Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Binding 13 - Alternative Cover

i have no words.
this is a 727399273 star for me.

shannon has been bullied all her life and grew up in an abusive household, with a violent, alcoholic father and a forgiving mother, the only person she is close with is her older brother joey. shannon’s mam decides to pull her out of school in the middle of third year and enrol her in a private school, putting the family into further debt.

shannon has 2 friends in her new school- Claire and Lizzie - who went to primary school with her.
on her first day she is hit on her head by a rugby ball resulting in her having a concussion. the culprit? irelands future rugby star, Johnny Kavanagh.
Johnny takes care of Shannon after her concussion and keeps an eye out for her in school.

even though they’ve only briefly met, they can’t get each other out of their heads.
johnny vows to protect shannon, but he can’t when her injuries show up daily and she won’t tell him who is giving her them.
shannon vows to protect johnny, but she can’t when he’s just had surgery that he’s still in pain from after it healed badly and he continues playing rugby regardless.

they end up seeing each other constantly. whether it’s shannon missing her bus and johnny driving her home, or shannon’s brother joey heading over to Johnny's house to drop off his phone.

they get very close very fast and have such good chemistry.

this book is just sos so sos so so good, and i just want all the characters to be happy and have some peace.

the found family is so good and i love the friendships between the characters so much.
found family:
shannon lynch
johnny kavanagh
gerard gibsie (likes claire)
claire
hughie (claire’s brother)
lizzie
pierce (lizzies boyfriend)

at the end johnny has a match in dublin and ends up passing out because of pain, he is brought to the hospital for emergency surgery. shannon sneaks out of the b&b where the school is staying with gibsie to visit johnny in hospital. when he is high on morphine he tells her he loves her and she admits her dad is hurting her.

when she gets home her dad beats her badly and it ends on a cliffhanger of joey forcing their mother to choose - her husband or her kids.

Content Warnings

rosereadsalot's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Content Warnings

lilyemmaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

THIS BOOK DRAGGED. It was setting up so much for the second book, and it just felt so long. I was hoping it would pick up speed. But it just kept going. But that’s not at all saying it was bad, because it was enjoyable. I just wish it was more fast paced than it was.

Johnny and Shannon were set up beautifully. It was a realistic timeline and for that I applaud Chloe. They were instantly placed with each other. Instead they had the friendship stage where you both know you like each other, but you just won’t admit it yet. Been there, still doing that as we speak, which is why it’s so fun to read about.

This actually set up perfectly the second book and that’s just something that needed to be done well. But god that ending. I WAS SO UPSET. WHY DID MY POOR SHANNON GO THROUGH THAT. WHY WAS SHE GIVE THOSE HORRIBLE PARENTS. I’m so glad she had Joey and I’m so glad he stepped up the way he did even though no child should have to. Has she not had him, she truly would not have survived. I also loved how Johnny was with Shan. He cared so much for her and even when they were just friends, he put in the effort to make sure she was okay. He’s now become one of my new favorite book boyfriends.

Content Warnings

chlobarclay17's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Feel like I deserve a medal for making it through this

Content Warnings

francess_m's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

noellareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

belenn's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

i don't usually write reviews... but this absolutely shocked me. i NEVER cry reading books. NEVER. i found myself crying when the characters got into a little discussion. i was THAT invested in them.

i started reading this because out of nowhere i saw someone saying that this book was worth reading 800 pages of a contemporary romance and that is a BIG statement to make (and i LOVE long books) and i confirm: it was SO worth it. every sentence i read i kept thinking "damn, im so glad this is a long book, im enjoying myself so much i don't want this to end" i just want to see ALL (ok... not all... only the good ones) characters of this book to be happy. i would die for every single one of them.
i LOVED the side characters. if a story has good side characters it scores so many points for me! and this one did it BRILLIANTLY.

i don't think i've ever highlighted a book this much. i have NO WORDS. ❤❤❤❤❤❤

p.s: if anyone reads this and decides to try this book look up trigger warnings. it's very triggering and very graphic at some points!

Content Warnings

kylie62's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

More...