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Iron Annie: SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2022
' Utterly original . A bolt from the blue for Irish writing ' Niamh Campbell, winner of the Rooney Prize for This Happy
' A queer underworld Thelma & Louise with better jokes ' Sarah Moss
' This year's most ambitious and well-written debut ' Irish Independent
When Dundalk underworld regular Aoife brings the wild and magnetic Annie to the Town, her desire to love and cling to this dangerous stranger culminates in a road trip through Britain to dispose of ten kilos of cocaine for her business partner, The Rat King. But when Annie decides not to return to Ireland, Aoife makes a decision that changes everything.
Tender, tragic but ultimately hopeful, Iron Annie is a breakneck journey that crackles with energy, warmth and heart, and marks the arrival of a truly original new voice in literary fiction.
' Written in an exhilarating, lyrical vernacular, in much the way of Anna Burns, Kevin Barry or even Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting ' Daily Mail
' Utterly original . A bolt from the blue for Irish writing ' Niamh Campbell, winner of the Rooney Prize for This Happy
' A queer underworld Thelma & Louise with better jokes ' Sarah Moss
' This year's most ambitious and well-written debut ' Irish Independent
When Dundalk underworld regular Aoife brings the wild and magnetic Annie to the Town, her desire to love and cling to this dangerous stranger culminates in a road trip through Britain to dispose of ten kilos of cocaine for her business partner, The Rat King. But when Annie decides not to return to Ireland, Aoife makes a decision that changes everything.
Tender, tragic but ultimately hopeful, Iron Annie is a breakneck journey that crackles with energy, warmth and heart, and marks the arrival of a truly original new voice in literary fiction.
' Written in an exhilarating, lyrical vernacular, in much the way of Anna Burns, Kevin Barry or even Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting ' Daily Mail
320 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2021
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November 19, 2021
As seen on www.mysteryandsuspense.com
“Iron Annie” is the debut novel by Irish author, Luke Cassidy, and what a debut it is! Full of atmospheric grit and dark, raw characters, Cassidy delivers a poignant yet gripping look at the seedy underbelly of an Irish border town.
Aiofe has made the small town of Dundalk, Ireland her home since she was eighteen years old, and “The Town” (as locals call it) welcomed her with open arms. Now a major player in the Irish criminal underworld, Aiofe is both smart and unassuming, skills that go a long way in the drug game. But when spirited and mysterious Annie rolls into town, Aiofe is instantly charmed. Desperate to keep Annie in her life in whatever way she can, Aiofe ignores the naysayers of the town who tell her Annie is bad news and decides to include Annie in on the biggest drug deal of Aiofe’s life, one that could make or break her future. However, with everyone else telling Aiofe that Annie is flighty and untrustworthy, can Aiofe trust Annie with her plans?
Cassidy narrates the entire story from the viewpoint of Aiofe, and it is told with Irish inflection throughout. Each and every page is filled with Irish slang, and it reads just as if Aiofe was verbally narrating it. Cassidy manages to somehow make this novel completely readable, and, by narrating the story in this way, he adds a deeper level of personality to the character of Aiofe.
The character of Annie is generally unlikable with one exception—EVERYONE knows an Annie. Annie’s ability to take over a situation and turn it to her advantage, manipulating everyone around her to her benefit, is utterly relatable, and although this does not make her any more charming or endearing, it makes her completely human and believable. The other players, especially the Rat King, are hilarious, affable and utterly delightful. They bring a strong level of uniqueness and diversity to a great plot, and there are more than a few parts where I laughed out loud.
“Iron Annie” is told in segments, not chapters, and each segment has a clever and catchy title. The novel goes back and forth between times in Aiofe’s life, so readers can slowly get to know the main character, and the funky group of characters she associates with. The ending is tragic and bittersweet, but it also shines a light of hope that will leave readers satisfied.
Cassidy is most definitely the one to watch! “Iron Annie” is a creative and charmingly dark novel that will stick with you. With sharp, unassuming characters, Cassidy combines drug dealing, Irish crime syndicates, and queer romance in a clever and engaging way.
“Iron Annie” is the debut novel by Irish author, Luke Cassidy, and what a debut it is! Full of atmospheric grit and dark, raw characters, Cassidy delivers a poignant yet gripping look at the seedy underbelly of an Irish border town.
Aiofe has made the small town of Dundalk, Ireland her home since she was eighteen years old, and “The Town” (as locals call it) welcomed her with open arms. Now a major player in the Irish criminal underworld, Aiofe is both smart and unassuming, skills that go a long way in the drug game. But when spirited and mysterious Annie rolls into town, Aiofe is instantly charmed. Desperate to keep Annie in her life in whatever way she can, Aiofe ignores the naysayers of the town who tell her Annie is bad news and decides to include Annie in on the biggest drug deal of Aiofe’s life, one that could make or break her future. However, with everyone else telling Aiofe that Annie is flighty and untrustworthy, can Aiofe trust Annie with her plans?
Cassidy narrates the entire story from the viewpoint of Aiofe, and it is told with Irish inflection throughout. Each and every page is filled with Irish slang, and it reads just as if Aiofe was verbally narrating it. Cassidy manages to somehow make this novel completely readable, and, by narrating the story in this way, he adds a deeper level of personality to the character of Aiofe.
The character of Annie is generally unlikable with one exception—EVERYONE knows an Annie. Annie’s ability to take over a situation and turn it to her advantage, manipulating everyone around her to her benefit, is utterly relatable, and although this does not make her any more charming or endearing, it makes her completely human and believable. The other players, especially the Rat King, are hilarious, affable and utterly delightful. They bring a strong level of uniqueness and diversity to a great plot, and there are more than a few parts where I laughed out loud.
“Iron Annie” is told in segments, not chapters, and each segment has a clever and catchy title. The novel goes back and forth between times in Aiofe’s life, so readers can slowly get to know the main character, and the funky group of characters she associates with. The ending is tragic and bittersweet, but it also shines a light of hope that will leave readers satisfied.
Cassidy is most definitely the one to watch! “Iron Annie” is a creative and charmingly dark novel that will stick with you. With sharp, unassuming characters, Cassidy combines drug dealing, Irish crime syndicates, and queer romance in a clever and engaging way.
January 12, 2022
Reading a first-time author is always gratifying, particularly an Irish one. Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy is a crime story set in Dundalk, a fictional Irish town. It is written in Irish-speak or vernacular, which was off putting and only seems to lessen the narrative. Aoife is a major player in the criminal underclass who is asked to shift stolen cocaine, but her reliance on her friend Annie causes major dramas. Thinking it was going to be a whimsical saga, it was sadly disappointing and lacking any real humour. So, whilst readers seem to either love or loathe this book, it unfortunately did not hold my interest and so only rated a one-star don’t bother rating. With thanks to Vintage Crime/Black Lizard and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and are made without obligation.
June 7, 2022
Craic cocaine
I read this book due to its longlisting for the 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novelists an award for which it is now shortlisted despite in my view being the only weak book on a very strong longlist.
It is a book which I initially found very reminiscent of the 2016 winner (and Women’s Prize for fiction winner that year) Lisa McInerney’s “Glorious Heresies” of which I wrote it was a “novel set among the low life (alcoholics, prostitutes, drug debaters, crime gangs) of Cork, the often depressing subject matter, violence, nastiness of characters and behaviour, and sex, drug taking and swearing is offset by the author's empathetic portrayal of the characters and their inner struggles, and her ear for dialogue and her vivid and original use of imagery and language ..... making the book a surprisingly enjoyable read.”, although for most of this book unfortunately it was far more reminiscent of McInerney’s (to me) genuinely disappointing follow-up “The Blood Miracles” which both lost the multi-narrator element which made the debut novel so strong and had an unwelcome concentration on drug dealings and gangs. This book even perhaps has elements of the third novel in Lisa McInerney’s series (of which I have to say I decided to DNF early on) which I believe featured a returnee (unsure of her sexual and gender identity) from Brexit Britain to Cork.
There are also resonances with Kevin Barry’s 2019 Booker longlisted “Night Boat to Tangier” – a book which began life as a playscript and was then turned into a novel once the play was abandoned. That book featured two Irish gangsters/drug smugglers and was a conflicting mixture of brilliantly evocative descriptive writing and a wonderful ear for writing with profane-laden and clichéd dialogue. Again this is perhaps an unfortunate comparison as I felt that this book had more of the latter than the former.
This book is set initially in Dundalk (a town which rather oddly no one in England seems to have heard) with a set piece road trip around Britain. The novel is I believe the first in a series set in the underworld of Dundalk and has also been adapted and toured as a “spectacle of spoken word and music”.
The book is largely written in a Dundalk vernacular of which I have two comments. Firstly that it really is very easy to follow – I have seen reviews that referred to getting the hang of it after a few pages, for me it was a few lines. But secondly that while the dialogue between the characters did at times really spark, the narrative voice (also in the slang) did not really seem to work for me and I could not hear the voice in a way in which I could in other Irish vernacular novels. I would also say that for large parts of the book (particularly initially) I had to remind myself that Aoife was female – partly I think lazy default assumption on my behalf with a male author voicing a drug dealer, but partly I think due to another way in which the voice of the novel just did not seem authentic to me.
The narrator is Aoife – one of the players in the Dundalk underworld which also includes: the traveller-descended Rat King (so named for a wild rat he carries in his pocket); Paddy (connected to the Real/Continuity IRA) and his high-pitched sidekick Squeak; Smokey Quigley (who runs a pub which acts as a neutral meeting point for the different gang leaders as well as the Garda – particularly Detective Kellher with who Aoife has a strong affinity) and Shamey Hughes (Aoife’s informer).
Aoife, hitherto hetrosexual (although this seems to be forgotten in some parts of the book) ends up sleeping with Annie (a strongwilled, magnetic but also manipulative, English-educated incomer from Belfast) and the two fall into a relationship. The main plot of the novel is when the Rat King asks Aoife to dispose of 10kg of cocaine – and she hatches a plan to travel to the UK with Annie and use the latter’s contacts for the sale.
Thereafter the book kind of alternates between: the tale of the road trip which for me oddly lacked local colour and dialect and which at times became far too implausible (a champagne bath was a particular low light); and a series of reminisences of various rather disparate incidents which previously occurred in Ireland – for too many of these I found them tedious, sordid and repetitive, was not able to appreciate any of the craic being liberally enjoyed and could not see how they contributed to the narrative or advanced this reader’s experience.
Overall I am afraid simply not a book that worked for me – by the end I was rather bored with both parts of the novel so that I failed to feel any emotional heft from the way that the story concluded.
I read this book due to its longlisting for the 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novelists an award for which it is now shortlisted despite in my view being the only weak book on a very strong longlist.
It is a book which I initially found very reminiscent of the 2016 winner (and Women’s Prize for fiction winner that year) Lisa McInerney’s “Glorious Heresies” of which I wrote it was a “novel set among the low life (alcoholics, prostitutes, drug debaters, crime gangs) of Cork, the often depressing subject matter, violence, nastiness of characters and behaviour, and sex, drug taking and swearing is offset by the author's empathetic portrayal of the characters and their inner struggles, and her ear for dialogue and her vivid and original use of imagery and language ..... making the book a surprisingly enjoyable read.”, although for most of this book unfortunately it was far more reminiscent of McInerney’s (to me) genuinely disappointing follow-up “The Blood Miracles” which both lost the multi-narrator element which made the debut novel so strong and had an unwelcome concentration on drug dealings and gangs. This book even perhaps has elements of the third novel in Lisa McInerney’s series (of which I have to say I decided to DNF early on) which I believe featured a returnee (unsure of her sexual and gender identity) from Brexit Britain to Cork.
There are also resonances with Kevin Barry’s 2019 Booker longlisted “Night Boat to Tangier” – a book which began life as a playscript and was then turned into a novel once the play was abandoned. That book featured two Irish gangsters/drug smugglers and was a conflicting mixture of brilliantly evocative descriptive writing and a wonderful ear for writing with profane-laden and clichéd dialogue. Again this is perhaps an unfortunate comparison as I felt that this book had more of the latter than the former.
This book is set initially in Dundalk (a town which rather oddly no one in England seems to have heard) with a set piece road trip around Britain. The novel is I believe the first in a series set in the underworld of Dundalk and has also been adapted and toured as a “spectacle of spoken word and music”.
The book is largely written in a Dundalk vernacular of which I have two comments. Firstly that it really is very easy to follow – I have seen reviews that referred to getting the hang of it after a few pages, for me it was a few lines. But secondly that while the dialogue between the characters did at times really spark, the narrative voice (also in the slang) did not really seem to work for me and I could not hear the voice in a way in which I could in other Irish vernacular novels. I would also say that for large parts of the book (particularly initially) I had to remind myself that Aoife was female – partly I think lazy default assumption on my behalf with a male author voicing a drug dealer, but partly I think due to another way in which the voice of the novel just did not seem authentic to me.
The narrator is Aoife – one of the players in the Dundalk underworld which also includes: the traveller-descended Rat King (so named for a wild rat he carries in his pocket); Paddy (connected to the Real/Continuity IRA) and his high-pitched sidekick Squeak; Smokey Quigley (who runs a pub which acts as a neutral meeting point for the different gang leaders as well as the Garda – particularly Detective Kellher with who Aoife has a strong affinity) and Shamey Hughes (Aoife’s informer).
Aoife, hitherto hetrosexual (although this seems to be forgotten in some parts of the book) ends up sleeping with Annie (a strongwilled, magnetic but also manipulative, English-educated incomer from Belfast) and the two fall into a relationship. The main plot of the novel is when the Rat King asks Aoife to dispose of 10kg of cocaine – and she hatches a plan to travel to the UK with Annie and use the latter’s contacts for the sale.
Thereafter the book kind of alternates between: the tale of the road trip which for me oddly lacked local colour and dialect and which at times became far too implausible (a champagne bath was a particular low light); and a series of reminisences of various rather disparate incidents which previously occurred in Ireland – for too many of these I found them tedious, sordid and repetitive, was not able to appreciate any of the craic being liberally enjoyed and could not see how they contributed to the narrative or advanced this reader’s experience.
Overall I am afraid simply not a book that worked for me – by the end I was rather bored with both parts of the novel so that I failed to feel any emotional heft from the way that the story concluded.
June 27, 2022
I read this book because it is one of the three books on the shortlist for the Desmond Elliott prize for debut fiction. My expectations were pretty low because the two friends who read the whole of the longlist both placed it bottom of their lists, but I found it lively and rather enjoyable, though its subject matter is dark and it is not always easy to empathise with the narrator.
The narrator is Aoife, who has spent her young life in the criminal underworld of the Irish border town of Dundalk. Most of the book concerns her relationship with the eponymous Annie, a free-spirited bisexual girl from middle class protestant Belfast who joins her on a road trip through England where they try to sell a substantial quantity of cocaine. Needless to say things go wrong, and the consequences are bloody and violent, but the exuberance of the narration carries the story, making it a lively read reminiscent of the best of Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies).
The narrator is Aoife, who has spent her young life in the criminal underworld of the Irish border town of Dundalk. Most of the book concerns her relationship with the eponymous Annie, a free-spirited bisexual girl from middle class protestant Belfast who joins her on a road trip through England where they try to sell a substantial quantity of cocaine. Needless to say things go wrong, and the consequences are bloody and violent, but the exuberance of the narration carries the story, making it a lively read reminiscent of the best of Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies).
August 6, 2021
Like Irvine Welsh, Kevin Barry and Lisa McInerney got together to write a queer Mr Nice.
Iron Annie announces yet another stunningly original voice to the stage of Irish literature. Luke Cassidy has produced a debut novel that swings between brutal violence and tender introspection (sometimes on the same page, even the same sentence!).
Aoife is a drug dealer in Dundalk, one of several in town. Rather than become rivals, the various dealers have organised a union, of sorts, meeting regularly to discuss issues in town and helping each other out with jobs. The most colourful of these is The Rat King, a traveller drug boss with a wild rat he's tamed that lives in his pocket.
And among all of this is Annie. Iron Annie. A fairy, enigmatic, sexually liberated young redhead who Aoife accidentally starts a lesbian relationship with - she doesn't realise Annie isn't a man until she's got her trousers off.
When The Rat King scores 10kg of stolen coke he needs to offload, Aoife agrees to take it to England and disperse it there, using Annie's contacts.
Much of the novel revolves around the two women on this wild road trip, each contact and each town proving more crazy than the last.
What elevates this novel, however, is the prose. It's a challenging form, written almost in dialect and reminiscent of Trainspotting and Night Boat To Tangier. Maybe 'accent' is the more accurate word as it is quick and easy to read once you've tuned in to the rhythm.
An anarchic, violent, and beautiful work of art. I can't wait to read more from Cassidy and I doubt we've seen the last of this cast of brilliant characters.
Iron Annie announces yet another stunningly original voice to the stage of Irish literature. Luke Cassidy has produced a debut novel that swings between brutal violence and tender introspection (sometimes on the same page, even the same sentence!).
Aoife is a drug dealer in Dundalk, one of several in town. Rather than become rivals, the various dealers have organised a union, of sorts, meeting regularly to discuss issues in town and helping each other out with jobs. The most colourful of these is The Rat King, a traveller drug boss with a wild rat he's tamed that lives in his pocket.
And among all of this is Annie. Iron Annie. A fairy, enigmatic, sexually liberated young redhead who Aoife accidentally starts a lesbian relationship with - she doesn't realise Annie isn't a man until she's got her trousers off.
When The Rat King scores 10kg of stolen coke he needs to offload, Aoife agrees to take it to England and disperse it there, using Annie's contacts.
Much of the novel revolves around the two women on this wild road trip, each contact and each town proving more crazy than the last.
What elevates this novel, however, is the prose. It's a challenging form, written almost in dialect and reminiscent of Trainspotting and Night Boat To Tangier. Maybe 'accent' is the more accurate word as it is quick and easy to read once you've tuned in to the rhythm.
An anarchic, violent, and beautiful work of art. I can't wait to read more from Cassidy and I doubt we've seen the last of this cast of brilliant characters.
April 14, 2022
I came to this book because it is on the long list for the 2022 Desmond Elliott Prize, an award The Telegraph called ”The UK’s most prestigious award for first-time novelists.”
There are strong reviews for this book at independent.ie (https://www.independent.ie/entertainm...) and at hotpress.com (https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/book...). The reviews on Goodreads run the full gamut from 1 to 5 stars but are generally positive.
So, it’s probably just me, but I couldn’t make it work. And it’s not the Dundalk vernacular that didn’t work. I’ve seen some of the GR reviews that say this was off-putting and made the book difficult to read but I have to say that I didn’t experience that at all: it takes a couple of pages to get in sync with the narrative voice but from that point on it reads very straightforwardly (apart from lots of words that end ‘a - out’a, made’a, must’a etc. - which my brain kept seeing as ’s, but that’s my problem).
Our narrator is Aoife. At the start of the book she tells us about the time she met Andrew only to discover, when they got to the bedroom and took their clothes off, that Andrew was actually Annie. But they hit it off despite the surprise (for Aoife - of course, Annie knew all along) and they became a couple. Both of them are part of the drug scene in Dundalk and events conspire to mean that they set off to England with an unbelievably large amount of cocaine in order to sell it on behalf of the Rat King (so called because he has tamed a wild rat and carries it around with him).
So far, it all sounds like it should be a pretty wild ride.
Unfortunately, for me, the staggeringly large amount of cocaine and the tamed wild rat were just two of the things hard to suspend disbelief for. OK, so I am pushing things a bit about the rat - I guess that’s possible although not something I’d like to try with a wild rat despite having kept pet rats a few years ago (they were lovely!). But there are several other events in the book that leave you thinking “that was convenient”. And I was rather surprised when Annie has an anaphylactic reaction to seafood and while being stretchered to an ambulance calls Aoife over so she can whisper “What I was trying to say was that in my view the political classes used the issue of marriage equality quite cynically just to score a victory. To be on the right side of history for once. The whole thing was just a carnival. You think they really care about us?” Maybe I am missing the point here.
I think the structure of the book didn’t help me, although I appreciate that for others this will be a strength. It alternates between Aoife’s memories and the story of the road trip to England, but the two feel like completely separate entities and neither one seems to enhance the other. I’m happy to be corrected about this.
Let’s leave it at that. It sadly wasn’t a book for me. My suggestion is that you read the reviews linked to above and then read the book yourself to make up your own mind - this is just my reaction.
There are strong reviews for this book at independent.ie (https://www.independent.ie/entertainm...) and at hotpress.com (https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/book...). The reviews on Goodreads run the full gamut from 1 to 5 stars but are generally positive.
So, it’s probably just me, but I couldn’t make it work. And it’s not the Dundalk vernacular that didn’t work. I’ve seen some of the GR reviews that say this was off-putting and made the book difficult to read but I have to say that I didn’t experience that at all: it takes a couple of pages to get in sync with the narrative voice but from that point on it reads very straightforwardly (apart from lots of words that end ‘a - out’a, made’a, must’a etc. - which my brain kept seeing as ’s, but that’s my problem).
Our narrator is Aoife. At the start of the book she tells us about the time she met Andrew only to discover, when they got to the bedroom and took their clothes off, that Andrew was actually Annie. But they hit it off despite the surprise (for Aoife - of course, Annie knew all along) and they became a couple. Both of them are part of the drug scene in Dundalk and events conspire to mean that they set off to England with an unbelievably large amount of cocaine in order to sell it on behalf of the Rat King (so called because he has tamed a wild rat and carries it around with him).
So far, it all sounds like it should be a pretty wild ride.
Unfortunately, for me, the staggeringly large amount of cocaine and the tamed wild rat were just two of the things hard to suspend disbelief for. OK, so I am pushing things a bit about the rat - I guess that’s possible although not something I’d like to try with a wild rat despite having kept pet rats a few years ago (they were lovely!). But there are several other events in the book that leave you thinking “that was convenient”. And I was rather surprised when Annie has an anaphylactic reaction to seafood and while being stretchered to an ambulance calls Aoife over so she can whisper “What I was trying to say was that in my view the political classes used the issue of marriage equality quite cynically just to score a victory. To be on the right side of history for once. The whole thing was just a carnival. You think they really care about us?” Maybe I am missing the point here.
I think the structure of the book didn’t help me, although I appreciate that for others this will be a strength. It alternates between Aoife’s memories and the story of the road trip to England, but the two feel like completely separate entities and neither one seems to enhance the other. I’m happy to be corrected about this.
Let’s leave it at that. It sadly wasn’t a book for me. My suggestion is that you read the reviews linked to above and then read the book yourself to make up your own mind - this is just my reaction.
September 17, 2021
Cassidy’s debut is told through narrator Aoife, of her work, friends, and dreams, through the mask of her doomed love affair with the occasional cross-dressing ‘Iron’ Annie. It’s the colourful characters that are the feature of the book, though the setting of Dundalk appeals also, though it concerns the town’s seedy underworld, not called El Paso for nothing..
The novel’s weak point is the plot, which at times gets lost amidst the many jumps in time to relate various anecdotes, which entertain. Consequently the ending fizzles out. But there is plenty to appreciate.
I sell booze. Illegally distilled vodka an gin. An I run counterfeit fags across the border. Sometimes I boost stuff from people’s gaffs but I’m trynta get out’a that..
The novel’s weak point is the plot, which at times gets lost amidst the many jumps in time to relate various anecdotes, which entertain. Consequently the ending fizzles out. But there is plenty to appreciate.
December 1, 2021
OK, this book had one big problem and it's not the Irish dialect, which I easily adapted to .
It's the idea of how drug dealing works.
Do you know how much a kilo of coke costs? Well, me either. But investigation shows that it would be about $25k.
Do you know how much coke the average user would buy? Well, either a gram or and 8-ball (about 3 grams.) (Or 1/8 of an ounce.) And that coke would have likely been cut with something because the big guy up top sells his kilo, then the next guy cuts it into smaller bits, cutting it with something to make it stretch, then maybe another guy does the same before it gets to your average user.
So - 10 kilos of Coke, uncut, would be about a quarter of a million dollars. That would be enough to make 10,000 grams of Coke cut -so about 100,000 after you mix it with laxative or whatever. Dundalk Ireland is a city of about 34K people. Why would ANYONE in dDundalk be a drug dealer with 10,000 grams of coke, if the average "serving" is a gram? This is a HUGE amount.
OK, let's say you can live with that. Then......what are the odds that Aoife can go to a party in a town she's never been to before, and meets a guy, and that guy wants to buy a KILO of Coke. Not a gram. A KILO! He's at that party iwth easy access to 25K to buy the coke. HAHAHAHA NO.
Then, what are the odds that she sits in a park and the guy that sits down beside her is ALSO a cocaine dealer who wants to buy her last kilo CMON! Oh yeah, and they get rid of another kilo or two by going to this Carribbean guys bar and selling them to him. Jesus. These people would have been killed or arrested in about 2 seconds. This is just an absurd amount of Coke.
Honestly, this is something that should have rung false to anyone who has ever watched a crime tv show.
It's the idea of how drug dealing works.
Do you know how much a kilo of coke costs? Well, me either. But investigation shows that it would be about $25k.
Do you know how much coke the average user would buy? Well, either a gram or and 8-ball (about 3 grams.) (Or 1/8 of an ounce.) And that coke would have likely been cut with something because the big guy up top sells his kilo, then the next guy cuts it into smaller bits, cutting it with something to make it stretch, then maybe another guy does the same before it gets to your average user.
So - 10 kilos of Coke, uncut, would be about a quarter of a million dollars. That would be enough to make 10,000 grams of Coke cut -so about 100,000 after you mix it with laxative or whatever. Dundalk Ireland is a city of about 34K people. Why would ANYONE in dDundalk be a drug dealer with 10,000 grams of coke, if the average "serving" is a gram? This is a HUGE amount.
OK, let's say you can live with that. Then......what are the odds that Aoife can go to a party in a town she's never been to before, and meets a guy, and that guy wants to buy a KILO of Coke. Not a gram. A KILO! He's at that party iwth easy access to 25K to buy the coke. HAHAHAHA NO.
Then, what are the odds that she sits in a park and the guy that sits down beside her is ALSO a cocaine dealer who wants to buy her last kilo CMON! Oh yeah, and they get rid of another kilo or two by going to this Carribbean guys bar and selling them to him. Jesus. These people would have been killed or arrested in about 2 seconds. This is just an absurd amount of Coke.
Honestly, this is something that should have rung false to anyone who has ever watched a crime tv show.
dnf
August 9, 2021DNF @ 10%
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June 17, 2022Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy was published with Bloomsbury September 2nd and is described as ‘mixing Thelma and Louise and Lisa McInerney’s The Glorious Heresies, with a dash of Pulp Fiction….heralds the arrival of a major new Irish writer.’
I have watched, and thoroughly enjoyed, Thelma and Louise and Pulp Fiction many times. The sense of freedom in Thelma and Louise always struck a chord with me and the pure violence and humour of Pulp Fiction brought me into the world of Quentin Tarantino. I have read Lisa McInerney’s three books – The Glorious Heresies, The Blood Miracles and The Rules of Revelation, and was blown away by the accuracy of the setting, the plot and the dialogue. I was completely immersed in the lives of all McInerney’s characters but, knowing it was very much a Cork based tale, I wondered how I would feel about a similar style novel set in Dundalk, Co. Louth, a county I have never visited. I needn’t have been concerned.
The local dialect is very much a feature of Iron Annie and I’m sure could be a barrier to some readers, but I must insist that you roll with it. Get into the mindset of Luke Cassidy and his cast and the flow of the language will just come. This I do promise.
Iron Annie is ultimately a story of an unexpected love set against the grim backdrop of the underbelly of Dundalk’s crime scene. Aoife is the main character. Toughened by a life surfing the edges Aoife is known as a shrewd, no-nonsense operator. She has all the right contacts and is gutsy and fearless when a situation warrants it. Aoife was originally from Mullaghbawn, over the border, but over the years she has been accepted in Dundalk as one of their own. She plays by the rules and has garnered respect from the different hierarchies.
“Dundalk. The f***** Town. Round here, that’s what ye call it, cause yer either part’a the Town, or yer not. Ye don’t needta be born here or nathin, ye juss needta be there long enough that the place knows ye.”
Aoife is knocked off kilter when she crosses paths with Annie, a young woman unlike anyone Aoife has experienced before. Aoife had been with many men in her life but, an unexpected liaison with Annie sets Aoife’s head spinning. Annie is elusive, temperamental, her behaviour erratic. She is like a whirlwind sweeping in and out of Aoife’s days and Aoife is completely smitten. Aoife’s friends are wary of Annie. They don’t trust her and they can see the effect she is having on Aoife. But Aoife is blinded by love, satiated by passion and wants more.
When one of Aoife’s contacts, The Rat King, requests Aoife’s help with shifting some cocaine to the UK she sees the possibility of an exciting adventure. Aoife keeps Annie in the dark initially as to why they are off on this sudden trip and Annie is a willing companion. She is flighty and this escapade appeals to her with its possibilities for the unknown. But their dreams and aspirations falter as their trip faces some very challenging and life-changing obstacles.
Aoife is one of society’s misfits. I expect, if I met Aoife in reality, she would frighten the life out of me. Her image is that of a hard nut on the outside, one unafraid of acts of violence, a very heavy drinker and occasional drug user. She plays hard but with Annie, Aoife is allowed to show a more vulnerable side to her personality and it is this exposure that brings her great pain. Aoife has never had a relationship with a woman before. She had never really considered it until now…
“Before her, I’d never really been involved in anythin too serious. I mean, I’d been with fellas an that, but that’s mostly cause, well, ye juss figure that’s the way things should be cause that’s what people want ye to think things should be like an that, when yer young an ye don’t know how to listenta yerself cause there isn really yer self yet, juss a bunch’a selves other people want ye to be sure. Not that that gets much better mind. An in fairness I do like th’odd fella.”
Aoife narrates Iron Annie with a strong accent that can be difficult to grasp initially but after a bit, it just becomes part of the story as you become completely immersed in the lives of these people who you would probably never cross paths with in your everyday life.
Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier is another comparable read where the local dialect of a couple of Cork gangsters was littered throughout. This style of writing is one that I hadn’t realised I would enjoy so much but it actually takes you away into the mind of the characters, very much bringing them alive.
Iron Annie is a violent and stark, yet very touching, read. Luke Cassidy has created a living, breathing tale that is a completely hypnotic experience. The use of language, the complexity of the characters, Dundalk as a setting, all combine, resulting in an intoxicating and refreshing tour de force, a book that will stay with you long after you turn that final (and sanguine) last page.
“An I kinda liked the look’a Cork, looked like a big Dundalk, an I mean that in a good way. Like a place sound people might live, not a bunch’a p****s with big notions’a themselves. A daecent kindofa place”
I have watched, and thoroughly enjoyed, Thelma and Louise and Pulp Fiction many times. The sense of freedom in Thelma and Louise always struck a chord with me and the pure violence and humour of Pulp Fiction brought me into the world of Quentin Tarantino. I have read Lisa McInerney’s three books – The Glorious Heresies, The Blood Miracles and The Rules of Revelation, and was blown away by the accuracy of the setting, the plot and the dialogue. I was completely immersed in the lives of all McInerney’s characters but, knowing it was very much a Cork based tale, I wondered how I would feel about a similar style novel set in Dundalk, Co. Louth, a county I have never visited. I needn’t have been concerned.
The local dialect is very much a feature of Iron Annie and I’m sure could be a barrier to some readers, but I must insist that you roll with it. Get into the mindset of Luke Cassidy and his cast and the flow of the language will just come. This I do promise.
Iron Annie is ultimately a story of an unexpected love set against the grim backdrop of the underbelly of Dundalk’s crime scene. Aoife is the main character. Toughened by a life surfing the edges Aoife is known as a shrewd, no-nonsense operator. She has all the right contacts and is gutsy and fearless when a situation warrants it. Aoife was originally from Mullaghbawn, over the border, but over the years she has been accepted in Dundalk as one of their own. She plays by the rules and has garnered respect from the different hierarchies.
“Dundalk. The f***** Town. Round here, that’s what ye call it, cause yer either part’a the Town, or yer not. Ye don’t needta be born here or nathin, ye juss needta be there long enough that the place knows ye.”
Aoife is knocked off kilter when she crosses paths with Annie, a young woman unlike anyone Aoife has experienced before. Aoife had been with many men in her life but, an unexpected liaison with Annie sets Aoife’s head spinning. Annie is elusive, temperamental, her behaviour erratic. She is like a whirlwind sweeping in and out of Aoife’s days and Aoife is completely smitten. Aoife’s friends are wary of Annie. They don’t trust her and they can see the effect she is having on Aoife. But Aoife is blinded by love, satiated by passion and wants more.
When one of Aoife’s contacts, The Rat King, requests Aoife’s help with shifting some cocaine to the UK she sees the possibility of an exciting adventure. Aoife keeps Annie in the dark initially as to why they are off on this sudden trip and Annie is a willing companion. She is flighty and this escapade appeals to her with its possibilities for the unknown. But their dreams and aspirations falter as their trip faces some very challenging and life-changing obstacles.
Aoife is one of society’s misfits. I expect, if I met Aoife in reality, she would frighten the life out of me. Her image is that of a hard nut on the outside, one unafraid of acts of violence, a very heavy drinker and occasional drug user. She plays hard but with Annie, Aoife is allowed to show a more vulnerable side to her personality and it is this exposure that brings her great pain. Aoife has never had a relationship with a woman before. She had never really considered it until now…
“Before her, I’d never really been involved in anythin too serious. I mean, I’d been with fellas an that, but that’s mostly cause, well, ye juss figure that’s the way things should be cause that’s what people want ye to think things should be like an that, when yer young an ye don’t know how to listenta yerself cause there isn really yer self yet, juss a bunch’a selves other people want ye to be sure. Not that that gets much better mind. An in fairness I do like th’odd fella.”
Aoife narrates Iron Annie with a strong accent that can be difficult to grasp initially but after a bit, it just becomes part of the story as you become completely immersed in the lives of these people who you would probably never cross paths with in your everyday life.
Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier is another comparable read where the local dialect of a couple of Cork gangsters was littered throughout. This style of writing is one that I hadn’t realised I would enjoy so much but it actually takes you away into the mind of the characters, very much bringing them alive.
Iron Annie is a violent and stark, yet very touching, read. Luke Cassidy has created a living, breathing tale that is a completely hypnotic experience. The use of language, the complexity of the characters, Dundalk as a setting, all combine, resulting in an intoxicating and refreshing tour de force, a book that will stay with you long after you turn that final (and sanguine) last page.
“An I kinda liked the look’a Cork, looked like a big Dundalk, an I mean that in a good way. Like a place sound people might live, not a bunch’a p****s with big notions’a themselves. A daecent kindofa place”
September 15, 2023
If I could give it negative stars, I would.
I wish I could go back in time and get hit by a car instead of starting this book because recovering from broken bones would be less painful and horrible than reading this.
I wish I could go back in time and get hit by a car instead of starting this book because recovering from broken bones would be less painful and horrible than reading this.
Read
September 18, 2021DNF’d at 30%. A book written entirely in Dundalk dialect proved too much for me. I found it hugely distracting from what otherwise might have been an interesting story.
June 23, 2022
Took me a couple of tries to get into this one as the language is a bit much. But once I got the hang of it, I discovered an entertaining crime story with rich characters, a great setting and queer romance. Luke Cassidy has a deep sense of person and place and it works well here. Funny, fun and heartbreaking. Already can’t wait for his next book.
November 27, 2022
DNF
I can’t write and accurate review on this book. For me personally the accent and style was highly irritating and didn’t sit well with me. I am from Northern Ireland and so many biases and judgements definitely play havoc in my subconscious whilst reading such literature. Wasn’t gonna be a good book for me (too negative and depressing)… happily gave up!
I can’t write and accurate review on this book. For me personally the accent and style was highly irritating and didn’t sit well with me. I am from Northern Ireland and so many biases and judgements definitely play havoc in my subconscious whilst reading such literature. Wasn’t gonna be a good book for me (too negative and depressing)… happily gave up!
November 29, 2021
I loved this.
July 26, 2024
bawled through the last pages omg didn't expect to love this mon the town
September 3, 2021
Most'a the lads bowt're daecent enough that way'
Welcome to the wonderful world of IronAnnie, astonishing debut novel by new talented Irish writer LukeCassidy.
A novel entirely written in the Dundalk vernacular, you feel the grit and the craic of the underworld of drug dealers. Great characterisation, brimming with life.. Engaging but not an easy read not because the vernacular is incomprehensible, but due to the fact that all the ramblings that you find in spoken language are there in the narrator's voice. For me a tour de force but the characters are unforgettable and the mastery of language is really impressive, the type of genius work that stands out For fans of Kevin Barry and Lisa MCInerney, but quite unique as well.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to the wonderful world of IronAnnie, astonishing debut novel by new talented Irish writer LukeCassidy.
A novel entirely written in the Dundalk vernacular, you feel the grit and the craic of the underworld of drug dealers. Great characterisation, brimming with life.. Engaging but not an easy read not because the vernacular is incomprehensible, but due to the fact that all the ramblings that you find in spoken language are there in the narrator's voice. For me a tour de force but the characters are unforgettable and the mastery of language is really impressive, the type of genius work that stands out For fans of Kevin Barry and Lisa MCInerney, but quite unique as well.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2022
I struggled with this book while at the same time wanting it to prove me wrong.
The dialect was too much and felt forced. I think it would have been enough just to use it during the conversations.
The character's are people you'd find in every town in Ireland and the story didn't really seem to go anywhere.
Not sure why the book is called 'Iron Annie' as for me she held the least significance in the book.
This is definitely a book which you will either love or hate.
There were parts that pulled me in a bit and I do feel that there's better to come from Luke Cassidy so will be keeping an eye on him.
The dialect was too much and felt forced. I think it would have been enough just to use it during the conversations.
The character's are people you'd find in every town in Ireland and the story didn't really seem to go anywhere.
Not sure why the book is called 'Iron Annie' as for me she held the least significance in the book.
This is definitely a book which you will either love or hate.
There were parts that pulled me in a bit and I do feel that there's better to come from Luke Cassidy so will be keeping an eye on him.
January 12, 2022
It was gay, Irish, & about smuggling cocaine across country borders & it was still kind of boring. Would love to see more of Cassidy’s work because I think he can write well, but this book wasn’t the best example.
August 11, 2021
Enjoyable enough, although the title character falls a bit flat.
December 26, 2023
Boring
September 19, 2021
I am going to find it very difficult to write a decent review of this book, because Iron Annie is one of those rare, special gems that has worked its way into my heart. I feel less as if I’ve read a novel, and more as if I have met and fallen in love with real people. It’s kind of similar to how I felt about Fíona Scarlett’s stunning book Boys Don’t Cry (incidentally, Scarlett is also quoted on the back cover of Cassidy’s novel) – in my review of that book, I wrote about the way in which the author makes space for the voices of the boys, stepping back so that the characters come to the fore. This also happens in Iron Annie – this is so definitively Aoife’s story – she is its voice and its centre and she comes alive through her narration, to the point where it is hard to remember that there is an author behind her words (sorry, Luke, I promise I do mean that as a huge compliment!)
But in Iron Annie there is another layer at play. Not only does the wonderfully vivid narrative voice immerse us in Aoife’s story, but Aoife herself is a generous, clear-eyed, honest narrator, who gives space to the other characters in the story, brings them alive for us, loves them fiercely despite their flaws, and it is impossible not to feed off her energy and enthusiasm and straight-talking wisdom. Seeing the world through Aoife’s eyes feels like a gift, an insight into a better way of looking at people and learning to love them. And yet there is nothing sentimental about this story – the hard, painful truths of scraping by and living in the margins are there in all their gritty realism, and Annie herself is far from idealised, despite Aoife’s love for her. But that’s what makes it so real – Aoife is under no illusions about Annie; she sees her clearly, she tries her best to understand her, and, in a very subtle, intelligent way, she shows us how to love without either judgement or naivety.
It did take me a little bit of time to get into Aoife’s distinctive voice, but as soon as I did, I was flying. It’s gorgeously written, compulsively readable – I found myself having to ration it out so I didn’t reach the end too quickly. There are so many small, moving moments in this book (as well as one GIANT one that had me break down in tears), so many instances of showing what it means to be truly, purely ALIVE. There are lines that will stay with me, characters who have firmly taken up residence in my mind – I know I will be thinking about them for a long, long time.
I don’t know whether the author will return to Dundalk in future books, but I’d absolutely love to revisit it. The Town is as much a character in the novel as the people, and I would love to catch up with its residents again. Regardless, I will definitely be reading anything else Luke Cassidy writes in the future – his talent radiates from every page, and I think I’ll be hard-pressed to read a better debut novel this year. I miss Aoife already, though I can still hear her voice.
But in Iron Annie there is another layer at play. Not only does the wonderfully vivid narrative voice immerse us in Aoife’s story, but Aoife herself is a generous, clear-eyed, honest narrator, who gives space to the other characters in the story, brings them alive for us, loves them fiercely despite their flaws, and it is impossible not to feed off her energy and enthusiasm and straight-talking wisdom. Seeing the world through Aoife’s eyes feels like a gift, an insight into a better way of looking at people and learning to love them. And yet there is nothing sentimental about this story – the hard, painful truths of scraping by and living in the margins are there in all their gritty realism, and Annie herself is far from idealised, despite Aoife’s love for her. But that’s what makes it so real – Aoife is under no illusions about Annie; she sees her clearly, she tries her best to understand her, and, in a very subtle, intelligent way, she shows us how to love without either judgement or naivety.
It did take me a little bit of time to get into Aoife’s distinctive voice, but as soon as I did, I was flying. It’s gorgeously written, compulsively readable – I found myself having to ration it out so I didn’t reach the end too quickly. There are so many small, moving moments in this book (as well as one GIANT one that had me break down in tears), so many instances of showing what it means to be truly, purely ALIVE. There are lines that will stay with me, characters who have firmly taken up residence in my mind – I know I will be thinking about them for a long, long time.
I don’t know whether the author will return to Dundalk in future books, but I’d absolutely love to revisit it. The Town is as much a character in the novel as the people, and I would love to catch up with its residents again. Regardless, I will definitely be reading anything else Luke Cassidy writes in the future – his talent radiates from every page, and I think I’ll be hard-pressed to read a better debut novel this year. I miss Aoife already, though I can still hear her voice.
October 15, 2021
Not since trainspotting has a novel written in the vernacular engaged me as much as Iron Annie did. I read the book over four days, then reread it. It simply is that good.
In its broadest sense, the book is about a particular class of criminals from a particular place and the various adventures and misadventures they fall into. What makes this book special is the narrator, Aoife and the style in which she relates the unfolding events of this story.
Aoife is a complete character. She is complex, both childlike and worldly. She is loyal to those who earn her loyalty and disdainful of all others.
We learn, as an aside, that Aoife comes from a family that is both poor and dysfunctional. When she left them, it was to establish herself in the underworld of the Irish border town of Dundalk.
In the words of her sidekick Shamsie Hughes, Aoife lives in the cracks. She inhabits the world that exists between law and chaos. Or, in her own darker words, she exists in the shadows. She is a criminal, yet no matter how much off-kilter it might be, Aoife has a moral compass. She views herself as better than a common deviant.
She began her career selling weed to school kids, but by the time we encounter her, she has moved up in the world and is now dealing in illicit alcohol and counterfeit cigarettes.
Aoife's world is rocked when she hooks up with the neurotic, sexually liberated, sometimes socialist, often attention-seeking Annie, who is never far from anarchy. Love is not something Aoife has more than a nodding acquaintance with. So Annie can manipulate her, knowing Aoife will forgive her for her excesses.
The action ratchets up when Aoife agrees to help her friend, The Rat King, by taking on five kilos of cocaine he has lifted from a rival. Aoife and Iron Annie take the boat to Liverpool and wander in a southerly direction selling the drug to various characters along the way.
Through the trip's events, Aoife realises that Annie is flawed and dangerous. Still, she never stops loving her and ultimately, that leads to a lot of pain and a little growth.
What drew me to Aoife is her extraordinary, soulful and authentic voice and her coarse and streetwise way of interrogating the world that she drifts through. Aoife is so well drawn by the writer that I felt her joy, pain, and yearning. Ultimately, I suffered along with her when she lost everything she believed important.
In the closing chapters, Aoife goes through a sort of catharsis, and so does the reader. We learn that love is not so easily defined and that loss and growth are inextricably linked.
Iron Annie is a debut but is written with assurance. Luke Cassidy has clearly honed his craft to the nth degree. I loved it, and I look forward to seeing what he produces next.
In its broadest sense, the book is about a particular class of criminals from a particular place and the various adventures and misadventures they fall into. What makes this book special is the narrator, Aoife and the style in which she relates the unfolding events of this story.
Aoife is a complete character. She is complex, both childlike and worldly. She is loyal to those who earn her loyalty and disdainful of all others.
We learn, as an aside, that Aoife comes from a family that is both poor and dysfunctional. When she left them, it was to establish herself in the underworld of the Irish border town of Dundalk.
In the words of her sidekick Shamsie Hughes, Aoife lives in the cracks. She inhabits the world that exists between law and chaos. Or, in her own darker words, she exists in the shadows. She is a criminal, yet no matter how much off-kilter it might be, Aoife has a moral compass. She views herself as better than a common deviant.
She began her career selling weed to school kids, but by the time we encounter her, she has moved up in the world and is now dealing in illicit alcohol and counterfeit cigarettes.
Aoife's world is rocked when she hooks up with the neurotic, sexually liberated, sometimes socialist, often attention-seeking Annie, who is never far from anarchy. Love is not something Aoife has more than a nodding acquaintance with. So Annie can manipulate her, knowing Aoife will forgive her for her excesses.
The action ratchets up when Aoife agrees to help her friend, The Rat King, by taking on five kilos of cocaine he has lifted from a rival. Aoife and Iron Annie take the boat to Liverpool and wander in a southerly direction selling the drug to various characters along the way.
Through the trip's events, Aoife realises that Annie is flawed and dangerous. Still, she never stops loving her and ultimately, that leads to a lot of pain and a little growth.
What drew me to Aoife is her extraordinary, soulful and authentic voice and her coarse and streetwise way of interrogating the world that she drifts through. Aoife is so well drawn by the writer that I felt her joy, pain, and yearning. Ultimately, I suffered along with her when she lost everything she believed important.
In the closing chapters, Aoife goes through a sort of catharsis, and so does the reader. We learn that love is not so easily defined and that loss and growth are inextricably linked.
Iron Annie is a debut but is written with assurance. Luke Cassidy has clearly honed his craft to the nth degree. I loved it, and I look forward to seeing what he produces next.
August 7, 2021
I loooooooved this story. It reminded me of some of the Scottish fiction I’ve been reading recently, but from an Irish perspective.
There’s something about a Scots/Irish books that brings up so many emotions and I pinpointed why through reading this. There’s a certain sadness, for me, at the pride that people feel for small, sad towns with drink and drug problems. But at the same time, I get it, because it’s a big part of Scots culture, and this makes me think it’s the same for Ireland.
“trynta impress me cause he talks Irish dead good an folk who talk Irish dead good think they’re dead class, like as though they’re more Irish than everyone else - as if that’s a good thing.”
This book is, simply, gritty and funny. Gritty is an overused word for books, but it just works for this one so well. The language takes a few chapters to get used to, and some of the content makes your toes curl. But, it’s just so so funny and relatable in a weird way that I just couldn’t stop reading. I found myself laughing out loud from the first chapter. It’s pure Irish humour in a book, intertwined with commentary on real 21st century issues.
“Money the source’a evil? What’a load’a bollix. Humans’d be evil over plastic spoons, used ones, if that was all left for themta fight over.”
One of my favourite parts of the book was the sexual tension between Annie and Aoife (the protagonist). Some of the sex scenes were hilarious; “that’s the thing I love bowt girls like, bowt bein with beors, it’s like they have extra hands, or maybe it’s cause they know what to look for. Maybe it’s juss patience. Yeah, it’s probably patience. It’s key. But then again, even when a fella takes the time, you’d swear he’s sandin a plank.”
Any book with sapphic content makes my heart happy and I loved seeing it in this novel.
All in all, a great read and an insight into a drug and gang world that you don’t get an insight into that often.
There’s something about a Scots/Irish books that brings up so many emotions and I pinpointed why through reading this. There’s a certain sadness, for me, at the pride that people feel for small, sad towns with drink and drug problems. But at the same time, I get it, because it’s a big part of Scots culture, and this makes me think it’s the same for Ireland.
“trynta impress me cause he talks Irish dead good an folk who talk Irish dead good think they’re dead class, like as though they’re more Irish than everyone else - as if that’s a good thing.”
This book is, simply, gritty and funny. Gritty is an overused word for books, but it just works for this one so well. The language takes a few chapters to get used to, and some of the content makes your toes curl. But, it’s just so so funny and relatable in a weird way that I just couldn’t stop reading. I found myself laughing out loud from the first chapter. It’s pure Irish humour in a book, intertwined with commentary on real 21st century issues.
“Money the source’a evil? What’a load’a bollix. Humans’d be evil over plastic spoons, used ones, if that was all left for themta fight over.”
One of my favourite parts of the book was the sexual tension between Annie and Aoife (the protagonist). Some of the sex scenes were hilarious; “that’s the thing I love bowt girls like, bowt bein with beors, it’s like they have extra hands, or maybe it’s cause they know what to look for. Maybe it’s juss patience. Yeah, it’s probably patience. It’s key. But then again, even when a fella takes the time, you’d swear he’s sandin a plank.”
Any book with sapphic content makes my heart happy and I loved seeing it in this novel.
All in all, a great read and an insight into a drug and gang world that you don’t get an insight into that often.
February 19, 2025
Okay so I didn’t mind the Irish dialect at all I got the hand of it pretty quick and just had to google a couple of the words. My main issue is the plot and the way the plot is written. In theory it’s quite a good plot but there was so much “back then” “this one time” stuff that it got a bit confusing and I lost the rhythm of the book multiple times. I like books with flashback scenes but this was all in the present talking about the past and then about the further past then back to the nearer past and it all got a bit muddled in my brain. The beginning was a lot more enticing but the further into the book the more it dragged and there was quite a lot of repetition and then was quite rushed at the end. I liked most of the characters and nearly cried after the London incident. I found Aoife’s view of the world interesting and also quite sad. Also I’m not a drug dealer but I was a bit confused about the logistics of selling 10kg of coke abroad going relatively quick and smoothly. Overall this is a book I *sort of* enjoyed reading (sort of is due to the confusing back and forth).
3 ⭐️ because even with its issues I still love the “sapphic Irish drug dealer” Aoife and her chaotic life.
3 ⭐️ because even with its issues I still love the “sapphic Irish drug dealer” Aoife and her chaotic life.
June 26, 2022
Every so often you come across a book like this, where it feels like the author has physically struck you across the face with the force of their writing - in a good way.
One way I can tell when I’ve really loved a book, is when I get the feeling that the writer has opened up my head and looked inside my mind, and been able to transcribe whatever they found floating around in there onto paper. On a basic level I wouldn’t think I had much in common with the characters or the setting of this novel; but there’s something in the way the emotions are portrayed, how each character relates to one another, that is so pure and vivid and raw that I felt like I’d been transported right into the world Aoife inhabits. The relationship between Aoife and Annie is so relatable, that it both reminds us of the intimacy of our private, inner thoughts and also the universality of our human experiences.
This was the rare kind of novel that I felt like the words were physically etching themselves onto my skin, worming their way under until they and the characters were embedded forever, making for a totally immersive reading experience. I really, really loved this.
One way I can tell when I’ve really loved a book, is when I get the feeling that the writer has opened up my head and looked inside my mind, and been able to transcribe whatever they found floating around in there onto paper. On a basic level I wouldn’t think I had much in common with the characters or the setting of this novel; but there’s something in the way the emotions are portrayed, how each character relates to one another, that is so pure and vivid and raw that I felt like I’d been transported right into the world Aoife inhabits. The relationship between Aoife and Annie is so relatable, that it both reminds us of the intimacy of our private, inner thoughts and also the universality of our human experiences.
This was the rare kind of novel that I felt like the words were physically etching themselves onto my skin, worming their way under until they and the characters were embedded forever, making for a totally immersive reading experience. I really, really loved this.
July 1, 2022
A brilliant read. It took me a bit to get into the phonetics/vernacular of Cassidy's writing, and I'm a native Dubliner (and Aoife's narrative reminds me of northside/Dub-speak), but a passionate, gripping, poignant, queer tale. It dips in and out of the past and the present in a measured way. Every chapter is like a short story, however long each one is. A gripping tale, with lots of backstory, yet without all the arduous shite we don't need. Lots of stuff is left hanging, however. What about Detective Kelleher? I adored the Irishness of Iron Annie, the insertion of historic and everyday British colonialism, Brexit, the Troubles, etc. vis-a-vis Aoife's narrative. A few loose threads, but otherwise a magnificent novel.
August 16, 2022
I loved the Dundalk vernacular and the scraggly bunch of characters featured in this book. I can appreciate that if you are not from the area, or from the North, Aoife’s ‘voice’ may be a bit hard to follow and the subliminal issues she faces difficult to relate to. But since that doesn’t apply to me, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot isn’t so much event-based, but rather character-heavy. There wasn’t really a lot that happened….even the peak was fast, furious and done-with in the blink of a blurry eye. But you do finish this book feeling like you’ve just spent a night sitting in the local pub sharing pints with Aoife and her mates, listening to all their craic - as raw and tragic, compelling and heartwarming as it is.
February 21, 2022
I listened to the audiobook because I recently binged Derry Girls and really needed to hear more Irish accents. In that regard, this book was perfect. I really related to the main character, who is a bit of a curmudgeon even though she's a youngish lady of a drug dealer.
Ultimately, the story had a lot of heart but it wasn't cohesive enough for me. There didn't seem to be a major plot except for the whole drug deal. It was basically like going out for a beer with the main character while she recollects all her stories of past deals, her friends, enemies, and lover (Annie)
Ultimately, the story had a lot of heart but it wasn't cohesive enough for me. There didn't seem to be a major plot except for the whole drug deal. It was basically like going out for a beer with the main character while she recollects all her stories of past deals, her friends, enemies, and lover (Annie)
July 22, 2022
✨️BE GAY DO CRIME✨️
This book was a fun read for sure. The Irish vernacular made me slow down my reading pace a bit, but it wasn't unreadable for me. The narrator, Aoife, is the most fleshed out and interesting character in the book by far. I was captivated by her and she really held it all together. My only qualm is that Annie is a classic manic pixie character which is annoying and fell totally flat for me. Other than Aoife there weren't other women in the book that were fully realized characters, which I guess happens when a man tries to write female characters. Hence the 3 stars.
This book was a fun read for sure. The Irish vernacular made me slow down my reading pace a bit, but it wasn't unreadable for me. The narrator, Aoife, is the most fleshed out and interesting character in the book by far. I was captivated by her and she really held it all together. My only qualm is that Annie is a classic manic pixie character which is annoying and fell totally flat for me. Other than Aoife there weren't other women in the book that were fully realized characters, which I guess happens when a man tries to write female characters. Hence the 3 stars.
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