Claire's Reviews > Juno Loves Legs

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.