Black Iris

by Leah Raeder

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Black Iris was very exciting for me. I loved the sound of it in the blurb, and the author's comments on it, and I did love reading it until the end. It's twisty, and mindscrewy, and sexy, and dangerous, and you never knew who's who or what's what, or what happened and when, or if it actually even happened. It was intense. Laney is not a good person. She's not someone I liked. But she's someone I liked reading about and ultimately was rooting for her.

Black Iris alternates between past and present. Chronologically, it starts on Valentine's Day of Laney's senior year in high school, follows her through that summer after, starting college, and then a year later when all of the crazy went down. I almost always like stories told this way, and this was no exception. Laney's story kept me on the edge of my seat! She is an unreliable narrator, and the jumpy timeline makes sure you never knew what was coming or what happened, or who found out what and when. The more I read, the more I had to know!

However, I must say that I hated the writing style. I am not a fan of millions of metaphors and similes. It probably works better for Black Iris than other books, since Laney is a writer and it fits the way she thinks. But that doesn't mean I like it. I also found myself annoyed whenever Laney mentions that this isn't a typical college romance novel. We don't need to be told that. It's obvious from just reading it! This was completely unlike any other NA I've read, and all of those "If this were a college romance..." bits irked me and made me feel like author was trying to convince me of that when it wasn't even needed.

Now, what I absolutely loved about Black Iris was how Laney's sexuality was discussed. She's not gay, she's not bi, she's just Laney. Yes, there is something going on between her, Blythe, and Armin, but it's not really what you'd expect. Especially as more reveals come about. I was hoping for menage, but that's not what this story is. It goes beyond that! There is a lot of sex, and it's great sex. But back to Laney's sexuality. I really loved how she talked about it. At times I felt like she was talking about me! I've never felt fully comfortable with the bi label, even though that's what I identify as for simplicity's sake. I also loved her descriptions of girls loving girls. It's a beautiful and complicated phenomenon.

Like I said, I loved Black Iris for the most part. It kept me hooked. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on, and Laney reveals it to us in little pieces, all out of order, which kept me furiously flipping pages. But then everything comes together, and one reveal just made me roll my eyes and my frustration was audible. I could not buy into that. It seemed so out of left field and disingenuous, and lost me completely. Everything had been leading up to that moment, and then it all crumbled around me.

Black Iris is one of those great books with an awful ending that ruins it all. The whole story is quite over-the-top, but I could totally believe Laney's need for revenge and the chaos that ensues. It was just that one little thing that went too far for my liking. If it hadn't been the reason for everything that happened, I would have rated higher, but unfortunately it's how it all gets started.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.