Release Blitz + 2 Very Different Reviews: Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Black Iris

By Leah Raeder

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Synopsis

The next dark and sexy romantic suspense novel from the USA TODAY bestselling author of Unteachable, which was praised for its “lush, haunting prose, deft storytelling, and scorching sensuality” (M. Pierce, bestselling author of the Night Owl trilogy), and called “one of the best forbidden romances” (Lauren Blakely, New York Times bestselling author).

Laney Keating’s senior year of high school sucked. It began with one moment of weakness, one stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors started. Slut, they called her. Queer. Pillhead. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mom decided she wasn’t worth sticking around for.

If Laney could erase that whole year, she would. College is her chance to start with a clean slate.

She’s not looking for new friends, but they find her: charming, handsome Armin, the only guy patient enough to work through her thorny defenses—and fiery, filterless Blythe, the bad girl and partner in crime who becomes closer than a sister.

But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. When a ghost from her past resurfaces—the bully responsible for everything, the boy who broke her down completely—she decides maybe it’s time to live up to her own legend. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.

Because that was the plan all along.

Because the rumors are true. Every single one of them. And Laney is going to show them just how true. She’s going to show them all.

Buy: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

Excerpt

April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot said, and that’s because it kills. It’s the month with the highest suicide rate. You’d think December, or even January—the holidays and all that forced cheer and agonized smiling pushing fragile people to the edge—but actually it’s spring, when the world wakes from frostbound sleep and something cruel and final stirs inside those of us who are broken. Like Eliot said: mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. In the deepest throes of depression, when sunlight is anguish and the sky throbs like one big raw migraine and you just want to sleep until you or everything else dies, you’re less likely to commit suicide than someone coming out of a depressive episode. Drug companies know this. That’s why antidepressants have to be marked with the warning MAY CAUSE SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.
Because what brings you back to life also gives you the means to destroy yourself.

Robin’s Review

I was intrigued by the synopsis for Black Iris by Leah Raeder. When the cover was revealed in January, I fell in love with it. The cover is full of rich color and is absolutely stunning. It’s one of the most beautiful book covers that I have ever seen!

Black Iris is not a typical new adult novel. It’s a story of dark revenge, and there may be triggers for some individuals. It’s a story about a girl who is bullied for her attraction to females. There is a female/female relationship in Black Iris, but there is also a male/female relationship. Both types of relationships are represented. There is drug use and addiction. Attempted suicide. Mental illness. Violence. Blood. Hate crimes and vengeance. I’m not really sure what this says about me, but Leah Raeder snared my attention with this extremely dark story.

Delaney Keating is targeted by Brandt Zoeller while she is in high school. One meaningful gesture towards the girl she has a crush on destroys her life. Zoeller makes sure he gets deep inside her head, underneath her skin, completely breaking Laney down. Now she wants revenge. She becomes the predator. A hunter. Little wolf. Laney has a plan. She has her prey in sight, and she wants revenge on everyone involved.

Black Iris is a story written in layers. Each chapter is labeled with a name of a month. Raeder leaps back and forth between present and past with each new chapter. I found this confusing at first because I was attempting to keep up with all of the shifts to the timeline. But then I decided it was easier to sit back and experience Black Iris as it unfolds. There’s a reason Black Iris is written in this style. Raeder was meticulous with her writing, slowly revealing bits and pieces of information in a very calculated fashion. The plot of Black Iris builds to a fever pitch over the course of the entire story until the big picture finally snaps in place.

I knew I would be stepping outside of my comfort zone when I began reading Black Iris, but I enjoy reading dark novels. Psychological thrillers are some of my favorites. The writing is poetic and creative. The story is spellbinding. Unique. It made me think. When I finished reading Black Iris, I immediately began reading it again. All of those cryptic passages suddenly made sense. Black Iris is disturbing. It’s intense. Completely manic. I am giving Leah Raeder a 4-star rating for Black Iris and including it on my list of favorite novels for 2015!

Michel’s Review

Warning: Black Iris has many triggers that readers may not be comfortable with. There is drug abuse, psychological abuse, homophobic issues, gay issues (f/f), an unhealthy love triangle, mental issues, and sociopath tendencies.

I really hate writing this review. I am not a novice reader and usually find positive qualities in every book. I am a huge fan of dark thrillers. I love to read books that have unique plots and unique characters. I look for the entertainment value as well as the overall execution of the plot in the story. Black Iris brought me down a black hole and left me feeling deeply disturbed.

It’s interesting how two people can read the same book and walk away with completely different reactions. That is the beauty of the human spirit and mind.

Black Iris is one of those books that is going to have mixed reactions. It is not your typical New Adult novel. It is not a romance. It is a fictitious novel that has many triggers that are true portrayals of actual ugly situations, different sexual preferences, mental illness in many forms, cruelty, substance abuse, and murderous urges. It is diabolical. It does not have a promise of hope or redemption. It has a very dark tone throughout the book and never lightens up. I did not smile or feel good with any passage throughout the book. It was a book that I had to force myself to finish. The ending did not have a happy resolution.

I will say that Leah Raeder tackled some very controversial subject matter. The writing was good. The plot was well thought out. Each chapter is delivered within a year timeline and jumps from past to present. The problem I had with this timeline was that it was all over the place, there was no sequential order and I had a very hard time jumping from one moment to the next. It was just too much work. At the same time each of these chapters with different timelines all came together and made sense in the whole scheme of things. It made the plot have an impact.

As for the characters, I hated them all. I never connected with any of them. I also felt that they were too mature for their actual ages and life situations. Most people that age do not look and plan their futures out that meticulously. Most people that age are either living in the moment or just planning out generalized things for their future. The ruthlessness and very individualized planning just would not work in this situation because there is no way to predict the behaviors of the other individuals especially when you don’t know who they are or what their true motivations are.

Black Iris is a novel of true hate and vengeance. I don’t have the desire to waste my time with such evil. The ending did not redeem the characters, it just released them from the sexuality they hid away.

I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Author Bio:

LEAH RAEDER is a writer and unabashed nerd. Aside from reading her brains out, she enjoys graphic design, video games, fine whiskey, and the art of self-deprecation. She lives with her very own manic pixie dream boy in Chicago.