bookishinnj 's review for:

Keeping 13 by Chloe Walsh

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Picking up right where Binding 13 left off, this was another incredible story of strength, desperation, determination, understanding and love. There is so much pain in this story, but it’s mixed in with moments of humor, pure joy and a lot of human kindness. Johnny and Shannon’s connection leaps off of the page, there’s no way you can deny the legitimacy of their feelings, even with their ages being a factor. My heart broke for the Lynch family, especially Joey, and I am so looking forward to his story. I loved the character growth that they all experienced as individuals and as peers - except for maybe one bully who shall remain nameless. There was just so much to love about this story as a whole. As a reminder, check trigger warnings, this story is just as heavy as the first, covering difficult topics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail