Taming 7

Rating: 4.5 star.Okay, so um… I genuinely never thought a book could emotionally wreck me so badly that I’d end up taking a nap just to survive it. My heart feels torn apart, shattered into pieces, and I’m still sitting with all these emotions swirling around inside me. There’s so much I’m feeling right now, and honestly, I don’t even know how to put it into proper words yet. Everything feels heavy, raw, and unfinished, like the book is still living in my chest and refusing to let go.I truly didn’t expect this story to go in this direction at all. For some reason, this book isn’t universally loved, and I kept hearing about the plot holes and the things it supposedly missed. So I went in bracing myself, fully prepared for it to crash and burn, to the point where I thought I’d end up ranting and yapping nonstop about everything that went wrong. But… that never happened. Somehow, it didn’t fall apart for me. Instead, I fell apart for it.Flaws and all, mistakes and gaps included, I loved it. Genuinely. Sincerely. With my whole heart. This story managed to grab me emotionally in a way I wasn’t ready for. These characters didn’t just feel like words on a page, they felt like my friends. I felt their pain deeply, smiled instinctively during their moments of happiness, and carried their emotions with me long after I closed the book. I adored every single one of them… okay, maybe except Lizzie, but I’m holding out hope that the next book will change my mind about her.What shocked me the most is how intense and emotionally heavy this story turned out to be. I truly believed nothing could top Joeyaife’s story in terms of trauma and emotional damage, I thought that was the peak. I was wrong. So wrong. This book hit harder, dug deeper, and felt far more dramatic, raw, and overwhelming. The themes were heavy, the emotions were loud, and so many moments were genuinely tear-jerking. I didn’t just read this story, I lived it, and it left a mark on me.── .✦Okay, deep breath, because these characters are not just characters, they’re people I emotionally adopted and will now defend with my life.What truly sets this series apart is how human everyone feels. Nobody exists just to move the plot forward. They breathe, they hurt, they mess up, and they love in ways that feel painfully real. Every single one of them carries something heavy, and instead of that weight hardening them, it shapes them into who they are.At the core of it all, these characters show that pain doesn’t erase goodness. If anything, it sharpens it. They remind you that leaning on others isn’t weakness, that love can exist alongside trauma, and that healing doesn’t have to be linear to be meaningful. These people don’t just stay with you after the book ends, they settle into your heart and refuse to leave.°˖➴ Claire:Claire feels like sunlight given a heartbeat. She moves through the world with so much warmth, hope, and honesty that it’s impossible not to be drawn to her. There’s a liveliness in her that feels effortless, but what truly makes her special is how deeply she connects with the people around her. She doesn’t hesitate to speak from the heart, doesn’t hide what she feels, and always leads with empathy. Her ability to understand others, really understand them, makes her presence feel safe and grounding, especially for the boy who has always owned her heart.What sets Claire apart is how unapologetically real she is. She never pretends, never dulls her emotions to keep the peace, never builds walls just to appear strong. Reading about someone who exists so openly, who lets herself be seen exactly as she is, feels rare and refreshing. And her love for Gibsie is nothing short of extraordinary. For years, she became his refuge, his quiet corner of the world where fear couldn’t follow. She stayed awake with his nightmares, wrapped him in her own sense of safety, and created a space where he could breathe when everything else felt unbearable.She gave him comfort when he had none, reminded him of his worth when he couldn’t see it, and held onto him during moments when he was barely holding onto himself. She loved him with a depth that didn’t waver, even when it hurt, even when it cost her parts of her own happiness. And that’s the beauty of it, love isn’t always soft or simple. Sometimes it’s heavy, messy, and deeply painful, but when it’s true, when it’s shared with the right person, it becomes something unforgettable and completely worth it.°˖➴ Gibsie:Sometimes the cruelest things happen to the kindest souls, and all you can do is sit there feeling this helpless fury rise in your chest, wanting to shout that none of it should be happening in the first place. It’s that unbearable tension, watching someone endure far more than they ever deserved, while they swallow it all down like it doesn’t matter. And what wrecked me the most was realizing that if I couldn’t contain the grief, the anger, the injustice I felt on their behalf, then how devastating must it be to live inside it every single day?I have such a visceral reaction to characters who keep a grin plastered on their face while they’re quietly unraveling. It hits too close to home. The joking, the laughter, the careless humor used as armor, it hurts to witness, whether it’s real life or on the page. There’s something especially shattering about the “funny one,” the loud one, the one everyone leans on, who is actually carrying the heaviest weight of all. Watching them turn pain into entertainment feels like a kind of slow heartbreak.And with Gibsie… God. His story tore me apart in a way I wasn’t prepared for. The way he masked devastation with jokes, how he made himself smaller by pretending nothing touched him, how everyone saw the charm but missed the fractures underneath, it was brutal. He became the buffer, the mood-lifter, the one who made things easier for everyone else, while quietly falling apart himself. That contrast, the laughter versus the reality, was unbearable to read. He didn’t just deserve better; he deserved to be seen. And realizing how long he carried that alone? That’s the kind of pain that doesn’t leave you after you close the book.If I ever got the chance to hug Gisie, I don’t think I’d be able to let go. Ever. It’s one of those feelings that lives too deep to explain properly, something that probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, but it makes perfect sense to me. Some connections exist outside logic, outside explanation, and this is one of them.── .✦Together, Claire and Gibsie feel like two souls that have always been orbiting each other, even before either of them fully understood what that meant. Their connection isn’t loud or showy, it’s built in quiet moments, shared silences, inside jokes, and a kind of comfort that only comes from knowing someone for a lifetime. Being with each other feels natural, like breathing, like something that never needed explaining because it simply was.What makes them so devastating is the contrast between them. Claire, full of light and openness. Gibsie, carrying shadows he never asked for. And yet, they meet in the middle in a way that feels painfully tender. She never tries to fix him or erase his hurt; she just stays. He doesn’t drain her warmth, he protects it, cherishes it, needs it in a way that feels achingly human. With Claire, Gibsie is allowed to be soft, to be scared, to be more than the boy who jokes to survive. With Gibsie, Claire learns that loving someone doesn’t always mean saving them, but choosing them again and again, even when it’s hard.Their love grows slowly, shaped by years of trust rather than sudden sparks. It’s the kind of bond where glances say more than words, where touch is grounding, where presence alone is enough. They hold each other through the worst and the best, balancing each other without ever overpowering the other. There’s pain in their story, yes, but there’s also so much devotion, patience, and quiet hope woven through it.Claire and Gibsie together are proof that love doesn’t have to be perfect to be profound. Sometimes it’s fragile. Sometimes it’s heavy. But when two people choose each other with that much sincerity, after all the damage and doubt, it becomes something rare, something that feels like home.── .✦My absolute favorite parts of the book, because who am I if I don’t scream about them:1. The character development in this series, especially my all-time favorite FMC. Yes. You already know. SHANNON. LIKE. THE. RIVER. The one and only girl who made me smile every single time she spoke or even breathed. Her friendship with Claire and Lizzie, so quiet, so deep, so full of understanding without a single word needing to be said, is genuinely one of my favorite friendships I’ve ever read. And watching her torn between two sides after everything that happened? That shattered me into a thousand tiny pieces. I will never, ever forget that.2. JOHNNY. FREAKING. KAVANAGH. I don’t even know where to start. The way he treats his girlfriend? Soft. Gentle. Heart-melting. They are painfully cute. But what truly destroyed me was his loyalty, to his best friend, to the people he loves. Because tell me right now, who would still stand by someone after hearing something that awful? Johnny would. Johnny did. Best boyfriend. Best best friend. Period. Okay, I’ll stop now… but just know he’s the best. (I’m not stopping.)3. JoeyAoife. No explanation. No discussion. That’s a conversation you’re not ready for, and honestly, neither am I. Just know they live in my heart forever, rent-free, and I will carry them with me for the rest of my reading life.4. Gibson and Claire’s friendship is hands down one of the best childhood friendships I’ve ever read. Yes, there was love there, has always been, but it was never something that stood in the way of what truly mattered between them. That bond came first, always. And I love that for them… but also? It’s wildly unfair. Why did every other couple get two whole books while they didn’t? Because tell me why that story feels unfinished. Are you seriously telling me that’s it? I wanted the healing. I needed the quiet moments, the rebuilding, the ClaireGibsie crumbs turned into full scenes. I deserved more, actually.5. The Lynch boys. Watching them grow up, survive, and slowly learn how to live, not just exist, was everything to me. Seeing their journey from broken kids to real, feeling, breathing human beings? That hit deep. Their story wasn’t just about pain; it was about endurance, love, and becoming something more despite everything stacked against them. I loved witnessing every step of it.6. The emotional weight these characters carry genuinely wrecks me every time I think about them. Each one holds onto their own share of hurt, but what makes it unbearable and beautiful at the same time is how that pain shows itself, through quiet sacrifices, soft kindness, or actions that are tragic in the gentlest way. It’s complicated, because at some point in life you’re forced to loosen your grip on the things you wanted with your whole heart. And yet, these characters remind you that life can be cruel and tender at once, and sometimes the only way through is to keep moving anyway. Having people you can lean on, people who stay, people who understand without needing explanations, that’s the real miracle here. That kind of support is the greatest gift anyone can have.And yeah… this book didn’t just hurt. It stayed.>>> ──────── .✦⋆.˚

Beautiful way to reach my reading goal this year. This was a perfect story for me, it had everything I expect from this genre. 5 stars all around!

This book have me so emotional