The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (what an adventure!)
Let me start here: wow. This book is dense and full of plot and I loved every second of it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, a summary. When Maureen clubbed an intruder over the head (with a holy stone, no less), she had no idea that her actions would set into motion a series of events that would inevitably change the lives of four vastly different people. Ryan, a fifteen-year-old drug dealer with an abusive father, a new girlfriend, and a host of younger siblings to worry about, takes center stage straight away. The reader is introduced to Ryan while he is transitioning mentally from boy to man, "[leaving] the boy outside its own front door." Maureen Phelan is the next to be introduced, and she comes in with a bang. A literal bang, as her first scene involves the murder of one Robbie O'Donovan, boyfriend of Georgie, a sex worker whose lonely existence compels her to find a new line of work. The reader is gradually introduced to Jimmy Phelan, Maureen...