#kady morrison

[wordmage-girl]

Juniper Lane by Kady Morrison

“You’re the one planning to commit arson and/or murder.”

“No, you suggested I was gonna do that stuff. I’m just standing here. Prepping chickens.”

Nadia///Mim

[writersriot]

Review: Juniper Lane by Kady Morrison

After a breakup she’d rather not talk -- or think -- about ever again, Mim Robinson has nowhere to go: distanced from her friends, estranged from most of her family, she finds herself against all odds on Juniper Lane, surrounded by an eccentric aunt and her wealthy, uptight neighbors.

Among the catty gossip and quiet rhythms of the suburbs, Mim finds herself striking up a strange, unexpected friendship with the intimidating Nadia Bahjat, the only other twenty-something on the street. Nadia, a professional chef and perennial disappointment to her parents, had to leave a promising career in the city to return home when her father grew sick -- but she’ll soon realize that her parents may not be as perfect as she’d always imagined.

A queer romance that encompasses both a cutting satire of suburban American life and a nuanced depiction of the aftermath of abuse, Juniper Lane is above all an ode to the freedom that comes from embracing the uncertainty of adulthood.

A very character focused book that I honestly enjoyed. The satire is spot-on for life in suburbia, which was amusing to read about. The dialogue is fantastic and really pulls the whole thing together. The characters and voices of Mim and Nadia are great, and their initial interactions are filled with anxiety and tension and judgment. Mim’s anxiety comes through when she speaks to other people, and it’s done so well that I often got secondhand embarrassment over a lot of it. I would say that it was a little off-putting in the beginning due to that, but I knew that was the sign of good writing, that I could feel what the characters were going through, even if it itched at my own anxiety.

The writing is fantastic and really pulled me into Mim and Nadia’s worlds.

This probably would have been five stars for me if there wasn’t a cheating storyline. Mim sleeps with a married man part of the book, and I really dislike stories and characters like that. I just don’t care for it, not my cuppa. I know Mim is recovering from the abuse of her ex-boyfriend, but even still, it just wasn’t my thing.

Mim needed another unimportant relationship to find herself and realize she deserves more, someone who actually cares about her as a person, as the person she is. I just wish that hadn’t been with someone married, though I also recognize that was a stereotype of this suburban life. Being married for show and not caring about much of anything outside of your reputation in the community, much less the person you’re sleeping with on the side. It still prickled me while reading.

Anyway, there is so much complexity to the characters, and you see how much pressure everyone is under to perform and be perfect, and how their outer facades just hide how messed up they all are. It’s amazing. The cast of supporting characters brings Juniper Lane to life in a way that feels familiar.

The romance aspect was very. . .slow burn, I guess? Nothing happened between Mim and Nadia until the very end, which would have been fine for me if I felt like the rest of the novel was pointing in that direction. It wasn’t until the last 40 pages or so that anything between them was even remotely hinted at. There’s plenty of discussion about Nadia being a lesbian and Mim comes out to her as bisexual -- and actually used that word, hallelujah! So the queer representation and the interracial relationship were all positive aspects.

But the book is billed as a queer romance, which sure, it is. But really, the story is about Mim and Nadia individually as they come to terms with their families, their selves, their pasts, and their futures. There is so much fantastic depth and humanity to these characters, their lives, and the lives of the people around them. The story was about that more than anything, though it helped at the end that these women found something meaningful and hopeful with each other. I just wish we could have seen more of that before the book abruptly ended on a wishful note of them going on a road trip together and figuring things out together.

The underdeveloped romance that seemed to happen out of nowhere at the end is the only other reason why this isn’t five stars for me. I just wanted more for their story now that they had both dealt with some frankly abusive situations. I wanted to see them actually fall in love, but I didn’t get that. I just wanted more overall, but I suppose that was me loving the characters and the whole book.

Honestly, it’s probably my favorite read of January simply for the characters and the overall story. (Also, the illustrations inside are gorgeous and I wish I could see them in color.)

Onto the next book~

[wordmage-girl]

reasons to read “Juniper Lane” by Kady Morrison

-let’s be honest. you’re here for the Lesbians™. they’re here

-we’ve also got a bisexual MC for that all-round wlw goodness

-also this book focuses completely on women and that’s honestly so refreshing? you just hardly hear from the men and it’s great

-Female!!!!!!! Relationships!!!!!!!

-it’s about identity and adulthood and family and love

-one of the characters is recovering from a really bad relationship with an abusive boyfriend and to my admittedly unknowledgable opinion it’s done really well. both the topic of abuse and assault and the character’s healing process

-MC number 1: Gay and Ready to Fight. MC number 2: Bi and Tired

-two jewish characters, one of whom is an MC. a bunch of POC characters, one of whom is the other MC

-the whole book is a critique of the American suburbian WASP culture. Kady Morrison has no remorse

-the cutest shit ever? so cute

-“speaking of lesbians, where’s yours?” dying

-if you want to read about personal growth and also an adult woman fondling grapefruits in the middle of a supermarket, this book is for you

-I would die for Mimosa Robinson. yes that’s her name and she’s just as mad about it as you are

-okay I’m bad at describing but it’s beautiful go read it

[wordmage-girl]

Juniper Lane by Kady Morrison

“God, you know what? They're...they're consenting shoulder pads. Adults! Consenting adults!”

Mim//Nadia

[bigbangpress]

Juniper Lane by Dylan Morrison is now on sale!

Written by Dylan Morrison (@gyzym) and illustrated by @quaedam, Juniper Lane is a queer coming-of-age novel with a cutting satirical insight into suburban American life.

Released on April 19, you can now order Juniper Lane in illustrated paperback and ebook format!

After a breakup she’d rather not talk—or think—about ever again, Mim Robinson has nowhere to go: distanced from her friends, estranged from most of her family, she finds herself against all odds on Juniper Lane, surrounded by an eccentric aunt and her wealthy, uptight neighbors.

Among the catty gossip and quiet rhythms of the suburbs, Mim finds herself striking up a strange, unexpected friendship with the intimidating Nadia Bahjat, the only other twenty-something on the street. Nadia, a professional chef and perennial disappointment to her parents, had to leave a promising career in the city to return home when her father grew sick—but she’ll soon realize that her parents may not be as perfect as she’d always imagined.

Read an excerpt here and check out Juniper Lane’s Goodreads reviews! 

You can also order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, although we’d greatly appreciate it if you ordered from the publisher’s website if at all possible. :)

[bigbangpress]

I absolutely love the mission statement of Big Bang Press. What was the biggest challenge you encountered when you transitioned from writing fic to writing an original work/book? What was the biggest reward? Did anything (process, support, audience) surprise you?

So: writing a book is hard, y'all. It's hard as balls. The funny thing is that this one didn't even turn out to be hard for the reasons I expected; if you'd asked me a few years ago, I would have predicted I'd struggle with character creation, with developing an independent plot, with world building -- basically, with the stuff you don't necessarily have to do when writing a fanfic.

What was actually hard about writing this book -- harder than I could ever have anticipated -- was digging into the emotional landscapes of these characters, how their experiences and choices and lives have affected them. Which drove me insane! Because it's absolutely my favorite thing to do in fanfic! I live to pick a character apart, break them down into their whys and hows and then reconstruct them, grown and changed and more self-actualized. That's literally my entire jam. But when I decided to write this book I decided I wanted to write about queer women, and surviving an abusive relationship, and the politics of small-town suburbia, and what it means to be an adult; in other words, I decided I wanted to write about stuff I, myself, was struggling or had struggled with. Stuff I understood from experience as opposed to inference. And while I don't regret that choice, it did turn out to mean that the person I needed to pick apart, break down to their whys and hows and then reconstruct, was myself. Which, uh. It was definitely the biggest surprise of writing this book (please imagine me yelling "Fictions! These characters are fictions! Just because they're drawing from my life experience doesn't mean it should be messing me up like this!" into the telephone at an assortment of long suffering friends, thank u friends), and much rougher process than I anticipated, but in the end I think it was also the biggest reward. I do feel like I came out the other side grown and changed and more self actualized :D

Ask more questions here! You can buy Juniper Lane here.

[bigbangpress]

was more caffeine required to write a fic or a your novel?

This is an impossible question, the answer to which is: a metric fuckton of caffeine is required to make my life run at all times. I couldn't possibly determine which projects have required the most for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that my brain isn't capable of cataloging things like "amount of caffeine consumed" until it's actually had, like, at least three caffeinated beverages. Assume, for both fics and books I've written past present or future, that the amount of caffeine required was absurd. And, actually, you can confirm that assumption by checking the acknowledgements of Juniper Lane, where I thank every Starbucks barista in the greater Cleveland area, because I promised them I would and because they deserve all the thanks in the world for putting up with my constant presence for [mumble mumble] years.

Ask more questions here! You can buy Juniper Lane here.

[bigbangpress]

What's your favourite Juniper Lane review you've gotten?

Honestly I've been delighted with EVERY ONE -- there is no greater pleasure for me on this earth than hearing that something I wrote brought another person literally any enjoyment at all. I think my favorite thing to hear, though, is that the characters felt like real people, with rich, complicated lives; I worried about that constantly during the writing process. "DO THESE PEOPLE EVEN SOUND LIKE PEOPLE," I yelled at @febricant for about a thousand years at absurd hours of the night. "DOES THIS READ LIKE TWO CARDBOARD CUTOUTS HAVING A CONVERSATION??? DO REAL HUMANS EVEN USE WORDS??" So I love hearing that they felt real now, if only because it helps to soothe the core of anxiety magma that is burning in my chest at all times.

Ask more questions here! You can buy Juniper Lane here. If it suits your fancy, you can review the book on Goodreads here.