my god. My stomach was in knots reading this book, my heart aches for these characters. I love Johnny and Shannon so much, seeing their friendship grow as they fought their feelings for each other and slowly let each other in. they both had secrets they tried to keep to protect themselves, but over time they broke down each others walls and became the one person the other could trust.

the found family in this books is everything, I can’t wait to get the rest of their stories. Even in the most serious moments you can count on gibsie or tadhg to provide some comedic relief.

this series will stick with me forever, I can’t stop thinking about these characters.

Unfortunately, this book felt too slow and drawn out for me. There was too much repetition constantly stating their age difference, her bruises, etc,

This book was so good! I am obsessed with Shannon and Johnny a total must read. I get why the hype is so real!

This book is beautiful. The story of Johnny, who chooses to fight his battles alone and tries to fix everything for those he loves, and Shannon, who is terrified and is finally getting a glimpse of hope, is utterly heartbreaking. I could not put this down the entire time. The balance between the heartache and the happiness of small victories was perfect.

The slow burn and tension between Johnny and Shannon and Gibsie and Claire was worth every moment. Chloe didn't shy away from throwing in all the Irish cultural references, rugby, and, abuse. I couldn't stop squealing at all of the rugby references. It was PERFECT. Seeing abuse on page and the extent of it was hard to read but necessary. I can't wait to continue this series.

Read if you love
- Rugby
- He falls first
- school romance
- resilient characters

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