Juno Loves Legs

November 1, 2022

Whip-smart Juno is scorned by her peers for her empty pockets, while "Legs" is scorned for his sexuality; they've grown up on the same housing estate in 1980s Dublin, bonding over their outsider status. Their story unfolds from the perspective of Juno, who's beginning to see the possibilities of a life lived differently as Ireland shrugs off the stranglehold of rigid Catholicism. Geary follows up his debut, Montpelier Parade, an Irish Times Book of the Year.

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Starred review from February 6, 2023
Geary’s heartbreaking latest (after Montpelier Parade) follows a pair of childhood friends as they age out of a hardscrabble Irish housing estate. Violence and religion define the constrained lives of Juno and her friend, Seán (nicknamed Legs), in the 1980s. They unite against abuse from nuns, priests, and playmates at their primary school where, as Juno narrates, “all the meanness in the world begins with a kind voice.” After they act out by dumping cement down toilets, a subsequent act of vengeance on an abusive priest at their school sends Legs to juvenile detention until he’s 18. Then, following a devastating loss in Juno’s family, she drops out of secondary school and lives rough in Dublin. Her reunion with a sickly Legs after he’s released is bittersweet, and he confesses the truth behind the incident that sent him to detention. Geary often finds poetry in Juno’s plainspoken narration, whether in lucid reflections on the brutality at the school or in Juno’s openhearted wonder at Dublin, where she discovers “the world was another, a vast other.” The blistering dialogue, too, captures the characters’ hard-won wisdom (“see everything, believe nothing, and definitely, don’t ever lend money,” a thrift store proprietor tells Juno). This is one to savor.

March 1, 2023
A twisted coming-of age-story concerning two young outsiders unable and unwilling to fit into the narrow confines of their small Irish village or, later, into more sophisticated Dublin. Geary uses gorgeous prose, full of Irish lilt and hard-edged slang, to describe bleak childhoods as harsh as any found in a Dickens novel. When 12-year-old Juno first meets Legs, their crises at home and school veer close to clich�s about the downtrodden: There are Juno's useless alcoholic father and worn-down seamstress mother whose clients seldom pay; Legs' absent father and rigid mother ready to send him to a "special" school to cure him of his sinful artistic effeminacy; hostile classmates who shun Juno for her poverty and Legs for his otherness; the priest in charge of the school who beats and humiliates them. Juno and Legs establish their bond after she stands up for him against playground bullies and he distracts the priest with misbehavior to protect her from mortification in the classroom. Narrator Juno takes up most of the emotional space here, showing in detail her troubled mix of good intentions, self-destructive combativeness, and constant sense of guilt. Juno's longings tend to erupt in spur-of-the-moment acts--breaking a neighbor's flowerpot, punching someone's nose, taking her first drink--that make her life worse. Seen only through Juno's eyes, Legs is harder to read because Juno knows only what he tells her. Then an explosion of Legs' rage against the priest leads to years of forced separation from Juno. Even when they reconnect in Dublin, where Legs, now a member of the artistic demimonde, takes in Juno, who is on the skids, he remains enigmatic until a rush of last-minute revelations. Inescapable poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, the unnamed "plague" frightening gay Dubliners in the 1980s--much of the novel is almost unbearably grim, making the occasional glimpses of real kindness Juno and Legs experience that much more poignant. An evocative, effective dive into dark if too familiar waters.

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Starred review from March 15, 2023
Childhood friends face poverty and adversity in Geary's (Montpelier Parade, 2017) latest, a grim and affecting coming-of-age novel. Juno is fighting battles: with her mam, whom she loves but who is extremely strict; with the nuns and priest at her school who enact violence and degradation as punishment; and with herself, as her righteous anger backfires time and again. Her only friend is Se�n, nicknamed Legs, and the two bond over their shared whippings at school, each working to protect the other. After a loss in her family, and Legs being sent to juvenile detention for an act of vengeance, Juno drops out of school and begins drinking with her alcoholic father. Slipping into homelessness, Juno lives hard until Legs discovers her and takes her in. But Legs has his own secrets that will turn their reunion to heartbreak. At times the misery feels overwhelming here, but Geary infuses just enough fleeting moments of joy. Likewise, Juno's combination of vulnerability and hard edges lends her a tender toughness that makes it impossible to turn away. Geary's writing is wonderfully revealing and beautiful, particularly when describing characters' clothing, which is often used to show or hide their emotions. Altogether achingly memorable.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2022

A coming-of-age tale set in 1980s Dublin, Geary's second novel (following his debut, Montpelier Parade) revolves around two outcasts (the titular Juno and Legs) who form a friendship of necessity at their Catholic school, where they suffer abuse from both their fellow students and the parochial leaders. The narrative is first-person from Juno's perspective as she navigates adolescence and extreme poverty, often completely alone, often experiencing severe trauma. Besides class, religion, and companionship, queerness is a theme explored toward the end of the text, but it's only alluded to so vaguely beforehand that it almost feels like an afterthought. Geary uses dialect in a way that immerses readers in the Irish setting without being distracting or overwhelming, and the characters are three-dimensional and sympathetic as they struggle to overcome the cruel circumstances of their lives. The novel is straightforward and clearly divides Juno's life into distinct periods. It is not plot-driven, however, instead using a "slice-of-life" approach to more thoroughly examine the characters. VERDICT Might appeal to readers who enjoy bleak, atmospheric, character-driven novels, and would be an appropriate addition to any fiction collection.--Heather Sheahan

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