Review of Joey

[Audrey Cronin]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Joey" by Jennie Linnane.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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In Joey by Jennie Linnane, the somewhat gloomy yet uplifting story of the title character Joey is told by his friends and family around him. It begins with the story of his birth, where a complication leads to Joey’s stunted mental development. Joey and his family lead a pretty quiet life, working on their little family farm and mingling with their neighbors, the Mathesons. The book catalogs moments from Joey’s relationship with their daughter, Alice, mostly from her cheery, sanguine perspective. However, the tone is brought down through his siblings’ retellings of their abusive father/stepfather.
Linnane put careful thought into crafting this story. The multiple points of view allow the reader to see many different aspects of Joey, which was an excellent way to build his character. However, this does not make up for the basic writing style and the overall lack of plotlines. Every time a plot point was introduced, it would fizzle out. The problem would be solved fairly quickly, if not almost immediately, and were overall just dull.
The only storyline that carried throughout the novel was about Joey’s abusive stepfather and his creepy foster brother. Even then, the “big reveal” was disappointing and predictable because it had been referenced frequently throughout the book. The chapters also felt like personal diary entries which did not make sense until the very end but by that point, I was already considering not finishing the book. It is not very attention grabbing and therefore it does not hold the reader’s attention throughout, making it very difficult to finish. The writing style was also quite simple, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there was not much else going for the book. There are also subtle mentions of racism and/or prejudice in this novel, and the topic was not tackled well. I understand that it was meant to add to Joey’s status as a bit of an outlier or an “oddball” but that could have been established just as well without that aspect.
I would give this book 1 out of 4 stars because of its extreme simplicity. Everything about it was underwhelming. Between constantly waiting for the plot to kickstart and the juvenile and underdeveloped characters, this just was not worth the read.
If you are someone who enjoys an easy read or even an epistolary novel, this might be for you. It might be better as an audiobook, since it is easy to keep up with and it is not confusing.

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Joey
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