This was paralleled through Laney’s love interests, one offering darkness, the other offering light. Laney’s influence has always been from her bipolar mother, who she blames for making her life miserable. Her mother has two children, the angelic and kind-hearted son and the dark and twisted daughter. The relationship between the three of them is intense and enveloping, crossing the boundaries between normal friendship and daresay, relationships. This isn’t a train wreck guys, this is a fucking apocalypse that will make the world burn. I’ve never read a romance quite like this one, where love was undefinable and held no boundaries.

Armin for his protection and cool calculated passion, and Blythe for her craziness and Laney’s darker side. Her sexual orientation is fluid and can’t be simply labelled with one word – she likes both men and women, based on who they are and how they make her feel. Laney has always been bullied for liking women, but the fact is, romance for Laney isn’t the most straightforward thing. Drug abuse, suicide, death, violence, bullying and a multitude of psychological problems heavily feature in this novel, expelling a depth of emotional pain and darkness that I’ve never felt before. It’s told by an unreliable narrator who is driven by revenge, and you’re pulled along Laney’s dark and twisted game as she drifts between two absolutely captivating people – the cool, unhinged goddess Blythe, and the warm, calculated, fiery god Armin. With fluid sexual orientations, substance abuse, a range of psychological issues and an unreliable narrator, it’s a dark and disturbing story that can only be read with an open mind. And Laney is going to show them just how true.ĭark, irresistible and captivating, Black Iris is undefinable. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.īecause the rumors are true. When a ghost from her past resurfaces-the bully who broke her down completely-she decides it's time to live up to her own legend. 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 has thorns of her own.īut Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. College is her chance to start with a clean slate. If Laney could erase that whole year, she would.

Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother decided she wasn't worth sticking around for. It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. Published by Atria Books, Simon and Schuster Australia on April 28, 2015

Black iris by leah raeder