Black Iris

"Someone should bear witness"

what an amazing story. There are so many reasons to love it that it's hard to put it into words.

First, the writing is absolutely stunning. The conversations are so real and what is left unsaid is just as amazing as what is there for you to read. It's like poetry and music, all in one story.

Secondly, I think this is a powerful story about bullying. That person you are hurting isn't nameless, faceless, family-less. They have a life, they have those who love them. The pain we inflict on others is far reaching and widespread. I think this internet age of thinking there isn't a real person the other side of the computer has made it far too easy to be cruel.

Third, I love how well Leah Raeder handled the LGBTQ show more storyline. Trans-sexual is a tough topic and hasn't always been told with education or respect. This story does it justice and shows the fluid frustration and self-hatred it can cause because you live in a world that wants you to PICK PICK PICK. IDENTIFY! But it isn't that easy for some. And we need to honor and respect that person and their feelings.

Lastly, this is just a good story. It was full of twists and turns and kept me guessing the whole time. As I bounced around time frames, trying to remember what just happened the day/month/year before, it became increasingly hard to put the book down. I needed to know how this all ended. And I'm happy to say it was shocking but very well done. The best story is one that I don't necessarily like the characters, but I know them well enough to respect their journey.I will read anything Leah Raeder gives us! show less

If I’m lucky; each year 2, maybe 3 books come along that totally & completely crush the world around me, and I mean this in the best possible way! These rare books leave you feeling like your guts have been torn out; ripped to shreds and cast into oblivion, never to be seen again. With no knowledge of how you got there you’ll find yourself sobbing on the floor because what you’ve just read was so beautiful - so devastating, like liquid poetry for your soul and now you have no idea how to continue on in your life cause it’s over. These kind of books make you want to change all your previous 5 star reviews to a 4 cause they’re just not worthy of being in the same category, how did you ever think they were?? Damn I love books show more like this! I crave them deep down in my core, forever searching for these elusive books that cause this kind of soul crushing reading experience. I can tell you the exact moment that I read my last one; it was October 20, 2014 and I still talk about that book & its characters weekly to random people. It has been 7 LONG months but finally, FINALLY it has happened once again!!

Two little words that brought me to my literary knees……….BLACK IRIS

“I am not the heroine of this story. It’s the truth. I’m diagnosed borderline and seriously fucked-up. I hold grudges. I bottle my hate until it ferments into poison, and then I get high off the fumes. I’m completely dysfunctional and that’s the way I like it, so don’t expect a character arc where I finally find Redemption, Growth, and Change, or learn How to Forgive Myself and Others…….Fuck Forgiveness.”

I’m not going to give any additional description about the plot, anything you need to know going in is already said in the synopsis and knowing any more would seriously ruin your experience. What I will say is that Leah Raeder is genius, pure and simple! Never has teen angst and intensely addictive female friendships been written so beautifully, raw and honest. Leah brought it all back for me; the pain and confusion, the insecurities of being young and sexual yet not fitting the “normal” mold. Both Laney and Black Iris are complex, gritty, dark and suspenseful, I dare you to read this and not to FEEL………

“….I fall in love with minds, not genders or body parts. People wouldn’t say I’m ‘just a slut’ or ‘faking it’ or ‘undecided’ or ‘confused.’ I’m not confused. I don’t categorize people by who I’m allowed to like and who I’m allowed to love. Love doesn’t fit into boxes like that. It’s blurry, slippery, quantum. It’s only limited by our perceptions and before we slap a label on it and cram it into some category, everything is possible.”

Prepare yourself for a majorly delicious mind-fuck! Twisting back and forth through the previous year of Laney’s life is like getting a glimpse into the darkest places of the human psyche. You’ll think you’ve got it figured out, placed all the pieces in their proper order. Read a few more pages and you’ll realize you’ve got no clue!! There’s no fast paced action here and there doesn’t need to be, this is just one long, delicious slow burn of story…….hate, revenge, desire, addiction, hopelessness as well as love, forgiveness, acceptance & hope

“Falling for someone is like pulling a loose thread. It happens stitch by stitch. You feel whole most of the time even while the seams pop, the knots loosen, everything that holds you together coming undone. It feels incredible, this opening of yourself to the world. Not like the unraveling it is. Only afterward do you glance down at the tangle of string around your feet that used to be a person who was whole and self-contained and realize that love is not a thing that we create. It’s an undoing.”

On a closing note, Black Iris is riddled with sexual tension throughout and has some of the HOTTEST F/M/F and F/F action I’ve ever read! I actually woke my hubby out of a deep sleep so I could read him one of the intensely charged F/F scenes! Needless to say…….. he started Black Iris two days ago ;) BUT if that’s not your thing, then you probably want to skip this one, although you’re seriously missing out!!! Highly, highly recommended this book to anyone and everyone! Thank you to Leah Raeder for writing what is currently my favorite read of 2015!!

“Girls love each other like animals. There is something ferocious and unself-conscious about it. We don’t guard ourselves like we do with boys. No one trains us to shield our hearts from each other. With girls, it’s total vulnerability from the beginning. Our skin is bare and soft. We love with claws and teeth and blood is just proof of how much. It’s feral.” show less

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Some of you may know that I wasn’t a fan of Raeder’s debut novel Unteachable, unlike everyone else I know who read it. While I liked the writing, I couldn’t get past the teacher/student romance, which I probably should have seen coming, since they only very rarely work for me. Obviously, I was a bit nervous trying Black Iris, despite the great advance buzz, since those same people loved Unteachable too. The funny thing is that Unteachable didn’t work for me because of how fucked up the romance was, but Black Iris is a million times more fucked up, and I loved it. What can I say? I like what I like.

On page one, I was hooked. As soon as I started Black Iris, show more I had absolutely zero interest in anything else I was reading. This is one of those books that starts out compelling and just gets more and more impossible to put down as you get further into it. The way things unravel is masterful. I’ve been taken for a fucked up ride, but I enjoyed every moment of it.

The difference for me in the two books lies in intent. Unteachable was first and foremost a romance, which tied my enjoyment up in whether or not I shipped it. Black Iris has romance, but I’m not certain I’d call it a romance; that really could go either way. Plus, the book warns you what to expect right out the gate, and I do mean in chapter one:

"I’m not the heroine of this story.

And I’m not trying to be cute. It’s the truth. I’m diagnosed borderline and seriously fucked-up. I hold grudges. I bottle my hate until it ferments into poison, and then I get high off the fumes. I’m completely dysfunctional and that’s the way I like it, so don’t expect a character arc where I finally find Redemption, Growth, and Change, or learn How to Forgive Myself and Others.

Fuck forgiveness."

This quote is one hundred percent on the level. Don’t expect a surprise twist where Laney realizes that vengeance isn’t sweet; this isn’t that kind of story. Don’t expect good sex to cure her. Black Iris starts out fucked up, and it lives down there in the muck and the blood. It very much doesn’t sound like a Christina book, even though I’ve read and loved it. I’m ALL about character arcs, and I’m very much anti drugs. But in Black Iris all of that stuff works, because it’s all important and the book wouldn’t work otherwise. It doesn’t feel like it’s all in there just to add shock value; it’s intrinsic, and it IS the story.

Raeder does a really good job in Black Iris of walking the line between condemnation of acts and endorsement of them. I think a lot of the fucked up stuff comes off as truly fucked up, and it’s not romanticized, but I think Raeder also makes you consider some of the actions from a different angle and see gray where you might once have seen just black and white.

For me, the fact that the characters know they’re fucked up, and they own their decisions is what really makes dark books like Black Iris work for me. Laney’s not looking for forgiveness anymore than she’s going to give it. Black Iris is a very self-aware book. Ironically, I end this book shipping relationships more unhealthy than in the book where the romance infuriated me; I do see the irony, but the shippy feels cannot be contained. I shall remain on the sinking OT3 of Laney, Blythe, and Armin. I feel like they had better balance and more potential long term than Laney and Blythe alone. Plus, they are insanely hot and sexy in every iteration.

Leah Raeder’s writing is poetry like a bat to the face. It’s gorgeous, lyrical, lilting, but it’s also sharp, metallic and bitter. Her prose is the taste of blood on your tongue. Raeder excels at writing feelings in this brutal way where they just punch the reader right in the brain. Everything’s immediate, raw, and harsh, yet oddly lovely in its broken honesty. This dichotomy in Raeder’s writing is what really makes her writing stand out to me from all the other books I read.

Black Iris is told using confusing time jumps, which oddly enhanced the experience. I was constantly struggling to piece things together, but it felt right to have to do so. Laney and her story aren’t straight forward. She’s an unreliable narrator, and she doesn’t want you to be able to add things up until she’s ready for you to add them all up. She leaves things out, mixes them up, and makes the reader unsure.

You know what writing technique I pretty much always hate? The one where the book you’re reading is supposedly by the main character of said book. However, I love the way Raeder uses this trope in Black Iris. For one thing, that’s not used for the final twist; it’s something you know pretty early on, and Raeder/Laney throw this postmodern hyper-awareness that it’s a book at you constantly. We’re told over and over that Laney’s an unreliable character, both directly and through reference. Knowing that this is the novel Laney wrote adds another layer to Black Iris which made me constantly question everything. Even so, I was not prepared and I didn’t see anything coming.

Black Iris is a level of fucked up that the term “fucked up” doesn’t really prepare you for. I’m still not sure if I think of Black Iris as a romance or not. One thing I know for sure is that I will be thinking about Black Iris for a while. I also know that I’ll be ordering a finished copy for myself. show less

This book was like a huge, decadent dessert of vengeance, sex and the complexities of teenage sexuality.

At times a little over-the-top, I still really enjoyed it. The out-of-order narrative can be a turn-off but I felt it was well utilized here, without feeling excessively messy. It was a fun, delicious read, despite the dark subject matter.

Rating: 8/10
Gay-o-meter: 10/10

This is Leah Raeder's second book... I read her first one, Unteachable, and liked it, but I didn't love it. I had some personal issues with it. So, going into this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I already knew that Leah is a fantastic writer. Her first book was just not the type of plot I would normally go for. This one, though, I totally dug into!

This story is a unique and phenomenally written book. I will say, this somewhat dark read might not be for everyone. I have seen some that either had a hard time finishing it or just didn't finish it at all. Not every book is for everyone. I can understand where some had difficulty with this book. It is slower moving, for the most part. A lot of books that go slower tend to lose readers' show more interest. I almost stopped for this reason, but I am glad I didn't.

In this book, you will find some complete mind-fuckery going on! This is a triangle of sorts. You have one girl who is lost and broken and out for revenge, you think... Then you have another girl who is twisted and shows some serious signs of mental illness. Then you have a boy... a boy who likes girls he needs to fix. Throw these three together and you get one big cluster of head games, plot twists and heart breaks.

I don't want to be a spoiler. If I go into the plot too much, I will give too much away. Just know that not everyone is as they seem in this story. Things aren't anywhere near black and white. This book is about trust and manipulation of the worst kind. It isn't light and fluffy or unicorns and rainbows. In fact, I am pretty sure some of these characters would chop off the unicorns horn if given the chance. show less

*NETGALLEY REVIEW WITH NO SPIOILERS*
Black Iris isn't a book that can be easily be summed up without giving away too much. The story was complex and unlike any other story I've ever read. It was risqué, emotional, intense, dangerous, romantic, and at times, a complete twisted up mystery. It switches back and forth from past to present to show you how everything came into play. Crucial details are revealed and important characters are introduced. The plot is one that will make your mind hurt in the best way possible. It will strip away at everything you believed and make you feel completely different. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book... The pages couldn't turn fast enough. I wasn't sure how everything would come show more together, but I never expected the outcome we got. When I finally finished I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders. I could finally breathe again. My tense body fell relaxed and mind felt sane again.

Honestly it was like a 1,000 piece puzzle. Each word came together to a form a slightly flawed, slightly messed up... absolutely captivating picture. My heart went out to these fictional characters. Yeah, they were emotionally unstable and yeah, at times I wanted to punch each one, but somehow, someway... They managed to capture my heart and fill my body with sympathy.

It was an intense subject and the Author's writing was flawless. It felt raw and vulnerable. While at times the story became jagged and sharp, it somehow remained smooth and flowing. I did question how Leah went from writing Unteachable to this dark, heavy story and after I read the acknowledgements I understood. My hat goes off to her and anyone else who lived similar scenarios. Sadly, this happens a lot more than we would like to think. It opened my eyes and made me feel things I didn't feel before reading. I am utterly head over heels for this book and quite frankly I now have a girl crush on Leah Raeder.

I definitely recommend this one to every reader out there. It is a MUST READ. show less

It's almost impossible to tell you what exactly Black Iris is about without spoiling the whole story. The blurb is accurate enough, I guess, but it didn't prepare me for what I actually got. Because, above all, Black Iris is about revenge. It's about taking things three steps too far. It's about a girl who was wronged, so she feels an intense, burning desire to ruin everybody's life at least twice as much as they ruined hers.

This is clearly a love-it-or-hate-it situation. I requested Black Iris from Netgalley because I saw pages and pages of glowing five star reviews. I should have scrolled a bit further, because then I would have seen the pages and pages of one star reviews. For me, it's neither a five star experience nor a one star show more experience. I'm actually just really conflicted about how I feel.

Not that I regret reading this book. Not at all. It was an experience. Probably a good experience. But it's intense, and it's not at all happy, and it's not the kind of book you to read to unwind after a stressful day at work. Laney, Blythe, Armin, Zoeller, Donnie -- they're all still in my head. This is a book that sticks with you.

I think the biggest issue I had with this book was that I didn't connect with any of the characters. I'm not even sure that I was supposed to connect with them. Laney comes right out and says that she's an unreliable narrator. Is she telling the truth? Is she lying? We'll never know. We don't know whether we can trust her descriptions of her friends. Of what happened. She tries to justify her behavior, to explain why exactly she feels it's necessary to ruin the lives of so many people. For me, she never quite succeeded. Let it go, Laney. I know it hurt. I know it was awful. But it's in the past. And it does no good to dwell on it now. No good to obsess over everything they did to you and said about you. Move on with your life. Don't let them win.

Something to keep in mind when starting this book is that it has a very non-linear timeline. It jumps all over the place, to the point that I found myself going back to check the dates at the beginning of each chapter so I'd know where we were supposed to be. Everything really comes together in the last 20%, but it's very disconcerting for most of the book. As much as I disliked the back-and-forth chapters, I don't think that the story would have worked as well if told linearly.

Above all, though, the writing is beautiful. The pacing is more or less even, and I was putting it down because it was just so intense, not because I was bored or sick of it. It actually gets better and better as it goes -- and the last 40% just flew by. But keep in mind that this book is dark, it's twisted, and nearly every character is supremely unlikable. But somehow it's good, and somehow you want to keep reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy. show less