Taming 7

By Chloe Walsh

Was this supposed to be the “sunshine” couple?

The Ugly Truth:

Too many mixed emotions at the current moment to give a fair and accurate assessment of this one. Chloe Walsh, I support your writing, but jeepers I think you need help. Once again, this book hit on some heavy topics - rape, abuse, suicide - and I would highly recommend not reading this without first reading the four books prior to getting yourself prepared for it all. With that being said, I knew what I was getting myself into, even going so far as to give myself spoilers for the first time EVER, and I am still left with whiplash and just an unfulfilled soul.

To start with the good, as always, I do really enjoy the writing. These are dialogue-heavy books, and Walsh does a stellar job of capturing the reality of the teenage spirit. I absolutely adore any and all scenes between Gibsie and Johnny, and it is a special bonus if Joey joins in as well - truly, all three have my heart (and, yes, I will be thinking of Joey as the Joker for a smidge of time). On that note, another huge gold star to Walsh for keeping her side characters not-so on the side. She writes for the crowd and the crew, capturing so many individuals' emotions and leaving so many breadcrumbs for future books; it makes it very easy to immerse yourself into their lives and feel like one of the gang.

Now, the iffy, I really wanted to love Claire and Gerard. I have waited so long for their book and was very excited to see what their romance brought to the table and was ~slightly~ let down. I won’t say fully upset, but I do feel like we got a lot of “talk the talk” and not a lot of “walk the walk.” They both admitted for about 400 pages how much they love each other, and I get that there were MAJOR headwinds to the relationship, but, at some points, I wanted to scream at both of them (more Claire though) to just try and see where honesty might get them. Again, I 100% empathize with Gibs' mental blocks and battles; I cannot even begin to fathom what he was going through - I just do not think I needed the 1000-word essays from each of them every chapter saying the same heartthrob lines each time.

Finally, the not-so-great. I do not, in any way, shape, or form like the pitting of Lizzie against Gibsie. I have two issues with this, first, the fighting between them is just plain and simply annoying. Lizzie needed to stuff her face every now and again and Gerard needed to defend himself a bit more. It honestly just boiled my blood each time they had a scene together and took away from the book (I get it was a big piece here, but I was frustrated). Secondly, they each have their own form of horror and pain. There is no reason for Walsh to create a divide between them or in the group - friends support hurting friends, if you don't, you just are not their friend. I get that it is a burden to take on and carry, but so much of my issue here was that everyone was missing facts. Nothing can be decided in the spur the moment when literally EVERYONE was just stunned. With that being said, I was super upset with the ending. It felt rushed and unnecessary.

I can’t say I am mad at this book, but I am mad after reading this book- for Gibs, for Lizzie, even for Joey and Shannon again, and honestly for all those involved.