New Adult book fans- get ready for Leah Raeder’s BLACK IRIS, coming your way this spring. A lot of us liked Raeder’s book Unteachable, about a taboo teacher-student relationship. And Black Iris sounds even more bold and edgy, with a strong female protagonist, a suspenseful plot, and a F/F romance. I’m very excited to read it April 28, and in the meantime I have the book cover and a brief excerpt to share.
Behold the cover of Black Iris:
BLACK IRIS by Leah Raeder
Atria Books | 384 pages | ISBN: 9781476786421 | On sale: April 28, 2015 | List price: $15.00 | eBook ISBN: 9781476786438 | eBook list price: $5.99
Preorder: Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-a-Million * IndieBound
About the book:
It only took one moment of weakness for Laney Keating’s world to fall apart. One stupid gesture for a hopeless crush. Then the rumors began. Slut, they called her. Queer. Psycho. Mentally ill, messed up, so messed up even her own mother 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 has thorns of her own.
But Laney knows nothing good ever lasts. 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. And Armin and Blythe are going to help.
Which was the plan all along.
Because the rumors are true. Every single one. And Laney is going to show them just how true.
She’s going to show them all.
It sounds cool, right? The cover is striking and bold and seems like a good fit for the story. It will also look very pretty next to Unteachable on the bookshelf. Check out the Black Iris inspiration board on Pinterest to visualize the story.
And, here’s a brief (and intense!) excerpt from the first chapter of Black Iris:
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.
About the author:
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. Visit her at LeahRaeder.com and follow her on Facebook * Twitter * Instagram.
OMG THAT’S AWESOME. I like how dark the cover feels. I’m so excited for this book! I have actually yet to read any NA ever, but I’ve been wanting to read Leah Raeder’s Unteachable for a while now, but I only got even more excited when I learnt that she was writing a novel with f/f romance!! I can’t wait to discover Raeder’s writing, everyone says she’s so awesome. I love the excerpt.