Keeping 13

I can't it's perfection.

I would seriously re-read it 5 more times in a row If I had enough time to just be completely swept away in a story like that again. It felt more real than my real life.

I think this story captured a level of depth that almost seems impossible for the genre. There was foreshadowing galore, a purposeful presentation of intergenerational trauma, Perspectives and truths were unveiled in layers, and the craziest thing is at any given point I felt like the story was walking a very fine line between being a romance (with tragic elements) and a true tragedy.

What if Johnny didn't heal well? What if he lost his dreams, and his character along with them, and actually did end up like Shannon's dad. The whole story could've easily ended up being that Shannon is doomed to live the life of her mother, with a tragic ending for all. I think we can assume it's unlikely if not impossible that this wouldve happened, due to just how good Johnny is, and his strength of character ( and especially with Mr. And Ms. Kavanagh in the picture) but everything felt so real, that it was actually really easy to imagine. When Shannon's mother suggested it I thought “Really?? Oh dear god, is that where this is going???”

None of these things felt very intentional while reading, it just felt like I was reading the story of Shannon and Johnny. But when I look back and what happened, how I felt, and all of the details needed to make it happen it can't have been done with anything other than extremely careful intent.

On a less serious note

I had only two real problems (I'm joking, these are not problems) both of which are entirely my own fault

1. I'm an ignorant American and I can't fluidly imagine Irish accents. I basically imagined everyone with a British accent the entire time and felt bad about it every time I realized I was doing it.

2. As someone who has a fear of vomit I knew me and Shan were gonna have problems as soon Johnny read her file in book 1