literary_simone 's review for:

Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

I don’t think I have ever cried for a fictional character as much as I have for Joey Lynch. And for Aiofe’s pain.

♾️/5 ⭐️

Joey is a good man at heart, loyal, protective, and unwilling to ever abandon his siblings, no matter how many times he swears he’s done. But how many times can you beat someone down before they finally break? Redeeming 6 shows Joey pushed well past his breaking point and it is devastating to witness.

“Because, despite his shortcomings, Joey Lynch held the morals of a good man. His morals would never allow him to leave his siblings, and his loyalty would never allow him to leave her.”

The beginning offers glimmers of happiness, Joey clean, opening up to Aoife, and daring to imagine a future. But the rug inevitably gets pulled. His addiction, his mother’s cruelty, and his father’s violence and looming shadow destroy him piece by piece.

“I want you to love yourself enough to stop destroying yourself.”
 “How do you ever expect that to happen when the very person who gave birth to me can’t love me?”

Aoife is a warrior, fiercely loyal, endlessly patient and the one person who truly sees Joey beneath the armor. Objectively, he hurts her over and over again, but her belief in him never wavers.
 
“You’re worth believing in, Joe. You are so incredibly worth it all.”

Many moments shattered me: Joey’s rage at Darren when accused of being unfit to parent, his despair when he thought his siblings died in the fire, and Shannon raising the issue of his lack of consent in his past. Each scene peels back another layer of his trauma and it’s unbearable to read.
 
“You’re too young to be a father.”
 “I’ve always been a father! … I kept them alive. I kept them fed, and loved, and nurtured and goddamn educated. I did that. Not you. Not him. Not Mam. Me.”

Marie Lynch? Absolutely irredeemable. Any sympathy I had for her is gone. Her cruelty toward Joey was heartbreaking and with even a shred of maternal love, his story could have been different.
 
Despite all the pain, this book finally delivers a hard-fought, deeply earned ending. Joey, Aoife, and their baby deserve every ounce of happiness.
 
“Ride or die, Joe.”
 “Ride or die, Molloy.”