Juno Loves Legs

Product Information

I’m with Legs,” Juno says throughout the novel, “I’m with him,” until their friendship, and the story, arrive at a deeply moving conclusion that will shatter even the hardest heart. To be fair, the characters are sometimes unlikeable and the f- and c-words get bandied about a lot, even by youths — who also smoke like chimneys just to get through what they’re going through. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. 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.

Not to be critical, but I found the novel to be stuffed with too many minor characters who appear and then disappear — for instance, Juno has an older sister who is largely out of the picture for most of the read.

I liked Juno as a bit of a feisty character, and the friendship she has with a gay man is certainly unconventional given the story’s setting and period. The characters are so real, so desperate to be loved, that the reader will want to reach through the pages and hold them. While politics isn’t really on the page as much as the press copy would have you believe, this story is one of religion and the stranglehold it has on Irish society. 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. Note: This is the first book I've finished in 2023 celebrating LGBTQ pride month, wow, what a book it is!

Filled with loss and longing, it is by turns brutal and tender, and in the end, utterly devastating. Juno met Legs in school when she stood up for him as he was being bullied by a cruel nun and a priest. And still each evening, the [prison] chaplain would come to him; the chaplain believed that burning Father was an accident and Legs felt free to tell almost all of himself.She's loved him since their first encounter at school in Dublin, the time she fought the playground bullies for him. 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. Legs, meanwhile, has a flair for drawing, and although an exhibit of his work — arranged by an unscrupulous individual — never comes to fruition, we’re led to believe his talent might one day amount to something tangible.

Juno and Legs will break your heart in the very best way and leave you laughing in spite of yourself. Juno Loves Legs is the story of that friendship, in its many incarnations, as seen through the eyes of Juno.

It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. Set in Dublin, Ireland, during the 1980s (though it would be hard to tell just by reading the book alone — I had to crib the years of the setting from the press notes as the book, at least initially, reads as though it could be set during any time during the past 70 odd years), this is a coming-of-age story. The writing is excellent, the characters Juno and Legs are lifelike, very original and wonderful and the story is oh so sad and harsh and sometimes funny. I may not have loved Juno Loves Legs as much as I should have, maybe, but I’ll bet that there is someone out there who might.

She finds refuge only in her friendship with another young misfit, a gay classmate she nicknames Legs. It’s an intriguing novel, that is to be sure, and worthy of being examined by those who might enjoy Irish literature. The main characters go through an awful lot of suffering, which can make this novel rather hard to read and endure at times.Reminiscent of Young Mungo in its tone and sorrowful, bleak mood- Juno Loves Legs is a timeless tale of two misfits.