Phuong ✯'s Reviews > Keeping 13

☆⋅⋆ ── 1st read 2020: 5 stars
☆⋅⋆ ─── 2nd read 2023: 5+ stars

"I love you," she whispered, fingers digging into my neck as she pulled my face down to hers and kissed my lips. "A crazy fucking amount." "I love you, too –" my voice cracked and I exhaled a strangled breath before adding, "Most in the world."

johnnyshannon will always be famous for paving the way for the rest of the Boys of Tommen couples that will follow. my precious babies. i love them so much and now i'm more than excited to dive into joeyaoife's story even though i know they will break my heart.



1825 pages, 150 chapters and many many tears later .... THE HIGH RATINGS FOR THIS SERIES ARE REAL AND I'M 100% ONE THIS HYPE TRAIN!

WARNING: This review contains a lot of screaming, crying, fangirling and mental breakdowns. Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions.



SONG RECOMMENDATION:

Family Portrait - P!nk
Bruises - Lewis Capaldi
Jane - Picture This
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
Breath Me- Sia

The reason why this book (and series in general) deserves all these 5 stars is because it has HEART. It has so much HEART, SOUL AND LOVE in it. The love is real. The most beautiful thing about The Boys of Tommen Series is, that it emphasises that love comes in many shapes and sizes.

Obviously, we have the romantic love, which ofc is a big part of this series, but besides that, Binding 13 and Keeping 13 showcase all the different forms of love such as: the most amazing bromances, supportive female-female friendships, how strangers can become family, beautiful & heartbreaking sibling relationships, the love parents have for their children, the love the children have for their parents even though they can be quite embarrassing and more.

WARNING 2: Each book in this series is long, like really long. That means a huge cast ensemble and lots of different relationships between them and I will say something to each characters & their relationship, because they are worth mentioning and the reason why this series is so great. Therefore this review is going to be a long one. (Decided to do a jointed review for Binding 13 and Keeping 13)

First of all, this series was addictive to read. Lately, I've been having problems reading books in one sitting, but with Binding 13 and Keeping 13? No problem at all. I said fuck my life, fuck my responsibilities, fuck exam preparation, fuck it all, I'm just going to read this series in under 48 hours and I did.

As lengthy as these books appear, it doesn't feel long at all. I was so entranced with the story and characters that 900 pages fly by like nothing. After finishing these books, I even wished them to be longer. The reason why these books are so long is because you get a front seat to all these characters lives. Instead of telling you how these people do things, they get shown. Every milestone is shown. Every important conversation is shown. Was every scene in this book necessary? No. Would I delete anything if I could? Never.

Because of how every scene was shown, I had the feeling of being right next to all these characters. All this talk about the characters, but I haven't told you anything about them yet. So here we go:

↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 (H)
OH MY GOOD!!! *SWOOON* OH MY GOD!!



You're going to hate him, cause he just THAT perfect. Johnny is boyfriend material. He's every parent dream for their daughter. Smart, Gorgeous, Handsome, Future Rugby star, but most of all he's KIND & GENEROUS. I'm telling ya that's a lethal combination for my heart. Johnny was so sweet, I might cry because no guy in real life will ever compare to him. It's actually unfair, how unrealistically perfect he is 😭😭

It's annoying how my mind can't come up with one single flaw. All I can say is that his mother and father have raised him right. His an overall great guy. No flaws detected.

All his life, his only goal was rugby. All he focus on is training and playing rugby. A big part of the story is Johny finding himself and what he is outside of rugby. I love how from the moment he meet Shannon, he realises that he hasn't lived, because he was so focused on rugby. I don't know who his biggest fan was: Shannon, Gibsie, Mammy K or me? My money is on me. 😂

↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h)
Shannon is small, shy and extremely timid. If you look up 'damsel-in-distress' in the dictionary, you would find Shannon's picture. All characteristics I don't look for in a heroine to be honest. My favorite heroines are more the type of 'Kick-them-in-the-balls-and-burn-them-alive kind of girls. The only thing I wished would be different is, that Shannon had more of a backbone and stand up for herself more. But the further I got in the story, the more I understood where she came from.

I think it's so easy to judge a character by their behaviour just because you would act differently, but I know it's hard when you haven't walked in their shoes. At the beginning I was lowkey annoyed at Shannon for not telling her bullies to fuck off, but then I haven't been bullied and tormented my whole life in school. I don't have anxiety the way Shannon has anxiety, I haven't been mentally and physically abused by my father my whole life like Shannon. I haven't been separated with my family and got put into the foster system. That's just a fraction of terrible things that happened to Shannon. So who am I to judge how she's has or has not to behave?

For what life has given her so far, Shannon is a kind, strong & most of all resilient girl. She endured everything as best as she could. She's a survivor. One of the best thing was seeing Shannon finding herself and knowing her strengths. I love the character development she went through.

↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 & 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍
URG... Johnny and Shannon were so adorable together. Their interactions are so damn awkward that it's sweet to watch. It's funny how a guy like Johnny, who has all these girls at his feet, fumbling with words and acting all awkward, because it's the first time that he has a crush on a girl.

*sigh* Johnny treated Shannon with so much care and respect, just thinking about it makes me want to cry 🥺🥺🥺 he let her dictate the pace. He never rushed her to do anything. He was the most respectful guy ever. Did I tell you that I love him? I couldn't imagine a more perfect guy for Shannon. He's exactly what she needed.

Their love was just so innocent and pure. 🤍🤍🤍

↬ 𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐃 '𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄' 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐍 (H's best friend)
THE KING, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, HIMSELF!!!

This guy.. holy shit he is mental 🤣 I have almost every single line of Gibsie highlighted. He's that funny. Every time he opened his big mouth:




Gibsie is hands down my favorite character in the whole series. This series has many amazing characters, but no one is on Gibsie's level. He's something else. He outshines everyone in every scene he is. The manwhore with the biggest heart.

His relationship with basically every person on page was comedy gold. He's never serious, but when it counts, he knows exactly what to do. If someone needs his help, he is there no question asked. I'm ready to build this man a shrine in my room. 🙌

↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘
They are the definition of platonic soulmates. Johnny and Gibsie are each other's RIDE OR DIE, or in their case RIDE AND DIE cause when you're riding with Gibsie, you're 100% going to die. 🤣

Gibsie and Johnny's bromance is one of the best thing that happened to me in 2020. Their friendship is to cry for. I loved it so much. Their banter is hilarious. I don't know how many times I LOLed, because of these two. These two don't have any secrets and are constantly giving each other unnecessary life advises. I WAS DYING!

The way they kept lift each other up during darker times. Their bromance was everything. One of the best male-male friendships in literature I'm not lying.

↬ 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐒 (h's best friend)
Claire is such a ray of sunshine. I was so happy that Shannon had Claire and Lizzie by her side who supported her all the way. Shannon never had the chance for a normal childhood, so when she transferred to the new school and had Lizzie and Claire with her that was a relief.

It was good to see that Claire gave her a bit of normality. Doing girly stuff. Talking about boys. Going shopping. I love that Claire and Shannon had each other.

↬ 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐄 & 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄
Gibsie and Claire are friends since childhood and clearly care for each other, but refuse to be together. I WANT THEIR BOOK NEXT AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL BOOK #5 IS A HATE CRIME AND PHUONG-PHOBIC 😭 Claire and Gibsie already bicker like an old married couple.

Their books is the one I'm looking forward the most. I'm already so fucking invested in their love story, it hurts 😭 I hate the childhood best friends to lovers trope, but I already know that Claire and Gibsie are going to own that trope.

↬ 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 (h's older brother)
My poor baby. Someone go and protect this boy who has the world's responsibilities on his shoulders. All he does is work, care for his good for nothing mother, protect Shannon from their father, care for the rest of the family, while dealing with the rest of his life. Somebody give this guy a gold medal and a break!

Joey went through so much in this book and all I want for him is to be happy and healthy.

I can't wait for the next book, which is Joey and Aoife's story. They are going to pull second-chance and accidentally pregnancy trope. Two tropes I'm not particular fond of, but I know Chloe Walsh is going to pull it off somehow. I trust her.

↬ 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 & 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘
The two amigos. The oldest siblings. The protectors. Shan and Joey got the worst end of the deal. Joey as the second oldest brother after their brother Darren walked out their house, had to protect all his baby siblings from his alcoholic & abusive father. Shannon as the only girl also got abused repetitively. It was them against the world.

Their relationship broke my heart. Brother and sister relationships are normally not that close. When you're a teen, you find you're brother/sister annoying as hell and you constantly fight. Not these two. They are as close as how two siblings who went through hell together could be. Joey and Shannon had some really deep talk that was heart wrenching.

With 16 and 18 years, you shouldn't be sitting in the car in front of your house crying and talking about leaving everything behind, cause reality is too hard. With 16 years, you shouldn't worry about your brother walking out the door and never coming back, cause the pressure of caring about your family is too much. Every time Joey and Shannon had to walk through the door to their abusive father, I just wanted to cry with them.

↬ 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀 & 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇


Never in my life, did I have a crush on parents as hard as I have with Edel Kavanagh and John Kavanagh. I don't know on who I crush harder??? Mama K is a fashion designer and the most protective mama-bear. She wouldn't even think for a second to throw herself into a fire to save her son. She's a fucking badass!! When I grow up, I want to be her!! She was also extremely funny. If she wasn't busy embarrassing Johny infront of Shan, she was cockblocking him hardcore 😂 I love her so much.

But John Kavanagh 🥵🥵🥵 I reached that age where it should be acceptable to crush on the son and the father at the same time LOL. If you read this book, you'll know. There is just something about successful lawyer, who are smart, kind and treat their family right that does something to me. Don't judge 🥵 😂 There is one scene where Daddy K is in the principal's office of Johnny's school and PLEASE the power play...




↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
I WANT THE KAVANGHS TO ADOPT ME, PLEASE. I say that every couple of days and in real life it's not possible to get adopted that often, but you know we're talking about fictional families here so I don't see the problem. I'm going to cry if they say no.



Mother a fashion designer, Father a lawyer, Son is a popular rugby player. Smart, gorgeous & generous. How does it feel like to be god's favorite?

I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM. These three together are literally family goals. The way John & Edel kept supporting Johnny was nothing short but amazing.

They are the best. I don't know better people.

↬ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘
Speaking of god. When god gave out luck, he ran out when he got to the Lynch family. It's sad how unlucky the Lynch siblings were.

I hated their father and mother with a passion. I was so furious at the mother that she didn't protect her children better. Because of her they are all completely messed up. For the father I have nothing to say except that he deserves his ending.

As messed up as they are, I love all the Lynch siblings so much. Joey, Shannon, Tadhg, Ollie and Sean. They are all adorable and I loved their relationship with each other. Siblings that went through hell together, stay together.

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒
I'm just trying to insert how perfect Johnny is wherever I can. To no one's surprise he was perfect with Shannon's younger brothers. Tadhg, Ollie and Sean adore him.

I'm missing so many other relationship dynamics that are worth mentioning like Gibsie + Tadhg, Johnny + his dog or all the guys in the rugby team (shoutout to Feely & Hughie), but I'm running out of characters oops..

If you made it until here, I appreciate it very much and thanks for reading, but what are you guys waiting for? If you can read this bad written, almost 15k review, you can also start Binding 13 😂
This book will not be for everyone, mostly because most people will see Shannon as weak, but everyone should at least try to experience this book. ALL THESE FEELS!!!!