Y’all, this was a JOURNEY. It felt like five books in one. It was so nice/sad to see the binding/keeping 13 timeline from Joey/Aoife’s POV. Like Shannon’s first day of school and how worried both Shannon and Joey were. And then when Johnny offers to take Shannon home 🤭. It made me ABSOLUTELY crack up when both Joey and Tony heard Johnny’s voice 🤣. Then, the night Joey gave drunk Johnny and Gibsie a ride home 🤣. I swear anytime Johnny, Shannon, Gibsie, and Claire were on the page, I was so happy. Like when Shannon and Johnny’s relationship was progressing and he came to her house and ending up helping her with her homework, she told Joey that she kissed Johnny and that the other day they hugged and it was the best hug of her life 🥹. And freaking Joey laughed at poor Shannon. Like it’s understandable why it was funny to Joey but it was everything for Shannon because she never had anyone who was nice to her in her life besides Lizzie and Claire. And then Joey talked to her about sex 🫣. I’m so glad Chloe Walsh writes these scenes because it makes it so much more REAL. And in just chapter 3, we get gibsie already 👏👏. Like I was living for the Claire-Gibsie scenes 🤭🥹. Or literally any scene Gibsie was in. And then the epilogue was in Shannon’s POV!! That made me so happy, and even though we got the tiniest scene with her and Johnny, it was amazing!!

And again this was a crazy journey because in the beginning Joey and Aoife went from being broken up, having sex 24/7, then Aoife finding out she’s pregnant, Joey going back to drugs, Joey going to rehab, and then coming back perfectly in time for the birth. So back to the beginning, Aoife was CRAZY. She made up an excuse to joey's teacher to get him excused from a class purely so she can suck his dick 🤭. And then, she showed up to his house in a coat with lingerie underneath and she wore crotch less underwear 🫣. Then, there were little signs of her pregnancy, like the weight gain and the cravings. Then the thing that made Joey spiral back into drugs when poor Aoife spent the entire day taking care of Joey’s brothers so he can treat Shannon for her birthday, and at the end of the day his father assaults her and tries to rape her 😣. Not only that, she is understandably shaken up and not in the right headspace and she tells Joey after that everytime she looks at him she sees his father 🥲. This was a punch to the gut and a knife to the heart. First he heard it was from his mother then the love of his life 😢. Then seeing Joey and Shannon get sent to the hospital from his and Aoife’s pov 😭😭. Like that outside POV of how bad of a condition Shannon and Joey were hurt my heart. And when Darren is judging how Joey's life turned out when it wasn’t his fault, and he was trying his best 😭. But the one good thing is seeing Aoife going off on Marie and Darren. But then freaking Darren accuses Aoife of trapping Joey with a baby?!?! And then Gibsie willingly gave Aoife, a girl he barely knows, $600 all because she asked 😭😭. He is a LITERAL ANGEL 😭😭. Why is he so perfect?? Another character I love, Mrs. Kavanagh. She shows any child whether it’s hers or not so much love and care. Like she INSISTED that she fed Joey before he left and she talked to him. And it was so unsettling for him because someone else besides his siblings and Aoife was listening to him 😢. We learn more and more about Mrs. Kavanaghs past. I hope we’ll get her story with Mr. Kavanagh 🤞🤞. And I didn’t know in that night of the fire, Joey tried to commit suicide 😢, but Lizzie SAVED Joey's life 😭😭. And then poor Joey had to go through even more trauma when he saw his mother’s body being pulled out of the fire…😥.

Y’all, Paul the prick isn’t a prick anymore 🥲. What he did was absolutely one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. He said, “Maybe before they moved on, someone wanted to make sure his first love had a fighting chance with her first love.” 😭😭. I feel like that was one of the most pivotal points of the story. 

“You can’t tell me what to do, Joe. You don’t own me.”

“Well, that’s bad fucking luck on my account, because you sure as shit own me!”

“Why would you say that to me?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Since when?”

“Since I was twelve.”

“My entire focus was on the girl who’d been successfully tormenting me from the first day we met. Because every part of me loved every part of her. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I fucking reveled in all of it.”

“Bad boy. Tell me you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“How sorry?”
“Very sorry.”

“Good boy. Now, tell me you love me.”

“I love you.”

“Say it again.’

“I love you.”

“How much?”

“A lot.”

“Oh, please. You’ve been in love with me since forever. It’s so obvious. But I was never sure if you could ever truly open yourself up in that way to anyone.”

“Not anyone, Molloy. Just you.”

“You know I’ve got your back, right? I am so down for you, Joey Lynch. Ride or die, Joe.”

“Ride or die, Molloy.”

“Where she saw weakness, I saw strength. Where she saw fear, I saw resilience. Unlike me, Shannon didn’t need to alter her mind to survive the world we lived in. She thought she was the weakest link in the family chain, when it couldn’t be further from the truth. My sister was titanium.”

“I’m really fucking drowning here, Aoife.”

“Don’t worry, Jow. I won’t let that happen. I won’t let your head go under.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“I love you.”

“I love you back.”

“I’m going to get this right, Molloy.”

“I know you are, Joe.”

“You’re really sticking around, aren’t ya?”

“Afraid so. For the ring. The white dress. The white picket fence. The whole nine yards.”

“I’ve never had this.” 

“What?”

“This. Us. You.”

“Well, good. Because I’m completely yours.”

“I’m completely yours too. I always have been.”

“You’re a diamond, Joey Lynch. You’re one in a million.”

Oh Jesus. Should I be worried about where this is heading?”

“Nope. Just wanted you to know that you’re someone’s favorite person in the world.’

“Don’t go soft on me, Molloy. You’re someone’s favorite person too.”

“Oh really?”

“Don’t want to do this whole life gig without you, Molloy.”

“You won’t ever have to. You’ll always have me, Joe.”

“I”m going to hold you to that.”

“Being with him feels messy, and raw, and complicated as hell, but it also feels exciting, and addictive, and so incredibly right. There’s no one else for me, Mam. I know it. I can feel it in my bones.”

“I’ve loved your daughter for six years. I can easily love her for another eighteen.”

“Don’t ever lose it, Molloy.”

“Lose what?”

“That spark of fire that makes you so incredibly you. It doesn’t matter how your body changes, because I’m always going to keep coming back to you. Because I might enjoy this. But I’m hooked on this.”

“My mind? Bullshit.”

“It’s true. Nobody else can fuck with my head quite like you can, and that has nothing to do with your body, Molloy.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve ever met the real me or if you’ll even like him, but I’m trying. I’m trying so fucking hard to get back to you-”

“I already love him. All of your shapes and versions, remember?”

“You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that.”

“What? I love you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I love you, Joey Lynch. And apparently, I can’t stop.”

“Thank fuck for that. Because apparently I can’t stop loving you, either, Molloy.”

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I will earn it. Because whatever comes our way, from here on out, I’ll be right beside you. Because in this version of forever, we get the happy ending, Molloy.”

“I already told you that I’m not interested in any of this. I’m not your boy.”

“And I already told you that we’re keeping you. Finders keepers, Joey love. You’re mine now.” (Edel)

“Because I want to talk to the fucker offering to take my baby sister home in his car, that’s why.”

“Hey,this is Johnny.”

“That’s no boy. That’s a fucking man’s voice.” (Tony)

“May I be frank?’
“Yeah, yeah, be frank.”

“Joseph, may I be frank?”

“Be whoever the fuck you want, Doc. I’m not your keeper. You be Frank and I’ll be Joey.”

“Believe it or not, Gussie, I will take your rugby-ball-shaped head clean off your shoulder if you don’t let me go.”

“Oh no. Oh, sweet Jesus, here we go.”

“I knew it! I fucking knew it. That’s the second time someone has said that, Johnny. Twice, Johnny. Two times. That’s a pattern.”

“That’s a coincidence. I’ve already told ya a million times, Gibs. Your head is in perfect symmetrical proportion.”

“Symmetrical? What is the name of Jesus are you bringing up maths at a time like this? When I’m having a fucking complex, Johnny!”

“You are a complex, Gibs.”

“Calm down, boys. This is all very natural.” (Trish)

“There’s nothing natural about the noise coming out of your daughter. I want my mam.” (Gibsie)

“Put your balls anywhere near my girlfriend and I’ll kill ya. Do ya hear me, Gibs? I’ll take the bleeding face clean off ya!”

“I’m going to put my balls on her face.”

“Gibs.”

“My big, wet balls all over her face-Jesus Christ, Johnny! There was a stone in that snowball.”

“I know. I put it there.”

“That hurt.”

“Good!”

“I’m not playing anymore. I’m telling Mammy K.”

“Who’s the pussy now? Ya little rat.”

“You’ve been traveling down a very long road, love. Maybe it’s time to rest those feet and let someone else carry the load for you? Let me help you. Let me save you, Joey.” (Edel)

“E-fa. E-fa.”

“Oh, Seany-boo. You have no idea how good it is to see you, baby boy.”

“O-ee sad. O-see miss E-fa.” 😭😭

“O-ee. O-ee.”

“Hey, Seany boo. How’s my baby?”

“O-ee. Seany loves O-ee. O-ee make Seany happy.”

“Joey loves Seany back. Seany makes Joey the proudest brother in the world.”

“Joe’s against it, but I want his middle name to be Joseph. And his last name will be Lynch. We’re not married, so it’s important to me that everyone knows our son has a father who claimed him.’

“And his first name?”

“Anthony. His name is Anthony Josephy Lynch. AJ for short.”

“But I’m Anthony.”

“Yeah, dad. We know.’

“You’ve decided to name your son after the man who raised you. Oh, Aoife, that’s a lovely sentiment.”

“Actually, we decided to name our son after the man who raised the both of us. Because, let’s face it, the only man I ever had to show me the way was your husband.”