Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC!

Prior to reading Junior, I was unfamiliar with Boilard's work. I was immediately intrigued by both the book cover and plot upon my discovering it via NetGalley as I am deeply interested in art as well as stories about individuals facing adversity. Unfortunately, I did find that the structure of this book did not work for me the way I had initially hoped for it to. The short sentences and short chapters made the story feel somewhat underdeveloped. However, I do believe this was Boilard's intention and with that, I feel this book may have just not been stylistically my taste. This is a very heartbreaking story that I enjoyed spending time with, I just would have preferred a little more.

I absolutely adored this book! I love the characters and just everything that was put into this book. Not to mention the cover! I mean look how gorgeous that is

Junior is a coming-of-age story that gives that encompassing atmospheric gritty feeling similar to that of southern noir, for this location, maybe rural or small town noir. This witty novel tells the tale of a young man navigating through his (by no fault of his own) tumultuous life, his meetings with danger, resilience and selflessness while attempting to hold together what’s left of his broken home.

jon boilard's fifth book, junior, is a short work of art about revenge and trying to outrun the past. sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don't.

this heartbreaking book is the epitome of "less is more." boilard truly packs a punch with short sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. if he had said more, spelled out exactly what he meant for the reader to grasp, it would have forced this huge story into a tiny box. one of the most impactful lessons in junior is that art, however expressed, comes from something. It cannot exist in a void, whether that be of feeling, experience, or other art that you take in. also, i absolutely LOVE bluepriest! he may be just about the only decent person in the entire book. i truly enjoyed this book, but if i had to describe it in one word, it would be sad. this book is just so, so sad.

minor details - there was some inconsistent formatting throughout the book. i don't know if this is an editor/publisher issue, or just the curse of the ebook. there were also some minor spelling and grammar issues throughout the book. finally, there are no quotation marks for speech, which just drives me crazyyyy. but if this is something you can overlook, i highly recommend picking up junior!