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dark
emotional
informative
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chloe Walsh, what was that? Why are these children speaking like teenagers and adults. My poor Lizzie was going through it the whole time. Her manic episode towards the end of the book was such a hard read. This girl needed to learn that when Hugh said no and that he wasn’t ready, he meant it. I get that Hypersexuality can be a trauma response but that doesn’t take away her ability to understand consent, even if she was manic at the time or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Gaslighting
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the Boys of Tommen series so much but this book was something else! Absolutely heartbreaking to read. I so badly wish I didn’t but I relate to Lizzie hard 🥺
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape
Moderate: Child death
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not a fan of this author or her work, but I do love to read and review so here is my honest opinion.
While other authors’ quality and talent grows with each book they publish, for Chloe it’s very much the opposite. If the first books were decent, the last ones were pure disappointment. This book was a hard read, for countless reasons, to the point that I wanted to not finish it and that’s a thing I never do. Overall, it’s dull, and most important, it’s DISGUSTING! Most of the action is represented by abuse in its all glorious forms, and it happens mostly to children. Everyone and their mamas are abused. And if it’s not them, it’s someone in their immediate vicinity- love interest, friend, dog etc. Not only that is illogical but is also extremely disturbing. Yet it is sold as a romance book with pink covers.
LET CHILDREN BE CHILDREN! Much of the story centres around characters aged 3 to 14. The author makes a lot of awful, graphic things happen to them, and their vocabulary and actions are extremely suggestive. Why are 4-6 year olds acting and talking like teenagers, and teenagers like adults? Why are 6 year olds getting butterflies and jealous? Why is a 6yo talking about how much she wants to throw herself at a 7yo? Why is a child trying to sexually assault another one? Why does a child want to kill another one for liking a girl? Why is a mother telling her 12yo he’s looking with lust at another 12yo?
“Like he knew me. Like I was his. Like I belonged entirely to him.” Girl, you are 12, sit down!
“I’ve been waiting to say yes since 1994,” I laughed, bursting with excitement.” My man, you were 7. Shut up!
“She hit puberty far earlier than we hoped, and because of that, her hormones are causing her some problems.” Why would any parent say this?
You cannot tell me this is not paedophilia, grooming and sexualisation of the children.
About Elizabeth.
In the previous books, Lizzie was known mostly for bullying those around her and that made her quite unliked by the public. The author didn’t like the criticism she received so in order to excuse all Lizzie’s doings, she gave her all the traumas that exists in this planet called The Earth. Every single bad thing that could happen to human beings, was attributed to Lizzie. LITERALLY! Sadly, it doesn’t add to the plot, and it doesn’t deepen or develop Lizzie in a meaningful way. It’s overdone, forced and exaggerated.
The issues begin right in the first chapter, where Lizzie, at just three years old, is unrealistically aware of the world around her. No toddler processes adult conversations with that level of insight, let alone internalizes complex emotions like she supposedly does. Every chapter takes place long at much random next day and it almost always start with a new trauma. It felt like opening a file with random videos on the bestgore website. Then there’s the constant, heavy-handed reminder that Lizzie is “not like other girls.” Over and over again, it beats us over the head with how special and different she is: “This girl didn’t look like the other girls on the bus. She didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before.” / “She wasn’t wearing tights like the other girls, either.” / “Everything about this girl was different.” / “Unlike the other girls, who were dressed in princess costumes and fairy wings, this girl wore khaki shorts, brown hiking boots, a blue vest, and a pink button-up shirt tied in a knot at her waist.” / “I had never encountered these problems with Claire. Her biggest concern was the safest method to capture butterflies and ladybirds. But this girl? This girl felt sadness in her bones. Liz felt things deeper than other people…” / “I was quietly confident that no one could kiss as well as Lizzie Young.” / “There wasn’t a girl at this school who could hold a candle to Liz” / “You know I can make you feel better than her,”. We get it, okay?! Lizzie is unique, tortured, special.
When raising a child with psychological or emotional struggles, support, firmness and boundaries are extremely important. Instead, Lizzie’s parents swung between extremes: one coddled her and constantly made excuses for her behaviour, shielding her from any form of accountability, while the other condemned her. Not only did they fail to acknowledge or properly address her mental health, but they also neglected to teach her basic emotional responsibility. She was never guided or corrected and as a result, she grew up without a clear sense of right and wrong. She acted impulsively, said and did harmful things, and never cared for the impact of her actions.
"And you must never let anyone make you feel like there is something wrong with you."
Lizzie seemed to take her mother’s advice a little too literally to the point where she ignored her own past and used her trauma as justification to mistreat others. Instead of showing empathy toward people who had gone through similar experiences, she often ridiculed or bullied them. She struggled with mental illness, yet mocked others for their disorders and disabilities. She was a victim of rape, yet when another character accused the same man, she resented him, wanted to throttle him and started falsely accusing him of being a liar, rapist, a killer and of hurting her; she also encouraged Claire to date her rapist and even more disturbing, she became a rapist herself. She grieved deeply over her sister’s death but had no problem weaponizing someone else’s grief, bringing up Gibbie’s dead sister just to hurt him. She constantly bullied and was aggressive towards lots of people for no reason. Did I mention that she almost killed a character?
Yes, Lizzie is not clinically sane. And yes, she was abused and traumatised. But her mental illness and trauma do not excuse the harm she caused others because her actions are not just the byproduct of mental instability, but a result of a deep-seated pattern of never being held accountable. She was used to others making allowances for her, and that lack of confrontation allowed destructive behaviours to take root.
Lizzie knew what happened to her was real, but she tried to convince herself it isn’t because she didn’t want to face the full consequences of accepting that truth: being rejected, losing the few people who still stood by her. She knew it was Mark who hurt her, and who abused her sister, and she knew he was manipulating her. And yet, she fixated on blaming Gibsie instead. Even after being told, explicitly, that Gibsie had nothing to do with it, she refused to let go of her belief in his guilt, because to her, he was guilty by association.
She even begged her boyfriend to stop talking to him: “Then don’t be his friend anymore, Hugh,” I begged, already knowing what his answer would be. No. Just like the last time I asked him and the time before that. “Please.” It hurts too much. “Just…” Just pick me.” / “Don’t be his friend, I wanted to scream,”.
Her fixation on Gibsie borders on pathological and deserves to be studied: “I couldn’t explain why I wanted to peel the skin from my bones when I heard Gibsie’s name, but it was a very real, very physical reaction for me.” Gibsie becomes a scapegoat for everything she cannot face in Mark or herself.
Even those who care for her, like Hugh, find themselves exhausted by this irrational hatred. “What I found myself torn over was her sudden and intense hatred of Gibsie. She blamed him for Caoimhe’s death as much as she blamed Mark. Maybe even more.”/ “I want to help her, really I do, but she gets so mad at me over Gerard, and we always end up fighting.”
Despite that narrative occasionally frames Lizzie as if she wasn’t conscious and regretting what she did, there are more scenes that prove otherwise. She acted as cheating wasn’t serious but something that can be easily brushed under the rug and even tried to blame Hugh for it: “Just…” Just pick me.” / “Listen, don’t overreact.” I tried to reason with him, repressing the urge to roll my eyes. “It’s fine. It’s okay. You didn’t want to do it, and I did.” I shrugged. “I fixed our problem, so if you think about it, we’re in a better place than we were this morning.” / “School was absolute torture because not only did Liz continue hooking up with my teammate, but she was also relentless in her attempt to seduce me.” / “Oh my God, just stop, okay!” I threw my hands up and screamed. “I said I was sorry! Why aren’t you listening to me?” Furious, I tugged on his arm, pleading with him to understand. “Is it really that deep, Hugh?”
She continues to sleep with Hugh’s friend while still trying to seduce him even after the supposed regret. Later she has the audacity to go to his mom to cry.
The worse thing about her is, obviously, that she is an assaulter. Hypersexuality is hypersexuality, assault is assault, and rape is rape. Touching and pressuring someone into having sex is assault. Giving a hand job to a person who multiple times said “No!” is rape.
I do understand that Elizabeth's character was inspired by the author herself, but there is a significant difference between writing a character based on personal experience and inserting oneself directly into the narrative. It’s obvious that the author’s attachment to Lizzie goes beyond creative influence and enters the realm of self-projection. She appears to take every critique of Lizzie as a personal attack, to the extent that she has expressed hostility toward other characters in the story. That is extremely unprofessional. No one forced her to write these characters or scenes, and as a writer, she should be prepared to accept and process criticism of her work.
About Hugh.
He is not a bad person, not at all, but he is weak, a loser and an idiot. In this book he was nothing more than an emotionally support dog, nothing beyond catering to Lizzie’s needs. It’s sad to see a child being responsible for another’s child psychosis.
The way he handled his relationships with both Lizzie and Katie made him an even bigger loser. He kept playing into Lizzie’s game: repeatedly allowed Lizzie to draw him back into her manipulative orbit, engaging with her emotionally and physically, only to later accuse her of overstepping boundaries and cheating. This kind of back-and-forth not only shows how deeply entangled he still is with Lizzie but also reveals his unwillingness to take accountability for his own emotional confusion. Despite not having moved on from Lizzie, he made the decision to start something with Katie, dragging her into a situation he knows it’s bound to end in pain and disappointment.
Hugh should have taken the time to reflect, grow, and heal properly. Entering a relationship while still emotionally entangled with someone else is unfair to everyone involved, including himself. Until he learns how to stand on his own, make decisions with clarity, and set emotional boundaries, he is not ready to be in a relationship.
“I get that, but it doesn’t take away what you did.” It is a valid point, but where was this assertiveness when Lizzie was bullying everyone around her? He repeatedly excused her far worse behaviour in the past, but when it happens to him it’s a problem.
Honestly, it don’t think love exists between any of them. Hugh seems to feel a sense of duty or responsibility toward Lizzie, perhaps it’s the doctor in him. He is a caretaker, not a lover. As for Lizzie, she clings to this belief that apart from her mother, Hugh appears to be the only person who genuinely cares for her. It’s less about love and more about seeking validation from someone she believes won’t abandon her. Katie and Hugh’s relationship, meanwhile, seems transactional, like a mutually beneficial arrangement. Katie helps Hugh move past Lizzie’s emotional hold, offering him companionship and a sense of stability. In return, Hugh supports Katie with her personal ambitions, her ‘wish list’, and with Feely.
Other characters.
All the adults in these books are extremely stupid, unaware, clueless, incapable. A bomb could explode in their backyards, and they wouldn’t notice. The biggest problem here was the way Lizzie’s parents handled her disorder. I know that for some parents it’s hard to accept that there is something wrong with their children, but to ignore what doctors say and what your child is doing is pure neglect. Her mother did nothing else but excuse Lizzie’s behaviour and ignore the other daughter, which lead to them not having a good relationship. Another thing they all ignored were all the sign that she has been abused. Same goes for Gibsie’s parents.
I love how aggressive and defensive Claire was of her friends, because YES, despite what some of Elizabeth’s fans might say, Claire was a good friend. In her case, her aggressivity was the one of a child, it wasn’t exaggerated and unrealistic.
I can’t help but feel sad for Gibsie and Katie. They did nothing wrong, yet they are the most hated characters. They both have their own traumas, yet they managed to be civil to those around them.
I don’t want to disrespect anyone, each with their own tastes, but I cannot comprehend how people enjoyed this book. The entire book was full of abuse, assault and paedophilia. Half of the book she is being abused or abusing others. I know some people try to sell this book as relatable, but it is anything but.
Another problem is the fans, both of the author and Lizzie’s. If you defend a character that has done terrible things, be prepared to receive criticism from the fans of the ‘victims’ (or normal readers) said character abused.
They are honestly just a reflexion of Lizzie. Not only that they cannot handle the truth about what their favourite character did, but
Lizzie bullied others, so do her fans. They attack and bully other people and characters about things that characters themselves didn’t mind, or things that didn’t even happen. Gibsie has been nothing but nice, yet they hate him and even wished his sister (3 years old) was alive so she can be assaulted instead of Lizzie. Katie had four lines in the books, yet they say she is just like Mark “minus the rape”.
One of them even admitted to rape, in order to defend Lizzie’s assaults on Hugh.
While I truly feel sympathy for what the author has experienced in her personal life, I also believe that such experiences do not make her immune to critique. She is still responsible for the choices she makes as a storyteller. There are thousands of other ways to write a compelling and relatable novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was gut-wrenching. I think the most heartbreaking thing about this book is that every single adult figure in Lizzie's life failed her, and every adult figure in Gibsie's life failed him. They're living parallel lives in a lot of ways, and it's heartbreaking that the product of grown peoples' failures is the loss of their friendship and years of trauma and devastation.
As much as I adored this book, I don't think I will ever be picking it up again. I'm keen to re-read the first 5 books, particularly Binding & Keeping 13, however this book was just a bit too triggering and confronting for a re-read. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an incredible piece of work and I absolutely loved it, but it's not something I feel like putting myself through again any time soon!
I can't wait for the next book in the series and I'm hoping it will be another Lizzie/Hughie novel, but we also need another Gibsie/Claire novel at some point! I think Hughie is an incredible MMC but Chloe Walsh has never actually written a bad MMC. Or a bad FMC for that matter.
In conclusion, I am emotionally traumatised but also live, laugh, love Chloe Walsh!
As much as I adored this book, I don't think I will ever be picking it up again. I'm keen to re-read the first 5 books, particularly Binding & Keeping 13, however this book was just a bit too triggering and confronting for a re-read. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an incredible piece of work and I absolutely loved it, but it's not something I feel like putting myself through again any time soon!
I can't wait for the next book in the series and I'm hoping it will be another Lizzie/Hughie novel, but we also need another Gibsie/Claire novel at some point! I think Hughie is an incredible MMC but Chloe Walsh has never actually written a bad MMC. Or a bad FMC for that matter.
In conclusion, I am emotionally traumatised but also live, laugh, love Chloe Walsh!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a hard book to read. Definitely check trigger warnings on that one.
In terms of writing, this book is perhaps the one I liked the least of the whole BOT series. I didn't feel as emotionally connected to the characters as in the previous books, perhaps because I wasn't even interested in L&H story in the first place. That said, having read Lizzie's story makes me understand why she was behaving the way she did in the previous books. And I obviously loved Hughie, so I hope to read more about his story in the future books. I'm also hoping for some sort of closure between Lizzie and Gibs.
One thing that didn't sit right with me in this book is how unrealistically mature Hugh was portrayed from the very beginning. I understand that the boy was well-read and smart, but some things were just very hard to believe. How does a 7 year-old child know about panic attacks and how to deal with them? Or about Georgian architecture? There's also a chapter where a 12 yo Hugh has such an emotionally mature conversation with someone that no other adult in this book is even remotely capable of. I do believe that people like this exist, but 12 year-olds?? Highly unlikely...
I also didn't particularly like the way this book is structured — short disjointed chapters, almost like diary entries that go back to when they were kids — I much prefer the structure of B13/K13. I didn't like it in other books of the series either, but those ones didn't go back that far into the characters' childhood. I'm hoping the story of the next couple she'll write about doesn't start in the womb...
Having said all that, I still liked this book and devoured it in a matter of days. I'm looking forward to reading the next book whenever it comes out.
In terms of writing, this book is perhaps the one I liked the least of the whole BOT series. I didn't feel as emotionally connected to the characters as in the previous books, perhaps because I wasn't even interested in L&H story in the first place. That said, having read Lizzie's story makes me understand why she was behaving the way she did in the previous books. And I obviously loved Hughie, so I hope to read more about his story in the future books. I'm also hoping for some sort of closure between Lizzie and Gibs.
One thing that didn't sit right with me in this book is how unrealistically mature Hugh was portrayed from the very beginning. I understand that the boy was well-read and smart, but some things were just very hard to believe. How does a 7 year-old child know about panic attacks and how to deal with them? Or about Georgian architecture? There's also a chapter where a 12 yo Hugh has such an emotionally mature conversation with someone that no other adult in this book is even remotely capable of. I do believe that people like this exist, but 12 year-olds?? Highly unlikely...
I also didn't particularly like the way this book is structured — short disjointed chapters, almost like diary entries that go back to when they were kids — I much prefer the structure of B13/K13. I didn't like it in other books of the series either, but those ones didn't go back that far into the characters' childhood. I'm hoping the story of the next couple she'll write about doesn't start in the womb...
Having said all that, I still liked this book and devoured it in a matter of days. I'm looking forward to reading the next book whenever it comes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abortion
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent