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travelseatsreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Juno Love Legs is a coming of age story which follows a young adolescent girl, Juno, as she painfully navigates who she is and who she will soon become. Alongside Juno, we also get to see the story of Legs, her faithful childhood friend, as their friendship blossoms into a stunning display of platonic love. Set in bleak and sorrowful Dublin during the 80s, the book details the many struggles they face but also the many amazing experiences they have along the way.
While set in those bleak and poverty stricken streets of 1980s Dublin and reeking of the stench of the Catholic Church and its vice-like grip, the book somehow manages to maintain an air of hope and beauty that you cannot resist smiling at. This is carried by a stream of beautiful and colourful characters alongside some simply stunning prose.
Geary has woven an evocative, vivid and immersive telling of the stories of those kids who just don’t fit in, who are made of pure grit and stubbornness that somehow manage to dig themselves from the dirt they were landed in to create something so much more.
I never cry at books, in fact I could probably count the number on one hand, but this left me devastated with more than a few tears. I implore you to read it but with the warning and promise that it will break your heart in the most stunning of ways.
"Even horrible people can have their hearts broken."
If you enjoyed this review come follow me on Instagram @TravelsEatsReads for more
While set in those bleak and poverty stricken streets of 1980s Dublin and reeking of the stench of the Catholic Church and its vice-like grip, the book somehow manages to maintain an air of hope and beauty that you cannot resist smiling at. This is carried by a stream of beautiful and colourful characters alongside some simply stunning prose.
Geary has woven an evocative, vivid and immersive telling of the stories of those kids who just don’t fit in, who are made of pure grit and stubbornness that somehow manage to dig themselves from the dirt they were landed in to create something so much more.
I never cry at books, in fact I could probably count the number on one hand, but this left me devastated with more than a few tears. I implore you to read it but with the warning and promise that it will break your heart in the most stunning of ways.
"Even horrible people can have their hearts broken."
If you enjoyed this review come follow me on Instagram @TravelsEatsReads for more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, and Alcohol
giselley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
reads_eats_explores's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m prefacing this review with a plea, buy this book! Go get yourselves a copy right away. Juno Loves Legs deserves all the love.
In a nutshell, Juno Loves Legs is a highly emotive coming-of age-story centred on Juno and her best pal Sean, aka, Legs, as they grow up on a working class housing estate and then as they stumble through early adulthood in city centre Dublin.
Neither Juno nor Legs have the best start in life; they’re the kids more used to receiving a clatter than a hug at home and forever on the receiving end of the wrath of Sister or Father in school.
But together, they are fierce; they are brave. They can look beyond the shame of Juno’s useless alcoholic father and worn-down seamstress mother whose clients seldom pay and Legs’ absent father and rigid mother ready to send him away to another school to rid him of his ‘sinful’ ways.
Juno stands up for Legs against playground bullies, and he distracts the priest with misbehaviour to protect her from the beatings and mortification in the classroom, but when Legs goes too far, it results in the pair losing contact for a few years.
In this time, Juno spirals down into a depressive fug, and life goes from bad to worse. Until that is, she is rescued once again by Legs. Now, if you’re expecting fairytale endings, you’re in the wrong book - keep the tissues handy.
Narrator Juno takes up most of the emotional space with a troubled mix of good intentions, and self-destructiveness, all with a pervading sense of guilt.
Legs is harder to read because Juno knows only what he tells her, but generally, he remains charismatic and enigmatic until a rush of last-minute revelations are made.
All told in pitch perfect dialect, on realistic 1980s background of harsh poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, unnamed “plague” frightening gay Dubliners, this novel is almost unbearably grim, but that makes the occasional glimpses of genuine kindness Juno and Legs experience (mostly towards each other) all the more poignant.
These characters will stay with me for a very long time indeed. I wanted to reach them and hug them. 5⭐
A special shout out to all the wonderful librarians out there!
In a nutshell, Juno Loves Legs is a highly emotive coming-of age-story centred on Juno and her best pal Sean, aka, Legs, as they grow up on a working class housing estate and then as they stumble through early adulthood in city centre Dublin.
Neither Juno nor Legs have the best start in life; they’re the kids more used to receiving a clatter than a hug at home and forever on the receiving end of the wrath of Sister or Father in school.
But together, they are fierce; they are brave. They can look beyond the shame of Juno’s useless alcoholic father and worn-down seamstress mother whose clients seldom pay and Legs’ absent father and rigid mother ready to send him away to another school to rid him of his ‘sinful’ ways.
Juno stands up for Legs against playground bullies, and he distracts the priest with misbehaviour to protect her from the beatings and mortification in the classroom, but when Legs goes too far, it results in the pair losing contact for a few years.
In this time, Juno spirals down into a depressive fug, and life goes from bad to worse. Until that is, she is rescued once again by Legs. Now, if you’re expecting fairytale endings, you’re in the wrong book - keep the tissues handy.
Narrator Juno takes up most of the emotional space with a troubled mix of good intentions, and self-destructiveness, all with a pervading sense of guilt.
Legs is harder to read because Juno knows only what he tells her, but generally, he remains charismatic and enigmatic until a rush of last-minute revelations are made.
All told in pitch perfect dialect, on realistic 1980s background of harsh poverty, homelessness, alcoholism, unnamed “plague” frightening gay Dubliners, this novel is almost unbearably grim, but that makes the occasional glimpses of genuine kindness Juno and Legs experience (mostly towards each other) all the more poignant.
These characters will stay with me for a very long time indeed. I wanted to reach them and hug them. 5⭐
A special shout out to all the wonderful librarians out there!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
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