Damaged Goods
All Saints High, Book #4
By L.J. Shen
ISBN# 9781728293646
Author’s Website: authorljshen.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Review
Lev and Bailey have been best friends since they were born. With their parents all being best friends and neighbors everyone could see their relationship growing before their eyes. The two were seemingly perfect and seemed to raise themselves. Bailey was the little ballerina with perfect grades and Lev had the golden touch on the football field.
When Lev’s mom was dying, Bailey spent countless hours with her learning how to make all of Lev’s favorite recipes and she promised Rosie to always take care of Lev.
Bailey and Lev didn’t know how to function on their own, and they both seemed to flail when Bailey broke Lev’s heart and then went to Julliard to chase her ballerina dreams. Bailey found that things weren’t as easy in school as they’ve always been. She pushed her body too far, injuring herself in the process. She didn’t want to be forced to leave school so she didn’t take the time she needed to heal. Instead, she started pounding painkillers to get through. Lev, on the other hand, hates football, but it makes his dad and brother happy and he’s naturally good at it so he keeps playing. He’s the captain of the high school football team and everyone expects for him to go pro. He has a girl- something that looks like the girl he really loves, if you don’t look too closely. He’s living a life for everyone else, but one that he doesn’t much care for.
When Bailey finds herself in trouble, it’s Lev she calls, even though they haven’t exactly been on speaking terms. She is forced back to Todos Santos where she and Lev must finally face each other and all the demons that lie between them. Will the two be able to slay those demons and finally be together or will the demons destroy them?
I wasn’t super excited for this couple. In all the other books they were the little kids. It was always obvious they were going to be together, but they were too young to play a part in the previous books of the series. So, in that way I didn’t feel I really knew them at all.
I honestly expected Lev to be the damaged goods this book was titled for. However, Shen surprised me and flipped the script making Bailey be the one with the demons to overcome. A majority of this novel focuses on Bailey’s addiction to prescription pain medications. This book highlights the struggles the families of those that are addicted go through. We see Lev and Bailey’s family trying to figure out how to pull her back from the abyss and get the Bailey they know and love back. At times, it truly feels hopeless.
“Damaged goods are still goods. It’s the dents that make them special. That make them them. Survivors. Molded by their experience. Be proud of your scars, Dove. Because where you see hardship, I see opportunity. Where you see imperfections, I see growth. Where you see failure, I see effort. Where you see despair, I see hope.” He sucks in a breath. “You aren’t just good enough—sometimes you feel too good to be true.”
This book also touches on the expectations that parents unknowingly put on their children. Both Bailey’s mom and Lev’s father had tried living vicariously through their children. And, the kids were living lives that they didn’t much care for.
Bailey and Lev were both flawed. Bailey with her addiction was downright mean at times. And, Lev was no angel either. He said and did things that hurt Bailey and then he regretted them later. Their mean moments were sad and heartbreaking, but their sweet moments were amazing. This book was a tearjerker, as Shen’s books often are. I enjoyed this story immensely, although I do wish we got more of a happy ending for Lev and Bailey. There is one implied, but I wanted to see more of it. I also wanted to see more repercussions for Thalia. What she did was downright vile and deserved punishment.
On a side note, I’m kind of glad to see that Dean and Dixie didn’t really end up romantically involved, despite Rosie’s efforts. That always felt too forced to me. Although I’m sad that Dean never really seemed to move on and that he doesn’t truly end with a happy ending.
I have enjoyed this series and the original Sinners of Saint series that focused on the kids’ parents. Sadly, it looks like this is the end of the road for this world as all of the kids of the cul-de-sac clan have found their partners. It would have been nice to at least have gotten a book on Bane’s kids. Bane was truly my favorite, after all, even though he was only an honorary hot-hole. This story didn’t really feel like a series finale though, I would have liked to have seen something that tied everything into a nice reunion-style bow. Who knows? Maybe the series isn’t over yet and Shen will surprise me with something new. One can truly hope, especially for a Bane kid story even though I have no clue if Bane ever had kids. I would honestly keep reading these books forever. I guess I will just have to read one of her other series now.
