal.

The characters in this book grabbed me from the very beginning! I loved this story and found myself flying through this, even though it is super long. I am so happy that this is a series because I can definitely see myself continuing to be very invested in all the character’s lives.
I think some of this book definitely wasn’t needed and there was a ton of inner monologue that ended up feeling like a lot at times. Other than that I have no complaints and was feeling all the characters emotions right along with them.
The cliffhanger we are left on as super intense and I am going to need to continue with this series asap!
I received an arc copy from NetGalley (thank you) and am leaving this review on my own.

5 ⭐️ oh my goodness this BOOK!!! The beginning of Johnny and Shannon's story was so perfect. I was hooked on the storyline from the very start. I loved everything about it - the banter amongst the friends, the school setting, Johnny's growth, Shannon's vulnerability, the way they come together and support each other!! This is a very emotional story and parts of it are difficult to read, but I really really loved all of it. The romance development is so beautiful. So excited for the next one!

I can relate to how Shannon feels when it came to being bullied and switched schools to deal with it. I am fond on how Chloe Walsh has not rushed Johnny and Shannon's love story in book 1 but she made there meeting to be a nice clumsy accident which I personally could relate to I would be the one to get hit by a rugby ball in the head with my luck. I am a fan of the side characters that are in this story i love that Chloe Walsh has hinted at other characters love interests and how they have their own stories.

I shouldn't love how Johnny goes batshit on Ronan for "talking" to Shannon but when you give rapist vibes I feel he kind of deserved the breaking of the nose he got. the fact that Gibsie tried to deal with it before Johnny found out would of been the safe option for Ronan. to bad Ronan was a eejit as they would say and talked to her and got his nose broken.

when Johnny and start spending time together and go to Biddies and run into Shannon's classmates from her old school, the tension between Johnny and the bullies from Shannon's old school is amazing. I personally loved when Johnny kicked the boyfriend of the bullies ass for calling Shannon a slut.

when Johnny gives the dont touch my girl vibes i just melt for his character more then i should.

when Shannon tells johnny that her dad beats her omg i cant with it. also the face that shannons mum leaves us on a cliff hanger since she didnt want to chose between her kids and there pos dad.

I first read the self published version of Binding 13 last year, so while it isn’t fresh on my mind, I do remember quite a bit from my first time through. I was really happy to be approved for this ARC because I had been wanting to reread the first 2 books to continue on with the series.

I had a hard time figuring out my rating the first time through, and it proved the same difficult task this time reading the newly published version.

I think you’ll either love this book or you won’t at all. It’s very much a character driven story and a slow burn. I enjoy that about this book. It takes its time. It’s all about Johnny and Shannon finding each other and struggling through various problems at the same time.

I don’t think this book is perfect, but I love the characters and their relationships. I can see myself rereading over and over again.

After hearing so much about this book all over social media I was super excited to read this book!! I was super invested in the characters. I will say please make sure to check TW’s as this book does deal with a lot of heavy material. But I really enjoyed the book, and can’t wait to read the next one!

I wanted to give this book another chance after I had started to read the self-published version, hoping they would clean up the extremely messy and juvenile dialogue. I understand this is a young adult novel and juvenile language is permissible but I was hoping it would only be to a certain extent. I have no idea how people even felt sympathy towards these characters. I felt sorry for their circumstances but found myself truly unable to even root for them.

I requested this after seeing so many people love it online, but I didn't get the hype. It was way too long for a romance in my opinion. It was also very sad and maybe I wasn't in the mood for it. I would look up trigger warnings before recommending to anyone.

This duet is the type of coming-of-age story I have always wanted! The one high school romance that I would recommend to people who don’t even read high school romance!

I loved the characters, the plot, the relationship, the writing, and the entire found family. The reason this story is practically flawless is the way that we see truly healthy relationships contrasted with tragically broken relationships, which is rarely ever shown so well in fiction novels.

Johnny Kavanagh is the broody, cocky golden boy of Ireland, but when we see him meet Shannon, the protective teddy bear will make you swooning and then when he falls in love with Shannon, the sexy bad boy will have you obsessed with him as he is with her. I don’t think there’s one single facet of this boy’s personality that I did not absolutely adore!

Contrasted with the darkness of her home life, Johnny shows Shannon a side of love that is pure, wholesome, raw, and real. Don’t be mistaken- this is not a fluffy romcom teen love story; it is so much more. Crafted with depth, emotions, complexity and beauty, Chloe Walsh has become one of my go-to authors with the Boys of Tommen series!

✨Shannon like the river, with the gorgeous blue eyes, face of an angel, and the troubled past. ✨

Wow oh wow, this book has been on my TBR for a while now and it did NOT disappoint!! I just love Shannon and Johnny so much 😭😭😭 like the connection these two have?!? I can’t. Omg 🥹🥺 I love the friend group in this book which gave me many laughs but also.. this book is giving me pain 😭 and I need more of these two so I’m off to read the next book now. 🖤

✨“When you’re around, I feel safe.”✨

✨ I wanted to fight all her battles. I wanted to give her all her smiles and make her laugh and snatch her away from the rest of the world and keep her all to myself. I just wanted her. For keeps.✨

I am BAWLING YALL

I’m not one for slow burns (usually) but MAN THIS WAS WORTH IT.

Johnny?

Fucking hell, he’s the ultimate boyfriend. Protective, loyal, golden retriever, this boy is head over heels for Shannon.

"She makes my heart go, like, whoa."

"Boom, boom, fucking boom."

What’s that saying? Drunk thoughts, sober mind.

This scene right here tells you everything we ever need to know about Johnny’s feelings for Shannon, never mind the changing room scene and various other scenes already did it. And the fact that the ending happened the way it did? I’m tempted to go get book two just so I’m not dying from that cliffhanger.

Johnny is gonna be fucking devastated.

Binding 13 is hyped up all over BookTok, so I wanted to try it. As a romance lover, I did not enjoy this book and struggled to get through it. This book is very tedious and needs a lot of editing. There are a lot of useless scenes that do not further the plot and repetitive language is used frequently. I would not recommend this book at all, and, unfortunately, it does not live up to the hype.

High school romance full of angst, bullying, healing, rugby, and a protective MMC. Binding 13 is a slow burn, heart wrenching read. Johnny wants to fix everything for Shannon only his drive to take care of her battles with his competitiveness in rugby. He always wanted to be the best and he struggles with balancing his relationship with her and rugby. This book includes bullying and abuse so you may want to check triggering warnings before diving in.

Dual POV
Sports romance
Friends to Lovers
Found family
Slow Burn
Trauma/healing

2.5 Stars

This book was entirely too long. I don't think a thing plot wise happened in the first 50% of the book. I wanted to DNF it so bad up to about 75%, then it became bearable. It wasn't until the last 10-15% of this book that I felt like something happened that made me want to keep reading. I didn't like the setting, the plot, and I felt creepy reading about 15-17 year olds in this way. I thought Tommen College would be new adult, American college.- not equivalent to American high school.

I did like the ending and the cliffhanger, and I liked the approach to the characters trauma. I have trouble liking the MMC because he is a child. I did like Johnny's dedication to Shannon, but 600 pages of slow burn hurts. Like come on. I was not captivated by this story or the characters to want to read so much unnecessary back and forth bologna.

I will not be finishing this series. I think it is meant for a younger audience, and a person who likes a different style of book than I do. It reminded me of Anna Todd's After series, so if you liked that then you may like this.

★ ★ ★ ★ | 🌶

18+ check TWs

Note: I try my hardest to not include spoilers in my reviews. However, spoilers and how you define a spoiler is subjective. Proceed with caution.

*A special thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

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Ah, the infamous Boys of Tommen series, we finally meet. And I’m enchanted to meet you. Though, I expected older characters.

This book put me through the wringer over and over again, and I can see why so many people are in love with it.

Chloe Walsh does a good job of invoking an emotional reaction to Shannon’s character. You really feel for her experience at home and her past school experiences. So much so, it’s hard not to get frustrated with her and want her to get help. Though, you understand why she doesn’t.

And Johnny… BOY, why are you hurting yourself? Why are you so hot and cold with Shannon? Get it together, please. I love the character and his protectiveness, but I was getting whiplash sometimes.

Now, we all know I’m not a slowburn girlie. But the tension and the crumbs we were getting here had me screaming my way through the book.

The biggest reason why this book wasn’t a 5 star read was the length. It was really long. However, some parts felt longer than others. One of the biggest reason I don’t love slowburns is because some authors translate that trope into making the book unbearably long. In this case, I just think some of it could have been cut. Like the amount of times Shannon’s size is mentioned.

In sum, I really enjoyed this book and I’m really excited to read the rest of the series.

I have a lot of mixed feelings on this one. Binding 13 is one that you will see recommended often in romance book spaces- but I took that with a grain of salt as there’s another book series I saw recommended EVERYWHERE that I couldn’t make it past one chapter. Hesitantly, I decided to give this one a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I never once considered giving up on this book. That being said- is this an amazing piece of literature that I will think of every day? No. But it absolutely kept me interested. Sort of in the way you’ll watch a reality tv show. It’s a little cheesy, a little predictable, lots of drama- but man is it entertaining. I would say my only complaint really is that I did feel like it was unnecessarily long but, again, even with that I never felt like I couldn’t make it through. This book does end on a cliff hanger so know that this is a minimum 2 book commitment! Music lovers will also be happy to find the multiple playlists in the back of the book for the characters and their relationships with each other. Overall, I had a good time reading this and would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy romance read.

Shannon has known nothing but bullying and abuse her entire life and when it goes too far, she gets transferred to the private school her only two friends attend. Tommen College is like nothing she's ever known. Except for an incident her very first day, she's had the most peace at school she's ever known.
Johnny is the school's star rugby player, headed for the national team one day and dedicating everything to the sport he loves. But when he meets Shannon, there's something about her that makes him need to protect her and he's completely distracted by her to the point of risking his academy placement. But even under his protection, she continues to show up with mysterious bruises and even though he keeps pushing her away from me than friendship, he's determined to protect her. But what happens in a few months when he's supposed to move on in the academy?
I'm conflicted in my review of this book because there were so many repetitive scenes and the story doesn't really go anywhere for the first half of the book. There were certain parts I really liked and others I skimmed over. But overall I liked the characters and the struggle each are going through. I liked the cast of side characters, my favorite being Gibsy as he brought so much humor to the story. It kept me interested enough to want to find out what happens in the next book, but it could have been a lot shorter.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to read this book because I thought it might be a good option for some of my students who want something Colleen Hoover-esque. I appreciated the trigger warning, but ultimately, this book won't be a good fit for my school. It was extremely hard for me to finish.

This was the first book I have read by Chloe Walsh and it won't be my last. This is a 600 page book but let me tell you it didn't feel like that. Chloe had my from start to finish. This book will definitely show all of your emotions. I felt like she had great character development and relationship development. I would Highly recommend this book!


Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, Bloom Books for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.