warning. The Boys of Tommen is a series, but the first two books are a duet. This is not a duet for you if you are looking for sweet romance with lightness. This gets dark with everyday monsters beating at you.
A few friends recommended Binding 13 to me. I put it off thinking it was just another New Adult novel, and I didn’t want the angst I assumed the novel would be riddled with, but I am so happy I finally read both books (I thought it was just the one book, but no, of course not! I couldn’t put them down. Have you ever watched Beverly Hills 90210 or One Tree Hill? The kids in those shows were so much older than their age with what they did, went through, experienced, and you rarely felt like you were in a Young Adult series. This series is like that. The players are minors in high school, but it so doesn’t feel like that. We are in Ireland and Shannon, who is our FMC is attending a new private school called Tommen. She needs a new start away from the bullying she has experienced at multiple public schools, and it’s not just verbal bullying, but physical bullying as well. Shannon needs a safe place to bloom and grow. Is Tommen the place to be her safe haven? If Johnny has anything to do with it, she will find it at Tommen. Johnny is instantly in love with his Shannon like the lake. What he doesn’t know is that Shannon is also bullied and tortured at home by her abusive father. My heart breaks for her. I wondered what I would do if I was her friend and knew about what she and her family go through daily. Binding 13 ends in a horrific cliffhanger and Keeping 13 immediately picks up and whisks you away with Shannon and Johnny and ugh…. Wow.
Just.... wow. What a journey! It's an insane rollercoaster of emotions and I just wasn't ever quite sure where the author was going to take us or do with the characters or if there would even be a happy ending! I just didn't know! There is so much love, heart break, joy and renewal, hope, trust, angst and rebuilding of selves in these books. Johnny's parents are simply the best. The friends help break up the dark and heavy of Shannon and her brothers world. I found myself laughing often with them. Chloe Walsh, what an epic journey. I will be thinking about this duet for a long time.