I did not personally enjoy this book. While she might be an interesting character I thought the whole premise and setting just felt strange and uncomfortable. Definitely a bit YA fantasy of being mature enough to be on your own at 14…

what first drew me to this book was its title. its painful little title.

it's about bun o'keefe, of course. bun is an intellectually precocious and socially stunted 14-year-old who has just been kicked out of the home of her neglectful hoarder mother in 1980s canada. bun tells her own story, and she tells it in simple, almost childlike writing. she has a straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is perception of the world, and is confident in herself and her perspectives. while reading, i wondered if this was supposed to be coded neurodivergent rep or if we're just supposed to chalk her quirks up to her dysfunctional upbringing.

after bun leaves home, she ends up on the streets, but not for long. she is taken under the wing of a busker boy, who lives with a creepy landlord, as well as a ragtag group that becomes bun's found family: big eyes, who is an ex-religious young runaway, chris/cher, who is a gay drag queen estranged from his family, and chef, who is a sensitive mohawked friend who loves to feed the house. along with busker boy, this group becomes the family bun has always needed.

what puzzles me most about the book is its target audience. bun tells the story in a rather simple manner, so it reads like a middle grade novel. but it contains extremely serious content. there's racism against busker boy, who is indigenous, as well as homophobia and anti-AIDS discrimination against chris/cher. there is the darkness of bun's mother's mental health problems, as well as the neglect and emotional abuse in bun's past. the found family unfortunately faces a suicide close to them. bun deals with abandonment issues from her father, and the landlord stands as a looming threat of pedophilia. so many intense issues are touched upon, and bun experiences so many different griefs at once. it's a lot, even for YA, and the contrast of bun's straightforward narration delivers all of this even more intensely.

overall, it's a very touching story. one of my favorite parts is when bun teaches busker boy to substitute a tree for a magic 8 ball. you sit under the branches on a breezy day, ask a question, and wait for the creaks of the tree's limbs to tell you your answer.

。。。

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest (and belated) review.

Fourteen year old Bun O'Keefe grew up isolated, neglected and abused, living with her mother, who was a hoarder. When her mother told her to leave, she did, and was taken in by a group of young outcasts who helped her learn how to live in the real world. The story is tragic and funny and touching and the characters are lovely and horrible and I highly recommend this book.

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book, as I couldn't get into it - nothing against the author or book, just not to my personal taste. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Penguin Teen and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Agony of Bun O'Keefe. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

14 year old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life, trapped in her house by her mother's compulsive hoarding and lack of parenting skills. Everything Bun has learned about the world comes from discarded videotapes and thrift store books. When her mother kicks her out, Bun finds that the outside world is different from what she imagined. Will a chance encounter enable Bun to have the safety and security of a family?


Bun is awkward, but her intelligence coupled with her innocence makes her a very endearing character. Naïve to the ways of the world, especially due to her sheltered life, Bun quickly realizes that her books and movies did not prepare her. She could have become a statistic, but the safety of a ragtag group of friends brings the girl out of her shell. There are delicate issues raised in this novel, but the author does a good job of handling them. I really liked The Agony of Bun O'Keefe and look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

A short read the effects of the neglectful hoarding mother on her daughter who leaves home. A mixture of ups and downs. A quick read for more mature teen readers.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a free ecopy for review.

"The Agony of Bun O'Keefe" is not on;y for Young Adults!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only problem was that it was too short. When I got to the last page I was left with wanted more. This book was totally delightful. I laughed and cried at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading something that is very different from what is all ready out there.

This was a surprisingly poignant read that hit the perfect balance of humor, depth, and heart. Bun is an endearing - albeit naive - heroine that you can't help but root for, and the supporting cast of characters is equally interesting and lovable. Highly recommend.

I received a copy of The Agony of Bun O'Keefe from NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Bun O'Keefe is fourteen when her obese, hoarder mother tells her to get out. Having lived alone with her mother, not even being allowed to go to school, Bun has educated herself with the books and magazines and VHS tapes that were someone else's trash that her mother brought home. So when she's told to go, she goes.

She's taken in by a twenty-something man called only Busker Boy who becomes her guardian, protector, and big brother as he takes her to live in a house he shares with Big Eyes, a young woman who ran away from a convent, Chef, a dishwasher who dreams of being a chef, and Chris/Cher, a drag queen whose parents meant him to be a doctor. It's a motley group of personalities and yet they become one another's biggest champions, all learning together every day.

And Bun learns how to be a part of society, to interact, to have friendships and to lean on people.

It's a story of growth, of fighting to save yourself, and of love in it's purest form.

I laughed, I cried, and I finished the book so happy.

Bun O'Keefe's mom is a hoarder. One day her mom tells her to get out and she does. This is how she ends up in St John's and meets an interesting cast of characters that change her life forever. It's not until she meets these people that she realizes the neglect from her mother, how it affected her life and just how much she's not willing to go back to her old way of living.

I fully recognize that I am in the minority here, but I did not like “The Agony of Bun O’Keefe” at all. The main character bothered me, even though she was supposed to be one I felt sympathetic toward. There were good issues brought up, but there were way too many and it made the whole thing seem crowded and rushed. The only things I liked about it was the character of “Busker Boy” and the diversity.

This book is gut wrenching. I'm hesitant to tell anyone to read it because it's about such awful things. Certainly there are moments of love in it; that come from the awful things but that only makes the emotion of it harder to take.

Heather Smith has done what few writers can do to me. She's written a story that is about tragic circumstances and instead of making me annoyed, that she was tugging on heart strings, I was completely enthralled and absolutely crushed by the sadness of it all. The Agony of Bun O'Keefe is not for the faint of heart.

Between hoarding, abandonment, molestation, abuse, extreme prejudice and racism there is barely a chance to breathe in between moments. Thank goodness this is only 123 pages. I don't think I could have taken anymore of it.

And yet the characters, especially Bun (who the story is told through) are vibrant, real people. Smith puts so much energy (good or bad), character, emotion and realism into this short novel it's nothing short of a literary masterpiece. And yet I wouldn't want to read it again because I can only take so much heartache. Considering I rarely cry at books and usually scoff at those written to intentionally make you cry (I hated The Fault in our Stars); it's clear to me that Smith has written something special. And while you share the agony of Bun, Busker Boy, Chef, Big Eyes and others in this book you'll also share in their moments of true love and I suppose that is the whole point. Experiencing the world means sharing equally in both the unbearable pain and overwhelming love.

Now I'm from the Maritimes and I have never been to Newfoundland but this didn't sound like it to me.

This is one of those cases where it's not entirely clear why the book is set in the past. Most of the events could just as easily occur in the present. Setting aside, it's a bit weird. Bun is very atypical, making her difficult to relate to. She tends to come across pathetic rather than sympathetic. The plot meanders and the focus is almost more on the 20-somethings she meets than on Bun herself.

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe is a stunningly thoughtful coming of age tale of a girl finding a new life beyond her abusive mother and the suffocation of a hoarding house. In the process, she meets a unique cast of protectors. This book is sweet and sad and delightful.

Content warning: there is discussion/description of several traumatic events in this book, including child abuse, suicide, sexual assault, and racial slurs. The incidents are handled with care, but adults should be aware of the age/sensibilities/triggers of children who may read the book.

SET IN 1980S NEWFOUNDLAND, THE AGONY OF BUN O’KEEFE IS THE STORY OF A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO RUNS AWAY TO THE CITY AND IS TAKEN IN BY A STREET MUSICIAN WHO LIVES WITH AN ECLECTIC CAST OF CHARACTERS: A POT SMOKING DISHWASHER WITH CULINARY DREAMS; A DRAG QUEEN WITH A TRAGIC PAST; A CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRL DESPERATELY TRYING TO REINVENT HERSELF; AND A MAN WHO BUN IS TOLD TO AVOID AT ALL COST.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I’m sitting here trying to write a review and I’m kind of at a loss for words. This book covers a wide array of topics, some of which I didn’t expect at all. This book is fun, quirky, dark, and very, very emotional.

This book follows a unique young girl named Bun O’Keefe. Her father moved out when she was 5 years old and she was left to her hoarder mother to be ignored and cast aside. It was so heartbreaking once her home life was revealed as well as the condition of her house. She never went to school because they believed that she was living with her father and her mother kept her in their house basically around the clock.

One day her mother tells her to “Get out!” and that’s exactly what she does. On the street is where we meet Busker Boy who takes her under his wing, and that’s where we are introduced to a lovely cast of characters – Chef, Big Eyes, Cher/Chris, and The Landlord.

I’m only going to mention Busker Boy in the character simply because he is so lovely. He is the perfect person to even out our fun, quirky Bun. He is so kind and loving to her and honestly I tear up a little bit when I think about how much he cared for her.

This book deals with tragedy, finding yourself, and abuse and neglect – just to name a few. This book is deeply impactful and I only ended giving it a 4.5/5 because there were a few times when the writing just felt a bit off.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“And being different is enough to not like someone?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“If strange alien beings did exist, they might have something to teach us humans. But then we’d never know, would we? Not if people didn’t bother to get to know them. Is is sad?”

“Am I damaged goods? He said I was.”
He took the tin out of my hand and said, “We’re all damaged, in a way. But it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. You just have to kick out the dents from the inside.”

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this beautiful, heartbreaking, lovely read. If you have the chance to check this one out I highly, highly recommend it.

Both cute and quirky and dark and dismal. Upsetting at times, uplifting at others. This story is about a unique girl named Bun O'Keefe. When her mother demands she leave their home one day, she goes. She leaves behind a mother with a lot of issues and a large house they could barely move around in thanks to her mother's excessive hoarding.

Fourteen year old Bun hasn't been in school since kindergarten. When her father left, her mother told everyone he took their daughter with him. But there she remained... nearly buried by junk, neglected and unloved as the trash she was surrounded with.

Bun is an odd duck. She hasn't been schooled or socialized, and as a result she says whatever is on her mind while remaining extremely naive. However, you couldn't call her stupid. She has an active brain filled with random facts. It's like she knows something about nearly everything. She certainly knows nothing about surviving on the streets when she leaves home, and as a reader I breathed a sigh of relief when the first person she comes across is kind hearted and willing to help.

Busker Boy takes her in and introduces her to an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, Big Eyes, Chris/Cher, and The Landlord, who is the only one she's warned to stay far away from. The others welcome her with open arms, intrigued and amused by this girl who is different than anyone else they've ever met. Bun has found her tribe.

This book covers a lot. The hazard and joy of being different, dealing with tragedy, prejudice, abuse, and neglect... and it does it in just over 200 pages. While the language is not graphic, the subject matter gets heavy and I don't think I'd recommend it to a child under twelve or thirteen.

I flew through this book. There were moments that were rough to read, but I still couldn't put it down. Chock full of very memorable characters, I'd recommend it as a one sitting read when you're in the mood for a YA that's a bit unusual.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Penguin Teen, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

When her 300 pound hoarder mother tells this smart as a whip yet extraordinarily literal 14 year old daughter to get out, Bun does and leaves the remote place she has always resided (I refuse to call it a home or living). She finds her home in the city with a group of strangers, the names of almost all we never learn.

Bun's father left when she was five, at which point her mother made her invisible. Telling everyone Bun had gone with her father, her mother withdrew her from school after she'd only attended Kindergarten and proceeded to focus solely on her hoard. Bun taught herself everything she knows from the various books and VHS tapes that made their way into the house with the towers of stuff her mother gathered. Yes, you read that right. I said VHS. We travel back to the 1980's in this book.

So, with all of Bun's book smarts, incredible talent for memorising entire documentaries (here's to you, Jimmy Quinlan) and her lack of any form of contact with the world except possibly on Tuesdays when she'd walk half an hour to shower at the RV park, Bun is completely naive regarding social norms. She doesn't lie, doesn't tell jokes and she doesn't do sarcasm. What comes out of her mouth is usually delightfully inappropriate and giggle worthy.

I'm bleepin' certain that my heart grew larger while reading The Agony of Bun O'Keefe and I'm pretty sure Bun is going to inhabit that extra space for a long time to come. This story should be a tragedy, covering a range of themes including sexuality, abuse, neglect, abandonment, rejection, sexual assault, suicide, grief, discrimination and outright bigotry, yet it's not. The reason it's not? Bun O'Keefe and her family. Not the family she was born into. Nope. They suck.

I'm talking about her other family that all live in the same temporary accommodation - Busker Boy, Big Eyes (thanks for the lesson in fake swearing, Big Eyes), Chef and Cher who is sometimes Chris. [Oh, and Dragon Man lives in the attic in the temporary accommodation but he is most definitely not family and doesn't deserve precious words wasted on him.]

This book follows the lives of a bunch of society's supposed misfits who we'd all be better off knowing and we would be so blessed to be grafted into their family. Everyone in this family have histories that haunt them and as we learn more about them and their pasts, we learn to love them all. This group of loveable outcasts show compassion that they haven't been given, understanding that they've been denied and a purity of love that I doubt they've often felt, if ever.

The writing style made me want to beg Heather Smith to give me writing lessons. There was a simplicity to the way this book read, like you're listening in on a conversation, but told in such a gorgeous way. I almost feel as though Heather bewitched me because I can't tell you exactly how she made me connect so deeply and so quickly to this many diverse characters but she did a brilliant job. This book brought echoes of Billie Letts' writing style to mind, perhaps because of the host of quirky characters and the ability to put a knife through my heart yet give me hope at the same time.

This should be one of the most depressing stories you've ever read but it's told with such grace and beauty that I wound up smiling at all of the funny little things that made their way out of Bun's mouth. Beneath the surface you are sure to feel an ache for her and the life that she and her new family have endured, and sometimes that ache will flare into an open wound, but you will be OK because this family won't let you wallow in your sadness for long. Yes, I did need Kleenex and yes, I did cry six times but I promise you that over half of those times they were 'oh, that's so beautiful' tears.

The ending was so sweet I could almost taste it but that didn't bother me in the slightest. After what these people have been through, they deserve every snippet of happiness that comes their way.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback. This book is now one of my all time favourites. Whatever Heather Smith writes, I plan to read, no questions asked.

The Agony of Bun O’Keefe is one of my favorite reads from this summer, it left me wishing for more. The story touches on serious subjects, but the writing itself is really airy which makes it impossible to put it down. Mrs. Smith does an amazing job of bringing the story to the reader, I found it easy to relate to the events, the emotion just jumps off the page. I found the characters well developed, their relationships were fun to witness. I can’t wait to get my hands on another of Heather Smith’s books.
This is the perfect read for fans of YA.