Juno Loves Legs

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The book is also an ode to living in poverty of sorts — the life Juno has lived is not an easy one, and, in many ways, Juno Loves Legs can be read as a tragedy. Set during the political and social unrest of the 1980s, as families struggled to survive and their children struggled to be free, this beautiful, vivid novel of childhood friendship is about being young, being hurt, being seen and, most of all, being loved. And although I DO much prefer this UK cover - that looks suspiciously like American actress Kristy McNichol on the cover, circa 1980! Juno attends Catholic school, typical for Dubliners, where the nuns and priests use humiliation and physical punishment to discipline their charges, punishment that has no effect on the schoolyard bullies who taunt Juno and another equally beleaguered student, Seán.

Blurbed by Douglas Stuart this shares some "sad childhood" DNA with his novels but Geary has a style all his own. It’s not that often that you read a story of such pure platonic love - incidentally, my two favourite books so far this year have been just that (this one and We All Want Impossible Things). This is a tale of what it’s like to live in the middle of a figurative warzone, with no respite to the suffering a person must endure.To be fair, the characters are sometimes unlikeable and the f- and c-words get bandied about a lot, even by youths — who also smoke like chimneys just to get through what they’re going through. This story begins in a small Irish village where Juno and Legs live, where Juno’s father is a mostly useless alcoholic, and her mother is a seamstress who creates lovely gowns and more, but her clients rarely pay. Set against the backdrop of Dublin in the 1980s, a place of political, social and religious change, the friends yearn for an unbound life and together they begin to fight to take up the space of who they truly are.

A beautiful and devastating novel following two misfit kids growing up in difficult conditions in 1980's Dublin. Juno and Legs will break your heart in the very best way and leave you laughing in spite of yourself.Much like Geary's debut book, Montpelier Parade, which improved even more upon a second reading (something I didn't think possible), I am sure this will not only warrant, but demand another go-round.

It’s an intriguing novel, that is to be sure, and worthy of being examined by those who might enjoy Irish literature.As their defiance reverberates through their lives, the children are further alienated from their surrounding society through acts of bravery and cowardice, both their own and others’. Not to be critical, but I found the novel to be stuffed with too many minor characters who appear and then disappear — for instance, Juno has an older sister who is largely out of the picture for most of the read. An exquisite, haunting bildungsroman of a novel, “Juno Loves Legs” certainly lives up to the praises of Gabriel Byrne and Douglas Stuart, who wrote the immortal books, Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo. It’s a story that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you cheering for two kids trapped by circumstance yet determined to live the lives they desire. Told through the eyes of Juno, we see the pair begin to navigate the political and oftentimes confusing adult world with honesty and intuition.