Juno Loves Legs

JOANNA CANNON, THE GUARDIAN (UK)

"The whip-smart exchanges, the bravado, the vulnerability, all are captured perfectly on the page ... Geary writes fractured outsiders not just with skill but with humility. This book does not fetishise poverty ... If the friendship between Juno and Legs is the beating heart of this novel, there is life and hope to be found in the walk-on characters, too ... Geary finds beauty in the most unlikely places, and in an often brutal story, with more than its fair share of small tragedies, he offers balm along the way ... There is always much talk in publishing of 'the difficult second novel' – the immense pressure on a writer to exceed or even just equal the achievement of a big and successful debut. Geary need have no concerns on that matter. Juno Loves Legs, in all its painful beauty, is a more than worthy successor."