Juno and Juliet [Paperback]

Twin sisters Juno and Juliet step off a bus in Eyre Square and plunge straight into their new lives as college freshmen. Eager to shake the Tipperary dust from their feet, they embrace independence with unfettered energy, looking for love, lust, and adventure. Real life is finally about to begin, things will never be boring again, and they will emerge at the other end of their courses like two beautiful butterflies shaking off a dusty cocoon. After all, that's the whole point of college, isn't it? Juliet is the book's narrator, and the story takes on her perceptive, funny, and slightly angst-ridden tone as it unfolds. Juno, her sister is sunnier, steadier, the one regarded as the prettier of the two, though both are apparently stunning. So, what happens? Well, not a lot really, but as this is a character driven book it doesn't matter much one way or the other. They meet a few guys, they fall in love, they go home for Christmas, survive exams, and deal with a stalker. I know, the stalker isn't exactly average, but it's not a very big part of the book, and for me anyway, it's the least successful part. It jarred with the flow of the story and came across as slightly gimmicky and wholly unecessary. The characters could easily have reached the same conclusion without stretching the reader's credibility or the author's talent even a millimetre. It's an oft-repeated piece of advice to new writers - "write about what you know" and while you might wonder what that says about science fiction writers, this book works best where it appears to relate to the author's own experience. His descriptions of university life are vivid , authentic, and very funny, as is his treatment of the return home at Christmas. He perfectly captures the maelstrom of egos and hormones that fuels university life, while the small-town characters are just as insane and predictable as they are in reality. The relationship between the two sisters is less satisfactory, with Juno remaining a little bit shadowy, more a foil for Juliet's waspishness than a stand-alone character in her own right. Juliet herself is always interesting, and it is her engaging take on life that carries the flow of the narrative along. I have to confess I found the ending a bit lame, and I would have edited out a few characters along the way, but all in all, it's an impressive debut from a fresh young writer.

MARGARET HANNIGAN

Juno and Juliet is an extremely witty book, which traces the trials and tribulations of twin girls in their first year at college in Galway.
The voices and outlook of the characters are an authentic representation of those of many students, particularly those moving away from home for the first time. The chapter in which the girls go home for the first time since starting college is particularly well written. The colour and banter of life in Ireland, and Galway in particular, is vividly evoked, without an engagement in mawkish sentimentalism.
The author displays a discerning eye for amusing detail. Many of the characters and character traits identified are very familiar, but he adds in the subtle details that infuses them with sufficient complexity to make them genuinely interesting. The plot is not particularly strong, but I do not think that this takes away from the book unduly. It is the anecdotal detail and general colloquial cleverness that marks the book out as infinitely readable.

I am currently reading Juno and Juliet and although I've not gotten to the end yet! Started on Friday its now Monday. I haven't been able to put it down all weekend and I love it. The book makes you laugh from out of no where and is superbly written. I didn't think a man could get inside a woman's head so well and write from her perspective. But Julian can and really does. Love it!!