Redeeming 6 - Chloe Walsh
Trigger warnings: abuse, grief, suicide, addiction, arson.
Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh is the fourth book of the Boys of Tommen series, published in 2024. It follows our main male character Joey Lynch and his girlfriend Aoife Lynch as he battles main challenges uncommon for a teenager his age. Redeeming 6 follows Joey’s rehabilitation journey, first mentioned in book 1 Binding 13. As we have previously had his addiction described by his sister Shannon, it was particularly interesting to see how Joey’s opinion differed from Shannon’s, and his long-term partner. He struggles throughout the novel, eventually recognising that he needs medical help to assist with his withdrawals, while his girlfriend Aoife battles her difficult pregnancy with Joey’s baby alone.
One of the many heavy hitting themes of this book is the idea of teenagers growing up quickly, with the responsibility and maturity of a fully grown adult. As we know from the previous Boys of Tommen books, Joey cares for his siblings Shannon, Tadhg, Ollie and Sean as their father is an alcoholic who is abusive towards their mum. It is stated that Joey has been in the hospital with his mum during labour, has stayed up late into the night for feeds, helps them everyday to get to school so that they wouldn’t know what it was like to be victim to their mother’s neglect. Joey would take physical abuse from his father, originally when he stopped his hurling during high school, and then went on to take the brunt of any physical altercations at home so that he could protect Shannon and his mum from getting involved.
During the course of the book, as Joey and Aoife’s relationship progresses and Joey is not at the house as much, Shannon is attacked by their dad and is left with nearly fatal injuries. Joey ends up blaming himself as he was not there to protect his little sister, and his addiction becomes worse to cope with the trauma of the incident. Joey takes benzodiazepines and other prescription medications from his mum, which then goes on to him shooting up heroin to feel the same effect. It is a very accurate way of showing the progression of using substances, as Joey started smoking cannabis during school, the cocaine to wake himself up during schooltime, but understandably with his family’s circumstances he began using heavier opiates to numb himself from the pain.
I believe that despite Joey’s carer role, that he understands that he can’t enjoy being a teenager which is why he enjoys to spend time with Aoife. They bring out the fun in each other, causing him to think about his family at home when he is with her. Ultimately, this doesn’t work as Joey’s guilt overwhelms him, meaning that he must go home to protect his brothers and sister. Eventually he needs drugs to ensure he forgets about the abuse that their family is experiencing every day.
“When I was with her, I felt like I was drowning and breathing all at once.”
What I found particularly interesting about the book was after the events of the fire when Joey’s mum and dad died in the fire. Joey had always struggled with the idea of his mum being a victim to his father’s assaults, because he understood that she also neglecting him and his siblings, causing a different type of abuse. Joey regardless would automatically default to his protector role with his ‘mam’, but towards the end of the story he began to withdraw when he became tired of looking after her children when she couldn’t get out of bed. When she passed away, what became prominent was how guilty Joey felt that he had not protected his mum in that moment, when in actual fact his mum was the protector, saving the children by distracting his dad so they could escape with Johnny Cavanaugh. This was his mum’s moment to prove to Joey how much she did in fact care for them all, even though she chose their dad over them throughout their childhood constantly. It was clear how frustrating Joey felt when he wanted to grieve, but still had so much residual anger toward her.
“Long after his mother was lowered into the ground, and the other Lynch children had dispersed, Joey continued to stand vigil, still trying to protect her, even in death.”
Another interesting theme was the idea of role models throughout the story - Aoife sought out her mum for advice when she found out she was pregnant, the younger siblings relied Joey and Shannon for protection, and Joey speaks often about how he previously admired Darren before he left the family. The most significant role model for Joey turned out to be a quiet one, that was a special character from the second book as well - Aoife’s dad. Joey was supported by him financially through his job, learnt so much from him and still hid from him during the height of his addiction and when Aoife found out about their child. He knew that he would have looked down on him for his decisions, but in the end he put that aside for the sake of his daughter. I believe that one of the main reasons why Joey is an excellent caregiver is because he knew what to replicate from him (aside from the fact he didn’t have much choice).
It looks back from the previous novel ‘Saving 6’ where Aoife’s dad warned Joey about his daughter and advised him not to get involved with her. It almost becomes a foreshadowing statement, as if he knew that it would end in chaos. Joey and Aoife began seeing each other despite his advice, and so Joey must have felt even more guilt for the pregnancy, and for not being able to support Aoife when he was in rehab. At the end, it becomes clear that Joey needed that period of absence to look after himself, so that afterward he could care for both his girlfriend and son. I believe that Aoife’s dad realised how much Aoife needed him when she become unwell after labour, and I have no doubt that Joey would continue to prove this through his actions later on.
““Actually we decided to name our son after the man who raised both of us” I confirmed quietly. “Because, let’s face it, the only man I ever had to show me the way was your husband”.”
As a drug worker, I found that Joey’s story was very reflective of things I experience daily with the young people that I speak so going through similar addictions. Joey was constantly trying to protect himself from his poor mental health, protect those surrounding him from himself and his addiction, and experiencing waves of denial, guilt, shame and abstinence. The period of denial were written to be particularly difficult for the reader to listen to, as it is blatantly obvious that Joey never had his addiction ‘under control’ as he often said. It puts us into the shoes of Aoife, his family and friends with their difficulties of trying to persuade Joey to get professional support while he believes that he does not need that. I would’ve liked for the book to go into more detail with Joey’s detox prior to rehab, and the referral process that Joey had to part-take in prior to his admission.
Overall, I found this book to be incredibly moving and inspirational to those that might be going through their own battles with mental health and substance misuse, as the book does describe when Joey wanted to take his own life. He wrote out his letter to Aoife, said his goodbyes, and wound up turning his life around, taken care of by loving parents, being there for the birth of his son, and getting his full-time job back to support himself financially. This book is a fantastic example of it’s never too late to change your mind, and even though it might seem difficult now, there is always hope to keep fighting.
Rating: 4.25 stars
