Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Black Iris by Leah Raeder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Release Date: April 28th 2015


Black Iris reminds me of every Noir film I've adored.

It's brutal, vengeful and beautiful. It's a battle zone, sanctuary and something close to home for many.
High on imagery and emotion, you're put into situations that are basically montages of obvious elements that point to an obvious conclusion, but the beauty of it all is that space of interpretation, where the book you're reading becomes the book you're loving.

The narrator is as unreliable as she states and not. She's mysterious and also, not. She's got this darkness in her which is incomprehensible until she opens up all her cards, methodically and that's good because it made the book highly engrossing and quite frankly, addictive.
It begs to be held and read.
The seduction is paramount both above and behind the covers. The seduction of destruction is something which only some writers get right, because if handled incorrectly, it might as well piss readers off. But Leah Raeder clearly knows what she's doing. I've always been a huge fan of her descriptive writing style, but adding the tang of queer romance and vulnerability of vengeance was in my eyes, a homerun.

Yes it deals with matters of sexuality and sexual identity, but it wasn't treated like it was something sensitive...it just was.
Plus, it was sexy as hell. (Remember, Noir.)

If you thought a forbidden romance between a teacher and his student was risky? Try dealing with this you all.