Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Binding 13

I’m actually quite intimidated to put out this review when there’s such a high rating for this book 🤡.

First off, the writing was simple, very easy to get immersed in the story. However, it was the dialogue and some comments that really put me off. The unnecessary and numerous remarks about how small Shannon was and how big, huge, massive Johnny was put me against the wall. They were so ridiculous that at the end I was fake-sobbing 💀.
On the other hand, there were some comments that I could not but take seriously. Some misogynistic, ableist, and transphobe comments were thrown like nothing, and they literally left me gasping. I get this book is set in the 2000s, but it seems quite unnecessary in a high school romance book to make such serious statements. Honestly, it just feels icky and enrages (at least, that was what accomplished with me).

Continuing with the characters, Shannon was obviously tiny, but apart from that nothing really stood out LOL. Nah, she was cute but sometimes really frustrating, she was indecisive about everything.

I honestly expected more of Johnny. Probably because he was a teenager, but his mood swings and his attitude didn’t really attract me (not to talk about the situation with his thigh injury 😭😭). He was sweet with Shannon, but seeing how it was quite insta-lovey on his part didn’t make it entirely appealing. In the end, he improved and he actually showed a quite different and better side (let’s hope this is the beginning of his character development 🙏🙏). So yeah, I liked his daddy much better and he only appeared in two scenes 🥴🥴. Sorry, Johnny.

Shannon and Johnny had some cute moments that got me squealing, but others were actually really awkward and embarrassing, so I’m not totally on board with them. Let’s see how it goes 👁️👁️.

For me, the real star of the show here was Joey. Seeing how cared about his siblings, and how he struggled so much but also made an effort to make things better really touched my heart. I love him and he must be protected at all costs 🫶🫶.

Despite having no real plot, I had no problems getting through this book, and I actually was invested (hence my rating). The ending was pretty good (the drama finally blew up ✊), but seeing the repetitiveness and length of the story doesn’t make me rush for the next book.

Content Warnings

wynterstrike's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one surprised me. I generally don't so much as finish sports romances, let alone enjoy them. I also demand a full and thorough plot which was practically absent from this book. Shocking, given the ~800 pages, which definitely could've been reduced as conversations seemed to be repeated often, but I still devoured this book and had a great time doing so.

I loved the depth of the characters, and Gibsie and Johnny's friendship was a highlight for me. There were a couple of questionable comments made by characters, and everyone seemed to act first, talk later, but given the characters ages I think it checks out.

What I'd like to see in book 2:

more character development from Shannon would be nice; she was meek the whole book. I'd also like to see Johnny actually listen to her for once.

Looking forward to picking up the next book regardless!

It's worth checking the trigger warnings if you're okay not going in completely blind, there's some pretty dark themes throughout.

Content Warnings

kelseyr09's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Desperately needs editing. It's so repetitive and nothing happens in 90% of the book. I'm surprised I finished it .

leave the poor girl alone already. She is bullied, beaten up, clumsy, bad in school, haa crippling anxiety, can't hold a coherent conversation. But the super hot extremely popular jock likes her despite it all and that makes everything okay

Content Warnings

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