Update--I inhaled the first four books (2500+ pages) in one week (to be fair I was on vacation) and am feral for the remaining two. Burrowing into these melodramatic teens' psyches was exactly the escapism I needed right now. Could each of the two duets have been a single shorter than 600 page book? Absolutely yes. Do I want them to be? Absolutely no.
Just finished book 5--definitely not as good in either plot or writing as the first two sets (which was disappointing as I loved the characters when they were sidekicks in the first one). And 6 looks to be even more over the top in melodrama, but let's see if she got any better at writing...
A good way into book 6 and I’ve clarified what was wrong with book 5–she should have woven that story into the book 6 storyline, 5 was not enough to stand on its own (as a 500+ page book). 6 is better, though the trauma porn moniker is probably accurate…
Ok to conclude my review through book 6 of Boys of Tommen for the ones of future people with my particular book preferences who might find it--6 was definitely a return to form, was very intense from a triggers standpoint, and left off on a cliffhanger (didn't even get to the timeline point where Book 5 ended). And there are at least 4 more books needed (unless she breaks her pattern and starts combining main couples into a single book) to fully resolve the long term plotline. I have read that the next to be published will be about the couple from book 6, which is good, but that her traditional publisher is slowing down her releases and there is no release date yet, which is annoying. Despite the... self-pub quality of a lot of her prose, if you're willing to entertain the premise at all they are super quick reads for a series of 600+ page books.
I’m reading this late, but it looks like there’s been quite a controversy about Releasing 10 and she’s posted a fairly long response video (I saw it in Instagram). I don’t know all the nuances, but I saw someone call it “trauma porn” and apparently there were no content/trigger warnings.
I found this extremely helpful and riveting reporting haha. This book has been circling my TBR without officially landing a spot on it for at least a year. I also had no idea it was a jersey number reference, I thought it was a friend group of 13 people LOL. Idk, high schools at prep schools have a lot of friends? A jock clique? But this makes more sense. (Or maybe not… what does “binding” mean in this context… is this Irish slang?)
Ok so! Binding is apparently a thing that happens in rugby and in the book Binding 13 is a bet all of the older girls have about being the first to lock Johnny down, it’s supposed to be a racy play on words I think? But obviously I understand neither rugby nor 2005 era Irish slang
I've also been thinking about attempting Boys of Tommen--are there HEAs? Are there different characters through the series? My assumption from just looking at the titles is that the numbers refer to the MMCs' rugby positions and so some relationships get 2 books (Binding/Keeping 13, Saving/Redeeming 6) and some get 1 (Taming 7)?
Correct! This first one is like a duology - book 1 ends on a cliffhanger, book 2 resolves, but there is crossover with all of the characters between all of the books. So if you're willing to commit to 1600 pages you'll get an HEA. It's a little closer to Magnolia Parks than a standalone romance.
If I like the writing I will read many, many books to get my HEA :) Love me a RH/WC series, the longer the better (I know these aren't RH but an intertwined friend group series is almost as good)
Update--I inhaled the first four books (2500+ pages) in one week (to be fair I was on vacation) and am feral for the remaining two. Burrowing into these melodramatic teens' psyches was exactly the escapism I needed right now. Could each of the two duets have been a single shorter than 600 page book? Absolutely yes. Do I want them to be? Absolutely no.
omg thank you for your service here. I can totally see them as perfect escapism!
Just finished book 5--definitely not as good in either plot or writing as the first two sets (which was disappointing as I loved the characters when they were sidekicks in the first one). And 6 looks to be even more over the top in melodrama, but let's see if she got any better at writing...
A good way into book 6 and I’ve clarified what was wrong with book 5–she should have woven that story into the book 6 storyline, 5 was not enough to stand on its own (as a 500+ page book). 6 is better, though the trauma porn moniker is probably accurate…
Ok to conclude my review through book 6 of Boys of Tommen for the ones of future people with my particular book preferences who might find it--6 was definitely a return to form, was very intense from a triggers standpoint, and left off on a cliffhanger (didn't even get to the timeline point where Book 5 ended). And there are at least 4 more books needed (unless she breaks her pattern and starts combining main couples into a single book) to fully resolve the long term plotline. I have read that the next to be published will be about the couple from book 6, which is good, but that her traditional publisher is slowing down her releases and there is no release date yet, which is annoying. Despite the... self-pub quality of a lot of her prose, if you're willing to entertain the premise at all they are super quick reads for a series of 600+ page books.
I’m reading this late, but it looks like there’s been quite a controversy about Releasing 10 and she’s posted a fairly long response video (I saw it in Instagram). I don’t know all the nuances, but I saw someone call it “trauma porn” and apparently there were no content/trigger warnings.
oh boy, sounds like I need to do some research and write a follow up
I didn’t watch her whole video response…it’s 14 minutes long!
!!!! and I can't even watch it on 2x speed!
I found this extremely helpful and riveting reporting haha. This book has been circling my TBR without officially landing a spot on it for at least a year. I also had no idea it was a jersey number reference, I thought it was a friend group of 13 people LOL. Idk, high schools at prep schools have a lot of friends? A jock clique? But this makes more sense. (Or maybe not… what does “binding” mean in this context… is this Irish slang?)
Ok so! Binding is apparently a thing that happens in rugby and in the book Binding 13 is a bet all of the older girls have about being the first to lock Johnny down, it’s supposed to be a racy play on words I think? But obviously I understand neither rugby nor 2005 era Irish slang
Except binding is a thing for forwards and 13 is a back position... I guess can see the slang evolution from that
I've also been thinking about attempting Boys of Tommen--are there HEAs? Are there different characters through the series? My assumption from just looking at the titles is that the numbers refer to the MMCs' rugby positions and so some relationships get 2 books (Binding/Keeping 13, Saving/Redeeming 6) and some get 1 (Taming 7)?
Correct! This first one is like a duology - book 1 ends on a cliffhanger, book 2 resolves, but there is crossover with all of the characters between all of the books. So if you're willing to commit to 1600 pages you'll get an HEA. It's a little closer to Magnolia Parks than a standalone romance.
If I like the writing I will read many, many books to get my HEA :) Love me a RH/WC series, the longer the better (I know these aren't RH but an intertwined friend group series is almost as good)