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Juno en Legs
Ierland, jaren 80; Juno en Seán - door Juno omgedoopt tot Legs - wonen in de armste buurt van Dublin en zitten op een streng katholieke school bij elkaar in de klas. Wanneer de slimme, opvliegende Juno opkomt voor deze gevoelige, vaak gepeste jongen, bloeit er een onwaarschijnlijke vriendschap tussen haar en Seán. Beiden verlangen naar een beter, vrijer leven, en beginnen om zich heen te slaan om dit voor elkaar te krijgen. Tijdens dit verzet vervreemden ze zich steeds meer van hun omgeving. Ze worden gevreesd, begeerd en bekeken, maar zelden écht gezien. Tot ze overgaan tot een schokkende daad.
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2023
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21005 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,359 reviews
July 15, 2023
Juno doesn’t have a leg fetish. Legs is a dude. Two misfits growing up in Dublin in the ‘80’s, in poverty.
The sanctimonious Catholic nuns and priests. Beating children when they weren’t compliant. The twisted control these hypocrites had over the community.
Juno. A sassy one. Despite the hardships and losses she suffers. She’s fearful but Brave. Legs, another outcast but bound to Juno. Both just searching for a place to belong. The two separate for a number of years because of their shenanigans before finding each other again.
This is a love story about friendship. The unconditional kind.
The writing lyrical and rich.
The characters so much depth.
4.25⭐️
Note: this is a coming of age story but def not YA.
The sanctimonious Catholic nuns and priests. Beating children when they weren’t compliant. The twisted control these hypocrites had over the community.
Juno. A sassy one. Despite the hardships and losses she suffers. She’s fearful but Brave. Legs, another outcast but bound to Juno. Both just searching for a place to belong. The two separate for a number of years because of their shenanigans before finding each other again.
This is a love story about friendship. The unconditional kind.
The writing lyrical and rich.
The characters so much depth.
4.25⭐️
Note: this is a coming of age story but def not YA.
August 15, 2023
It’s gorgeously written. I wish I hadn’t read it.
March 17, 2024
‘I buried myself in the woods today. Covered myself in flowers and pretended to be dead." She raised her pen for a moment and thought, then went back to writing in cursive that could rival Sister's.
"You should always wait for late spring to die, Juno," she says then. "The flowers are better".’
Juno Loves Legs is a beautifully written coming of age novel that explores the complexities of love, loss, and identity. Set in working class Dublin, the story follows Juno, a young girl navigating the turbulent waters of adolescence while grappling with her own sense of belonging.
Karl Geary's prose is lyrical and evocative, painting a vivid portrait of Juno's world and the colourful characters who inhabit it. As Juno embarks on a journey of self discovery, you are drawn into her emotional turmoil and inner conflicts with empathy and understanding.
While the novel's pacing may be a bit slow for some, its depth of emotion and richly drawn characters more than make up for any perceived shortcomings.
Juno Loves Legs is a moving and thought provoking read that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned, leaving you with a renewed appreciation for the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.
Highly Recommend.
"You should always wait for late spring to die, Juno," she says then. "The flowers are better".’
Juno Loves Legs is a beautifully written coming of age novel that explores the complexities of love, loss, and identity. Set in working class Dublin, the story follows Juno, a young girl navigating the turbulent waters of adolescence while grappling with her own sense of belonging.
Karl Geary's prose is lyrical and evocative, painting a vivid portrait of Juno's world and the colourful characters who inhabit it. As Juno embarks on a journey of self discovery, you are drawn into her emotional turmoil and inner conflicts with empathy and understanding.
While the novel's pacing may be a bit slow for some, its depth of emotion and richly drawn characters more than make up for any perceived shortcomings.
Juno Loves Legs is a moving and thought provoking read that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned, leaving you with a renewed appreciation for the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.
Highly Recommend.
June 10, 2023
A really beautiful book..
Dublin, 1980’s ..Catholic School…cruel nun and priest..a girl, a boy.. misfits who become best friends amid poverty and troubled lives at home.
and the story continued…
Humorous.. Beautiful… Devastating
Dublin, 1980’s ..Catholic School…cruel nun and priest..a girl, a boy.. misfits who become best friends amid poverty and troubled lives at home.
and the story continued…
Humorous.. Beautiful… Devastating
April 17, 2025
For a book of this caliber, 5 stars just don't seem enough. 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. Even though Geary started out as an actor, he is a born and gifted storyteller, and he's now giving Donal Ryan (who also provided a rave review) a run for his money as my favorite contemporary Irish author. 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. How a 50-year-old man can seemingly effortlessly, and in beautifully rendered prose, capture the voice of a 12-year-old girl is nothing less than astounding.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot, as I am wary of unintentional spoilers (beware of other reviews that give away a major plot point at the halfway mark!) - and the synopsis gives a good enough idea of what the book is about. Suffice it to say that it covers about a dozen years of a very special, though not romantic, relationship between two bruised and broken youngsters in 1980's Dublin- and it WILL break your heart. Not ashamed to admit I cried - buckets!!
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. As soon as I finished my library copy, I immediately ordered it for my own - as I NEEDED to possess it in perpetuity - and yes, the last time I did that was with Stuart's two novels!
It's only too bad Saoirse Ronan is a bit long in the tooth now to pass as a 12-year-old, as she'd have been perfect casting for Juno, should it ever be adapted to film (although since the character ages to around 24, they'd probably have to split the role and Ms. Ronan could still play the older version).
PS: why are the UK covers of books always much better and more appropriate than their US counterparts?!! And although I DO much prefer this UK cover - that looks suspiciously like American actress Kristy McNichol on the cover, circa 1980! WTF?!
PPS - I am so enamored of Geary as a writer, I hunted down a copy of the 2003 film 'Coney Island Baby' which he both wrote and stars in with his future wife, Laura Fraser. No surprise, but he is as charming and charismatic on screen as he is on the page. It's a lovely film, but I wish it had subtitles ... those accents are VERY thick!
PPPS!! I inadvertently caused a minor ruckus in a GR group I no longer even belong to, due to my calling what transpires midway a 'major plot twist' - which is a bit melodramatic for what I meant - so I've changed it to read 'plot point', which is much more accurate! It certainly doesn't 'ruin' the book if you know about it beforehand - but I didn't see it coming till quite late in the game, so it came as a pleasant surprise.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot, as I am wary of unintentional spoilers (beware of other reviews that give away a major plot point at the halfway mark!) - and the synopsis gives a good enough idea of what the book is about. Suffice it to say that it covers about a dozen years of a very special, though not romantic, relationship between two bruised and broken youngsters in 1980's Dublin- and it WILL break your heart. Not ashamed to admit I cried - buckets!!
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. As soon as I finished my library copy, I immediately ordered it for my own - as I NEEDED to possess it in perpetuity - and yes, the last time I did that was with Stuart's two novels!
It's only too bad Saoirse Ronan is a bit long in the tooth now to pass as a 12-year-old, as she'd have been perfect casting for Juno, should it ever be adapted to film (although since the character ages to around 24, they'd probably have to split the role and Ms. Ronan could still play the older version).
PS: why are the UK covers of books always much better and more appropriate than their US counterparts?!! And although I DO much prefer this UK cover - that looks suspiciously like American actress Kristy McNichol on the cover, circa 1980! WTF?!
PPS - I am so enamored of Geary as a writer, I hunted down a copy of the 2003 film 'Coney Island Baby' which he both wrote and stars in with his future wife, Laura Fraser. No surprise, but he is as charming and charismatic on screen as he is on the page. It's a lovely film, but I wish it had subtitles ... those accents are VERY thick!
PPPS!! I inadvertently caused a minor ruckus in a GR group I no longer even belong to, due to my calling what transpires midway a 'major plot twist' - which is a bit melodramatic for what I meant - so I've changed it to read 'plot point', which is much more accurate! It certainly doesn't 'ruin' the book if you know about it beforehand - but I didn't see it coming till quite late in the game, so it came as a pleasant surprise.
January 22, 2025
Note: This is the first book I've finished in 2023 celebrating LGBTQ pride month, wow, what a book it is!
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.
Reminiscent of Young Mungo in its tone and sorrowful, bleak mood- Juno Loves Legs is a timeless tale of two misfits. Set in Dublin during the 1980s, with eerie, dark landscapes of tawdry bars, alcoholics on the street, with poverty rampant everywhere, Juno is one of the pluckiest and most resilient narrators I’ve read in a while. She lives with her seamstress mother, Mam; her alcoholic father, and estranged from her older sister Derry.
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).
It’s meant to be that Juno and Sean become best friends. But because as Sean comes of age as Legs, his effeminate, delicate beauty causes ire amongst those who are homophobic and repressed: especially Sister and Father who mock and hate him for no other reason than out of their own fear and ignorance, “His narrow shoulders shook then, though there was no sound, as if it had been turned down, the way you could with the news if you didn’t like what was being said” (Geary 249).
The fairy tale quality of Geary’s novel is rounded out by Mrs. H, the kindly librarian who seems to be the only one decent to Juno as she grows up.
After losing her mother to a bus accident, Juno finds herself witnessing Legs committing a crime against Father that would change their friendship forever. After he is committed to a reform school, Juno moves out and becomes a street walker, sex worker, wandering aimlessly in a Dublin that seems to be out of a Dickens and Joyce novel, its image at odds with anything green or beautiful that Ireland seems to offer.
As Juno reunites with Legs at the final act of the novel, we see Legs, like Juno, has gotten himself into sex work as well. He's basically owned by the smarmy St. Francis who has given him false promises of headlining his own art show.
Juno finally comes into grips with Legs being gay, and though the physical love is completely one sided, their love is so pure and emotional that it tore into my psyche.
I love books about two people who love each other, who are against the world, that I often relate to stories like this, wishing I had a Juno in my life. As Legs alludes to that his impending death from AIDS is near, through insight, wisdom and unflinching self awareness, Juno quietly declares their understanding with devastating pragmatism, with an acceptance that touched me, “like the silence of reading, or reading about people who love and must part, I thought it perfect” (Geary 273).
Legs like Mungo from “Young Mungo” are beautiful, sensitive men who are victims of their circumstance, characters out of a Joyce, Hardy and DH Lawrence novel who yearn for bigger things, but somehow fate and the environment have a way of thwarting those desires.
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. I was astounded at the writing of this empathic character, of how he was created out of pure love, "even horrible people can have their hearts broken" (Geary 241).
As I often do with deeply affecting books about love- I cried, and wept for what could have been for Juno’s love for Legs. It’s haunting, and somehow deeply realistic of two people that lived for their moment.
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.
Reminiscent of Young Mungo in its tone and sorrowful, bleak mood- Juno Loves Legs is a timeless tale of two misfits. Set in Dublin during the 1980s, with eerie, dark landscapes of tawdry bars, alcoholics on the street, with poverty rampant everywhere, Juno is one of the pluckiest and most resilient narrators I’ve read in a while. She lives with her seamstress mother, Mam; her alcoholic father, and estranged from her older sister Derry.
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).
It’s meant to be that Juno and Sean become best friends. But because as Sean comes of age as Legs, his effeminate, delicate beauty causes ire amongst those who are homophobic and repressed: especially Sister and Father who mock and hate him for no other reason than out of their own fear and ignorance, “His narrow shoulders shook then, though there was no sound, as if it had been turned down, the way you could with the news if you didn’t like what was being said” (Geary 249).
The fairy tale quality of Geary’s novel is rounded out by Mrs. H, the kindly librarian who seems to be the only one decent to Juno as she grows up.
After losing her mother to a bus accident, Juno finds herself witnessing Legs committing a crime against Father that would change their friendship forever. After he is committed to a reform school, Juno moves out and becomes a street walker, sex worker, wandering aimlessly in a Dublin that seems to be out of a Dickens and Joyce novel, its image at odds with anything green or beautiful that Ireland seems to offer.
As Juno reunites with Legs at the final act of the novel, we see Legs, like Juno, has gotten himself into sex work as well. He's basically owned by the smarmy St. Francis who has given him false promises of headlining his own art show.
Juno finally comes into grips with Legs being gay, and though the physical love is completely one sided, their love is so pure and emotional that it tore into my psyche.
I love books about two people who love each other, who are against the world, that I often relate to stories like this, wishing I had a Juno in my life. As Legs alludes to that his impending death from AIDS is near, through insight, wisdom and unflinching self awareness, Juno quietly declares their understanding with devastating pragmatism, with an acceptance that touched me, “like the silence of reading, or reading about people who love and must part, I thought it perfect” (Geary 273).
Legs like Mungo from “Young Mungo” are beautiful, sensitive men who are victims of their circumstance, characters out of a Joyce, Hardy and DH Lawrence novel who yearn for bigger things, but somehow fate and the environment have a way of thwarting those desires.
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. I was astounded at the writing of this empathic character, of how he was created out of pure love, "even horrible people can have their hearts broken" (Geary 241).
As I often do with deeply affecting books about love- I cried, and wept for what could have been for Juno’s love for Legs. It’s haunting, and somehow deeply realistic of two people that lived for their moment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2023
“I lay under the tree and carefully arranged the flowers on my chest, and stayed in the grass for the longest time. The wind picked up a bit, and in the distance, a few clouds were scattered. I worried about the creepy crawlies getting at me, but tried to put it from my mind. I lay there as long as I could, before shooting up and shaking myself and running through the trees, out onto the main road, breathless towards the library”.
“Even horrible people can have their hearts broken, you know “.
me LOVES Juno.
me LOVES Legs
me little heart aches!!
“Even horrible people can have their hearts broken, you know “.
me LOVES Juno.
me LOVES Legs
me little heart aches!!
April 1, 2023
Dublin -1980’s
Juno met Legs in school when she stood up for him as he was being bullied by a cruel nun and a priest. They made fun of him and stated he looked like a girl. Both have hard lives. Both desperately want the love and connection that they are not receiving openly at home. Both cling to each other forming a close friendship that even separation can't lessen.
This is a book that I thought I would enjoy more. Others are loving it and please read their reviews as well. I do appreciate how the author showed readers two individuals who didn't quite fit in yet fit so perfectly for each other. How they found love and support in another.
The book has sadness running through it. It will have you feeling and thinking about the two main characters. This book is well written and yet, for some reason, it didn't wow me as it did other readers.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Juno met Legs in school when she stood up for him as he was being bullied by a cruel nun and a priest. They made fun of him and stated he looked like a girl. Both have hard lives. Both desperately want the love and connection that they are not receiving openly at home. Both cling to each other forming a close friendship that even separation can't lessen.
This is a book that I thought I would enjoy more. Others are loving it and please read their reviews as well. I do appreciate how the author showed readers two individuals who didn't quite fit in yet fit so perfectly for each other. How they found love and support in another.
The book has sadness running through it. It will have you feeling and thinking about the two main characters. This book is well written and yet, for some reason, it didn't wow me as it did other readers.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
April 7, 2023
What a beautiful book. I've heard it being compared to Shuggie Bain but there's no comparison in my eyes. Where Shuggie only gave us the barest glimpse of sunlight, Juno gives us swathes of it. By the time I finished Shuggie I had a headache and was miserable but with Juno there was so much hope. Sadness, yes but still hope.
Karl Geary has written a touching and emotional novel that describes a love between two young people that is quite commonplace but is told with such care and delicacy that it reaches much higher heights. Juno and Legs meet at a school where (as usual) the nuns are awful old tyrants and the priests are no better. They survive somehow but are changed and damaged. The second half of the novel describes their meeting as young adults.
I got the audio version thanks to Netgalley. The narration is perfectly done by Alana Kerr Collins.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone who loves a beautiful story well told. There are funny parts and others that will make you weep but overall this, for me, describes a love that refuses to be ruined. It is hopeful and leaves you feeling that there are still good and kind people everywhere in this world. Thankyou Karl Geary for a bright Ray of sunlight on a gloomy day.
Karl Geary has written a touching and emotional novel that describes a love between two young people that is quite commonplace but is told with such care and delicacy that it reaches much higher heights. Juno and Legs meet at a school where (as usual) the nuns are awful old tyrants and the priests are no better. They survive somehow but are changed and damaged. The second half of the novel describes their meeting as young adults.
I got the audio version thanks to Netgalley. The narration is perfectly done by Alana Kerr Collins.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone who loves a beautiful story well told. There are funny parts and others that will make you weep but overall this, for me, describes a love that refuses to be ruined. It is hopeful and leaves you feeling that there are still good and kind people everywhere in this world. Thankyou Karl Geary for a bright Ray of sunlight on a gloomy day.
July 25, 2023
A few weeks ago in our free Book Club newsletter, I asked for examples of curious differences between U.S. and British book jackets. When a reader directed me to Karl Geary’s new novel, “Juno Loves Legs,” I couldn’t resist delving beneath its cover(s). This is the story of Juno, a sharp-witted Irish girl in the 1980s who’s too defiant to find peace in her dysfunctional home or her brutal Catholic school. “I was a lot,” she admits. “I was too much.” But her alcoholic father and toxic neighborhood would be too much for anyone. Depressed by poverty and social isolation, Juno experiences moments of peace by burying herself in the woods with flowers and pretending to be dead. She finds refuge only in her friendship with another young misfit, a gay classmate she nicknames Legs. “We couldn’t be hurt,” she says, “not when the other was there.” Alas, that’s not entirely true. The tropes of Irish tragedy arrive with predictable regularity in these pages, but the raw, lilting poetry of Juno’s voice provides a series of heartbreaking revelations.
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For more staff picks from The Washington Post Book World, click here:
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March 13, 2023
Oh my, this is a good one. I’m recovering from those last 50 pages. I concur with Douglas Stuart, the Shuggie Bain author who provides the cover endorsement - it broke my heart and I didn’t want it to end.
Juno Loves Legs is Irish author Karl Geary’s second novel, the follow up to his critically acclaimed, Costa-nominated debut Montpelier Parade.
Juno is a girl from a poor family in Dublin, growing up in the 1970s and coming of age in the 1980s, in a country that was very much under strict Catholic rule.
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. Juno and Legs form an instant friendship, deep and lasting, that endures even after a period of forced separation.
I don’t really want to say too much more about the plot as it’s best just to immerse yourself in it and allow it to unfold.
The book will, I think, have an extra special resonance for Irish people, and Dubliners in particular. The dialogue has a syncopated rhythm to it that I found a little jarring at times but I loved the book so much I just didn’t dwell on it. 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).
Gritty, funny, desperately sad, beautifully written. All the stars for me. Deserves to sell by the truckload. Comfortably my favourite Irish book so far this year. 5/5⭐️
*Thank you so much to @vintagebooks @penguinbooksireland for sending me a copy. I would have bought it anyway as that cover is exquisite, is it not? I’ll be buying copies as gifts. As always, this is an honest review.*
Juno Loves Legs is Irish author Karl Geary’s second novel, the follow up to his critically acclaimed, Costa-nominated debut Montpelier Parade.
Juno is a girl from a poor family in Dublin, growing up in the 1970s and coming of age in the 1980s, in a country that was very much under strict Catholic rule.
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. Juno and Legs form an instant friendship, deep and lasting, that endures even after a period of forced separation.
I don’t really want to say too much more about the plot as it’s best just to immerse yourself in it and allow it to unfold.
The book will, I think, have an extra special resonance for Irish people, and Dubliners in particular. The dialogue has a syncopated rhythm to it that I found a little jarring at times but I loved the book so much I just didn’t dwell on it. 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).
Gritty, funny, desperately sad, beautifully written. All the stars for me. Deserves to sell by the truckload. Comfortably my favourite Irish book so far this year. 5/5⭐️
*Thank you so much to @vintagebooks @penguinbooksireland for sending me a copy. I would have bought it anyway as that cover is exquisite, is it not? I’ll be buying copies as gifts. As always, this is an honest review.*
July 21, 2023
I absolutely loved this book from the first page to the last. My bookclub tagline for this read was “bleakness” and that is a spot on description for the essential vibe of this novel. Geary really captures the harsh, unrelenting challenge of growing up poor in 1980s Ireland. It feels derivative to make comments like ‘shades of Shuggie Bain’, and unfair to Geary who I think is really doing his own thing here. Where the comparison really works for me is that like Stuart, Geary constructs these complex, vivid, flawed characters and places them in a narrative that allows us to feel empathy at times for all of them in spite of their sometimes immense and troubling flaws. He brings a place and a time to life in a way that feels authentic, without apologising for its shortcomings but littering the story with glimmers of hope and connection. This is a novel to lose yourself in, what a treat.
July 11, 2024
I don’t know about the rest of you, but every once in a while . . . .
And let me tell you, the Irish authors have it fucking down when it comes to delivering my desired melancholy. The story here is about – you guessed it, Juno and Legs. It’s the 1980s and these two impoverished outsiders growing up in estate housing befriend each other and we follow along until they are adults. It is bleak. There are no happy endings. It was just what I wanted. Even the face cover which I usually can't stand is an exception to the rule here. And the audio? Brilliant.
And let me tell you, the Irish authors have it fucking down when it comes to delivering my desired melancholy. The story here is about – you guessed it, Juno and Legs. It’s the 1980s and these two impoverished outsiders growing up in estate housing befriend each other and we follow along until they are adults. It is bleak. There are no happy endings. It was just what I wanted. Even the face cover which I usually can't stand is an exception to the rule here. And the audio? Brilliant.
April 17, 2023
Devastating. I've just finished reading Juno Loves Legs (to be published April 18, 2023) and am reminded that books, like moments in time, meet us and then pass away. Some books are memorable and stay with you. Almost momentous, really. This book is memorable and deeply touching, as two misfits find each other through troubled times and know real love in a very unloving and tough world. Well done!
My thanks to the author, Karl Geary, and the publisher, Penguin Random House, for my ARC of this novel. #Goodreads Giveaway
My thanks to the author, Karl Geary, and the publisher, Penguin Random House, for my ARC of this novel. #Goodreads Giveaway
August 9, 2023
I feel a little mean withholding my fifth star for this book. It's a good read and I was utterly bereft by the end of it. Blurbed by Douglas Stuart this shares some "sad childhood" DNA with his novels but Geary has a style all his own. Perhaps less outwardly humorous, he has an eye for what I call "lingering poignant images", lots of lights reflected in puddles and dreamy reflections. It is impossible to deny he has created two fabulous characters in Juno and Legs.
While unsurprising in many ways, ticking all the boxes of Irish sadness - alcoholism, violence, and the abuses of the Catholic church an approach that could be viewed as a weakness. It is less about place and time ( maybe to its detriment ) than about the building of an unshakable bond between two outsiders that have no one else on their side.
This skirts a fine line between touching and misery fest particularly early on but sticking with it pays dividends as the poignancy of the relationship develops into early adulthood.
I think a reread is in order here before I definitively sort out my mixed emotions around this novel but it's not undeserving of a place on my "Best of 2023" list.
While unsurprising in many ways, ticking all the boxes of Irish sadness - alcoholism, violence, and the abuses of the Catholic church an approach that could be viewed as a weakness. It is less about place and time ( maybe to its detriment ) than about the building of an unshakable bond between two outsiders that have no one else on their side.
This skirts a fine line between touching and misery fest particularly early on but sticking with it pays dividends as the poignancy of the relationship develops into early adulthood.
I think a reread is in order here before I definitively sort out my mixed emotions around this novel but it's not undeserving of a place on my "Best of 2023" list.
May 21, 2023
4.5 rounded up
I will always have a soft spot for the misfit toys of this world, and it has set out a cushion for Juno and Legs.
Poignant to the nth degree; these two luckless souls give in to the magnetic pull of mutual exclusion to find a sense of place and peace in the company of the other. Bristly meets tolerant. Brash meets prudent. Need meets need and a friendship germinates. A union of "us" against "them". So many "thems". "Thems" who poured miracle-rot onto fragile stalks, leading to some twisted and withering choices.
Taking this coming-of-age journey with these two hapless beings was like putting my fingers into a vise one by one....but, in the end it was worth the pain. Thank God there were a few "thems" that offered islands of kindness along the way; a little sun, a bit of water to parched foliage, some fertilizing love; those who could see past the outside thorns to the delicacy beneath.
I recognized these people from my work, from the news, from our downtowns filled with tents. A serious novel that lovingly captures two marginalized humans trying to survive in arid soil.
I will always have a soft spot for the misfit toys of this world, and it has set out a cushion for Juno and Legs.
Poignant to the nth degree; these two luckless souls give in to the magnetic pull of mutual exclusion to find a sense of place and peace in the company of the other. Bristly meets tolerant. Brash meets prudent. Need meets need and a friendship germinates. A union of "us" against "them". So many "thems". "Thems" who poured miracle-rot onto fragile stalks, leading to some twisted and withering choices.
Taking this coming-of-age journey with these two hapless beings was like putting my fingers into a vise one by one....but, in the end it was worth the pain. Thank God there were a few "thems" that offered islands of kindness along the way; a little sun, a bit of water to parched foliage, some fertilizing love; those who could see past the outside thorns to the delicacy beneath.
I recognized these people from my work, from the news, from our downtowns filled with tents. A serious novel that lovingly captures two marginalized humans trying to survive in arid soil.
May 6, 2024
Sad Irish Literary Fiction Hive, rise up! i loved juno and i, too, loved legs. platonic friendship forged by catholic guilt is in some ways the best kind of friendship.
July 29, 2023
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.
Both Juno and Legs are shunned and bullied by classmates, and the priest in charge is even worse, shaming them in front of the classmates, making their lives even more difficult. But their bond grows even closer as they are the only ones who seem to truly know and care for each other, until they are forced apart after an incident, and lose contact for some time, but eventually find each other.
This is a love story, if a different kind of love story. It isn’t a happy story, overall, but there is so much love, the kind of love that allows each other to be who they are and do what they need to do.
Set in the 80’s, this love story is about what true love is, unconditional, accepting, loving even when love means letting go.
Many thanks, once again, for the Library Loan!
May 28, 2023
The overall tone of this book is a somber one. Juno and Legs were both faced with heartbreak at young ages. They were often humiliated, her for her family’s poverty and him for his sexuality. The two form an unexpected bond in their efforts to simply make it through the day. Unfortunately this story did not resonate with me. Its darkness contributed to its slow pace, and this reader struggled to turn the pages at times. There are some serious rave reviews out there, and to be honest, I’m not sure why. Oh, and those Dubliners have some crass language, man.
July 23, 2023
3.5 rounded up
June 26, 2023
4 stars
This story takes place in Dublin, under the tutelage of Catholic priests and nuns - extremely harsh and unkind. Two lost souls find each other as children and maintain their friendship for years. They go from one problem area to another. They love each other, desperately, but their love is worlds apart.
A sad coming of age story. Intolerance and poverty crush both beautiful souls. A dark story with scraps of humor and lightness. A very sad little book. Two kids without a chance in the world and no safety net below them to catch them when they fell.
A sad story told beautifully.
This story takes place in Dublin, under the tutelage of Catholic priests and nuns - extremely harsh and unkind. Two lost souls find each other as children and maintain their friendship for years. They go from one problem area to another. They love each other, desperately, but their love is worlds apart.
A sad coming of age story. Intolerance and poverty crush both beautiful souls. A dark story with scraps of humor and lightness. A very sad little book. Two kids without a chance in the world and no safety net below them to catch them when they fell.
A sad story told beautifully.
July 17, 2023
3.5, rounded up
August 20, 2023
3.5 stars. Although Juno Loves Legs is exquisitely written and the characters and their relationship are painfully beautiful, it felt almost overwhelmingly bleak. When there's nothing but sadness in a story, it ends up numbing my feelings. Shuggie Bain is an example of how you can write a tragic story made even more powerful with the use of humour.
The Story: Juno Loves Legs is the story of two teens labeled as delinquents. Juno and “Legs” grow up on the same housing estate in Dublin, where spirited, intelligent Juno is ostracized for her poverty and Legs is persecuted for his sexuality; they find safety only in each other.
The Story: Juno Loves Legs is the story of two teens labeled as delinquents. Juno and “Legs” grow up on the same housing estate in Dublin, where spirited, intelligent Juno is ostracized for her poverty and Legs is persecuted for his sexuality; they find safety only in each other.
May 2, 2023
5 BIG STARS for this audiobook (there is no choice at this time to choose the audio format)
This is a very, very special novel and is IMO award worthy. I immediately got sucked into the wonderful audiobook by Dreamscape Media and narrated by Alana Kerr Collins, who has a lovely, Northern Irish accent.
What an amazing, sad, and heartfelt story set in 1980’s Dublin, Ireland, featuring the compelling main character, Juno, and her sole friend, Sean, who she meets in school and nicknames “Leggy”. They are the oddballs, misfits and outcasts, and your heart goes out to both of them as we learn of their imperfections and vulnerabilities due to poverty and difficult (near impossible) home lives.
Beautifully written by the Irish author, Karl Geary, with many poignant and alarming situations for such young children to live through and be subjected to…from caustic, horrific neighbors to strict and punishing Catholic religious leaders, which leads to their own overworked and underpaid strict parents (most likely uneducated), who barely sustain a living and survive their forced inertia and poverty.
It is painful. But also poetic, sadly beautiful, and so compelling.
Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Publishing, and the author, Geary, for this advanced copy, which I wholeheartedly loved and will be pondering long after my next read.
This is a very, very special novel and is IMO award worthy. I immediately got sucked into the wonderful audiobook by Dreamscape Media and narrated by Alana Kerr Collins, who has a lovely, Northern Irish accent.
What an amazing, sad, and heartfelt story set in 1980’s Dublin, Ireland, featuring the compelling main character, Juno, and her sole friend, Sean, who she meets in school and nicknames “Leggy”. They are the oddballs, misfits and outcasts, and your heart goes out to both of them as we learn of their imperfections and vulnerabilities due to poverty and difficult (near impossible) home lives.
Beautifully written by the Irish author, Karl Geary, with many poignant and alarming situations for such young children to live through and be subjected to…from caustic, horrific neighbors to strict and punishing Catholic religious leaders, which leads to their own overworked and underpaid strict parents (most likely uneducated), who barely sustain a living and survive their forced inertia and poverty.
It is painful. But also poetic, sadly beautiful, and so compelling.
Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Publishing, and the author, Geary, for this advanced copy, which I wholeheartedly loved and will be pondering long after my next read.
July 6, 2023
i’m in a different city tonight, a city i’ve never visited before and whilst i explored the streets i saw this book displayed on the window of a bookshop. i haven’t been feeling all that great the past few months so when i saw the review given by one of the employees posted on the book, i was intrigued. i picked up this book expected it to be like all the
other books i’ve picked up these past couple of months. i’m so grateful to say it wasn’t. my heart may be shattered but the sun will rise tomorrow. as i sleep on this uncomfortable sofa, in another city with the windows open and the familiar and universal electrical noise of the fridge, i know i will never forget juno and legs. i will never forgot the love the had for one another and the silent sobs which seeped through my pillows.
the sun will rise soon and i hope it will be just as bright for juno and legs as i hope it will be for you and i
other books i’ve picked up these past couple of months. i’m so grateful to say it wasn’t. my heart may be shattered but the sun will rise tomorrow. as i sleep on this uncomfortable sofa, in another city with the windows open and the familiar and universal electrical noise of the fridge, i know i will never forget juno and legs. i will never forgot the love the had for one another and the silent sobs which seeped through my pillows.
the sun will rise soon and i hope it will be just as bright for juno and legs as i hope it will be for you and i
Want to read
June 24, 2023I LOVED Montpelier Parade - let'e check this one out!
April 17, 2023
Two Dublin teens act out against their peers and the priest who runs their Catholic school. 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. Her only friend and ally is ‘Legs,’ a loner ostracized by the Sister for his beauty and verbally abused by the Father for his sexual orientation. The pair form an allegiance and take care of each other, and love each other.
The Catholic church rules their world, constantly reminding the children of their sinfulness and the church’s authority given by God. Juno and Leg have no haven in their homes. The world is seemingly against them. All they have is each other.
Legs is a talented artist. Juno loves to watch her mother sew and repair garments, longing to be allowed to use the Singer sewing machine. She spends hours at the local library, the librarian suggesting books to read. There is another world that Juno can’t even imagine. Where young women go to college and find careers.
Tragic events separate the pair, but when they reunite, Legs protects and cares for the only person who ever loved him, even while Juno must learn the limits of their relationship and how to let go.
“He was never really my fella, he was something else, something more,” Juno thinks. Their love is more beautiful than any romance.
A poignant portrait of two people caught in poverty and an intolerant society, this one will break your heart.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
The Catholic church rules their world, constantly reminding the children of their sinfulness and the church’s authority given by God. Juno and Leg have no haven in their homes. The world is seemingly against them. All they have is each other.
Legs is a talented artist. Juno loves to watch her mother sew and repair garments, longing to be allowed to use the Singer sewing machine. She spends hours at the local library, the librarian suggesting books to read. There is another world that Juno can’t even imagine. Where young women go to college and find careers.
Tragic events separate the pair, but when they reunite, Legs protects and cares for the only person who ever loved him, even while Juno must learn the limits of their relationship and how to let go.
“He was never really my fella, he was something else, something more,” Juno thinks. Their love is more beautiful than any romance.
A poignant portrait of two people caught in poverty and an intolerant society, this one will break your heart.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
July 22, 2023
It broke my heart and left me in tears. Beautiful story of two children growing up damaged in 1980’s Ireland.
I did say I’d been avoiding Irish novels for a few years but so pleased to have found this book with thanks to Bookclub .
I did say I’d been avoiding Irish novels for a few years but so pleased to have found this book with thanks to Bookclub .
August 9, 2023
I don’t know how he did it, but Karl Geary, a 51-year-old Irish actor and writer, has created a female protagonist for the ages: Juno is a feisty young teen who needs all the grit she can muster to survive her hard-luck existence in 1980’s Dublin. Juno and the friend she nicknames Legs encounter poverty and cruelty aplenty, but also moments of grace, and Geary’s writing is lovely.
July 1, 2023
3.5, rounded up
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