Juno Loves Legs

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Legs is however, more forgiving and is filled with a wisdom that is truly heartbreaking especially when he looks back at his childhood, and acknowledges those who had inflicted abuse on him are still human. Juno is fierce, brash, her mother struggling to keep the family afloat, her father distant and drunk; “They were two mouths and I was their voice,” she tells us. After losing her mother to a bus accident, Juno finds herself witnessing Legs committing a crime against Father that would change their friendship forever. 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. It's entirely appropriate that Booker-winner Douglas Stuart blurbs Geary's second novel, since it has 'all the feels' of his own spectacular two books.

She is often at odds at Catholic school with cruel Sister for a teacher, and the sadistic Father who often take their repression and religious fervor by violently abusing and projecting their feelings on Juno (she’s impoverished) and of course, Juno’s classmate, the beautiful Sean, (aka Legs).If this doesn't get a Booker nod itself, there is no justice - but it will certainly land as one of my top 3 reads of the year. It also helps if you know something of the Irish lingo as there is a lot of slang used in the book that may confuse non-British readers. Een verhaal over vallen en opstaan, geheimen en ondanks je eigen ellende alle knelpunten in het leven van de ander willen oplossen. 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.

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. Geary finds beauty in the most unlikely places, and in an often brutal story, with more than its fair share of small tragedies, he offers balm along the way; a reminder that humanity is everywhere, if we take the time to look, and a clear demonstration that family is less about genetics and more about love.Legs is her pal, a young lad who Juno steps in to defend at school when he is being bullied and humiliated by a nun and priest. The characters are three-dimensional and sympathetic as they struggle to overcome the cruel circumstances of their lives . Filled with loss and longing, it is by turns brutal and tender, and in the end, utterly devastating.