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BLOG TOUR + BOOK REVIEW + GIVE-AWAY – Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) by Dahlia Adler

BLOG TOUR + BOOK REVIEW + GIVE-AWAY - Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) by Dahlia Adler

BLOG TOUR + BOOK REVIEW + GIVE-AWAY – Under the Lights (Daylight Falls #2) by Dahlia AdlerUnder the Lights (Daylight Falls #2)
by Dahlia Adler
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Josh Chester loves being a Hollywood bad boy, coasting on his good looks, his parties, his parents' wealth, and the occasional modeling gig. But his laid-back lifestyle is about to change. To help out his best friend, Liam, he joins his hit teen TV show, Daylight Falls...opposite Vanessa Park, the one actor immune to his charms. (Not that he's trying to charm her, of course.) Meanwhile, his drama-queen mother blackmails him into a new family reality TV show, with Josh in the starring role. Now that he's in the spotlight—on everyone's terms but his own—Josh has to decide whether a life as a superstar is the one he really wants.

Vanessa Park has always been certain about her path as an actor, despite her parents' disapproval. But with all her relationships currently in upheaval, she's painfully uncertain about everything else. When she meets her new career handler, Brianna, Van is relieved to have found someone she can rely on, now that her BFF, Ally, is at college across the country. But as feelings unexpectedly evolve beyond friendship, Van's life reaches a whole new level of confusing. And she'll have to choose between the one thing she's always loved...and the person she never imagined she could.

“The thing is, K-drama, sometimes you just have to accept that no one else’s opinion means shit, you know? Sometimes you just have to do what makes you happy and say fuck to everyone else.”

► These characters sound so REAL to me, I can’t even express how much I find this fantastic. Yes, I have to admit that it took me ages to warm to them, but in the end? In the end I’m glad to have had the opportunity to follow them.

Josh is this guy we see in a Reality TV show and ask ourselves what the fuck he did to deserve (Haha, talk about a super prize) to show his life on TV. The fact is, I’m not objective because I hate that stuff. I have zero interest in anything celebrities related, especially when it comes to their love life/partying/children. I don’t fucking care about that. So, you know, I should hate him. I should despise him – I don’t. Truth be told, he annoyed and maddened me sometimes, but no, I don’t loathe him. Yet I did get pissed at his continual comments about girls doing blowjobs to him. I mean, was it really necessary to refer to them every time he was at a party? Every fucking time? I don’t think so. But move on.

So, yeah. Josh’s an asshole and a womanizer – sorry but there’s no other way to put it. Josh’s an asshole and yet, I doesn’t hate him, because first he’s unapologetic and doesn’t ask for people – including the readers – to love him and then he isn’t the love interest here. Don’t get fooled, I’m not saying that he’s that kind of super jerk but broken inside many authors LOVE throwing at us, because he’s not. He’s way more complex and interesting than that. According to me, although he doesn’t strike people as the unconfident type, he’s afraid and doesn’t trust himself for shit. In my opinion? He’s just feeling lonely but hey, I’m not a psy you know, only a teacher^^. Anyway – Josh struggles to become the person he wants to be, hell, he doesn’t even know who he wants to be, and to see him growing up was fantastic.

✘ I’m not gonna lie, Vanessa wasn’t my favorite person in Behind the Scenes. Not because of the scheme they had to play with Liam (in my opinion Allie should have said what she thought, but hey, who am I to judge?) but although she was an interesting character, I had a hard time relating to her and yes, I have to admit that to me she was quite a bore.

So, did she improve here? Well, I kind of hated her at first. She annoyed me so much. But in the end? Definitely. Even if she doesn’t become my favorite character, being in her head helped me to understand her better, and in the end, I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity to really know her, even if I wasn’t always feeling involved in her story unfortunately. I mean, I enjoyed her romance with Brin, but in my opinion we didn’t get enough time to really become involved in their relationship. I definitely wanted more of them together, let’s say.

✘ I know they aren’t under the lights here (Haha) but can I say that I was ecstatic to see Liam and Allie again? Well, let’s be frank, mostly Liam. Really, I don’t know under what spell I fell, but every time he appears I can’t help but smile like a complete moron. However, I have to say that to see their relationship’s evolution through Vanessa and Josh’s eyes worried me something fierce. Of course I understand that life goes in the way and that people, even in love, don’t always act perfectly but damn, that was painful for me, and sometimes I felt like Liam acted out of character. And… Oh, fuck that. I’m just gonna say it : I cared more about Liam than I did about Josh or Vanessa, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing. Is it because I love his character too much that I wasn’t able to completely invest myself in their story? I don’t know. Maybe. It’s just how it was.

✘ Finally, the other girls – namely Shannah and all – were portrayed as such stereotypical bitches, for real, and as in Behind the Scenes, it did bother me. Really, it made me wonder if I was just too naive about the girls living in that world – anyway, I can’t believe that they’re all like that, I can’t, and if I’m wrong, well, it’s on me.

► When I reread what I wrote about the characters, it occurs to me that you may wonder why I liked this book if I wasn’t their biggest fan, but THAT’S THE THING!I’ll take flawed but realistic characters over perfectly boring ones any day, as long as the author doesn’t try to justify their actions. Dahlia Adler never does that. Josh is an asshole? Sure. Nobody is forcing me to love him – yet he is complex and multi-layered, he evolves, so YES, he IS interesting as a character (and he did make me laugh so much, but then, I may have an horrible sense of humor, because you know, I’m French and all)

Well, despite the fact that I didn’t quite like it as much as Behind the scenesbut let’s face it, I’m such a fangirI when it comes to Liam, I can’t even believe myself, I thought it was a pretty courageous book, for starters, because it comes as a surprise.

Indeed this is NOT our regular contemporary romance. And this is so much BETTER as it is.

✘ This is not about a guy who’s going to fix some girl – or some guy, for that matter.

▪” /> This is about finding your place in the world.
▪” /> This is about difference and how to live in a world that put people in little boxes.
▪” /> This is about emancipation and how to learn to be true to yourself.
▪” /> This is about friendship and family – and what we’re ready to do to protect it.

And yes, we get to see Liam again but I have to stop being obsessed now. I swear, I will!

Oh, and by the way, this writing? I’m in love with it, and I shall read anything Dahlia Adler writes.

 

“Anyone who doesn’t want you to be happy with who you are is an asshole. Fuck pleasing everyone else. You only live once. Who are you gonna do it for?”

► What are you waiting for? Go discover these awesome books!

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Follow the Under The Lights by Dahlia Adler Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the link to see the tour schedule.
I’m an Associate Editor of Mathematics by day, a Copy Editor by night, and I blog at The Daily Dahlia, YA Misfits, and the Barnes & Noble book blog. I also write contemporary YA (The Daylight Falls duology) and NA (The Radleigh University series). Rec-ing books is approximately my favorite thing in the universe, with macarons being a close second. Come say hi on Twitter, where I’m @MissDahlELama!

BOOK REVIEW – More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

BOOK REVIEW – More Happy Than Not by Adam SilveraMore Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto -- miracle cure-alls don't tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can't forget how he's grown up poor or how his friends aren't always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it's not enough.

Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn't mind Aaron's obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn't mind talking about Aaron's past. But Aaron's newfound happiness isn't welcome on his block. Since he can't stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he is.

Adam Silvera's extraordinary debut novel offers a unique confrontation of race, class and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx.

Oh, boy. I won’t.

More Happy Than Not didn’t turn out to be what I expected, and let me tell you, it was so much better than I thought it would be. Messed-up when you think about it, this containing one of my biggest pet peeve make it plural : several of my biggest pet peeves – nah, I won’t tell which ones, I can be annoying like that. But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

There are books that makes you feel like a voyeur, as the characters seem so real that you get the impression to spy on them, somehow. More Happy Than Not definitely belongs to that category, and hooked me from the very first sentence.

“Sometimes your story is worth reading about because your life sucks,” I say. “And I don’t think your life sucks.”

How can I explain why? It just – spoke to me, because I found the characters weirdly relatable. Weirdly, because although my family always navigated on the artistic side of life (yeah, this is so the nice word for odd, sorry mum, love you) I never lived in such a hard way. Yet I can relate on so many levels that I couldn’t help but feel drawn into their stories – to feel involved in every fucking event they live.

This book is full of big issues – issues you better not drop in a book if you don’t intend to HANDLE them (including suicide, depression, and homophobia). Well, the fact is, they all were correctly dealt with, and frankly, I’m, kind of, maybe, for sure in awe of Adam Silvera for that. Not that everything is perfect and gets its HEA, NO. It’s not. It’s messed-up and weird and flawed – yet it’s incredible, because you know what? THAT’S HOW LIFE GOES.

“Memories : some can be sucker punching, others carry you forward; some stay with you forever, others you forget on your own.”

TRIGGER WARNING : Suicide

I know, I KNOW, my personal interludes appear pretty often lately, but I can’t help myself when it comes to subjects that have a particular resonance for me and oh, well. Don’t read it if you don’t care. Anyway. Aaron, the main character, has to deal with the consequences of both his father’s suicide and his own suicide attempt and expresses how difficult it is for people he loves to trust him again with his own life. In my opinion Adam Silvera captured perfectly how this kind of decisions can affect friendship and family relationships. The truth is, when I was 16 a person very close to me committed several suicidal attempts, and I’d want to say that I was supportive and understanding, I’d want to say that I understood why and how she could do this, I really want to. But sadly, I can’t. Sadly, I didn’t understand shit. Sadly, I was fucking pissed, because I love her and I couldn’t forgive her to give up on us – yes, because I couldn’t deal with the Guilt. This fucking guilt you feel when you realize that people you love and live with can suffer without even you noticing. I couldn’t deal with the guilt, so I was pissed, furious, mad, everything but what I should have been. But you know what? That’s how people react in real life. They aren’t perfect. They don’t always understand. It took us years to rebuild our relationship after that – it took me years to stop being a fucking brat and accept what she did. Although I’m not proud of it, that’s how it is, and I often have a hard time reading stories where characters try to commit suicide because to me, everything is way more complicated and fucked-up that it’s portrayed most of the time. All of that is to say that in my modest opinion, the way the author handled this subject here is realistic and really great.

END OF THE PERSONAL INTERLUDE

This book? This book caused the weirdest reaction to me : Indeed the day after starting it, I found myself thinking about Aaron, Thomas, Genevieve… like they were real. Like they were friends of mine. And this? This is the best thing I can say about a book.

Truth be told, every one of them is realistic and many of them are unlikeable. Despite the fact that I hated several of them first of all Brendan. Talk about a joke of a friend, of course I LOVED how real and complex they were! To be frank, I can’t say that they didn’t bring memories of actual people I know or used to know, and this is fantastic. Moreover, the writing is perfect because in addition to giving to Aaron a believable, original and oh so endearing voice, it captured perfectly how confusing teenage can be, how difficult it is to resist peer pressure and speak for yourself and for people you love and admire. To fight for who you are and who you want to be. Growing up often goes hand in hand with fucking up (badly). Well, let’s be frank, adulthood too. Now, nothing is set in stone. Stand up and deal with it.

So, yeah. It was cringe-worthy, crude or even annoying at times, but I wouldn’t have changed one sentence.

Most of all I absolutely adored their interactions – sometimes heartbreaking, often smile-inducing, always realistic – they made me so happy, I can’t even.

(Later I learn that there’s even an abandoned musical in his closet about a robot that time-travels back to the Mesozoic era to study dinosaurs while singing about surviving without technology.)

To sum up :
There is porn. There is swearing. There is weed. There is despair. There is fear. There is love. There are comics and YES, cute geeks. There is sex. There are a lot of random stupid games they play to. There are fucking mistakes and maddening decisions. There is LIFE. This sounds true to me.

In a word, this book was a page-turner for me and guys, GUYS! MY FEELS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Seriously – some parts punched me in the guts and made me sob, others made me want to hit something, yet I smiled so big I can’t even express how much love and attachment I feel for Aaron – despite his flaws, his wanderings through life reached out to my heart. That’s all I can say.

Oh well, I’ll say it. He fucking broke my heart.

“I don’t want you too either. Just remember that I love the hell out of you, okay?”

PS : More Happy Than Not is shelved as Science-Fiction and you might wonder why I didn’t address this subject. Actually, even if there are definitely scifi vibes going on at times, and some unexpected twists (HOLY COW), I mostly read it as a contemporary, because it’s where lies its strength in my opinion. But I have to admit that it scares me shitless. Trust me, you’ll get what I mean. Anyway, I can see why readers could find it unsettling and weird – Promise you’ll keep your mind open, okay?

BOOK REVIEW – Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

BOOK REVIEW – Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky AlbertalliSimon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

This book was a serious breath of fresh air, and I end up with the biggest smile on my face.

“I take a sip of my beer, and it’s – I mean, it’s just astonishingly disgusting. I don’t think I was expecting it to taste like ice-cream, but holy fucking hell. People lie and get fake IDs and sneak into bars, and for this?”

▥ What you need to know if the fact that we have no idea who is this Blue guy that Simon is emailing until almost the very end. However, we get to know him – and Simon, in another way – through theirs emails and I can say without doubt that it was the part that I preferred. Strangely, Blue became pretty fast my favorite character. Strangely because we only know him through messages and all. What can I say? I’m a sucker for emails and messages inserted in a book. Damn, I’m such a stalker (shut up). All of that is to say that I can completely understand how Simon could fall in love with him without meeting him – Hell, I barely kept in check my crush on him (what? He is so freaking cute!). Don’t get me wrong, I really liked Simon as well. Simon, who made me burst of laughing with his Draco-Harry fan fictions (for real, I had to explain why I was laughing like crazy and all that), roll my eyes smiling because he was so clueless, Simon who is freaking adorable and funny.

Simon who sounds like a real teenager and who has multiple crushes. I’m sorry but yes, that’s high school for you (or was I the only one? Please say no). And then, there’s this moment we learn who Blue is. Happy sigh. View Spoiler »

To sum up, Simon, I really liked you, even if sometimes,

Friendship is portrayed in a realistic way in my opinion, because even if Leah, Nick, Abby and Simon share a strong connection, that did not prevent them from arguing or being jealous or whatever else feeling we humans feel sometimes. That’s why I really appreciated to follow this bunch of realistic and supportive characters. However, I would have loved it if the characterization of the characters outside Simon was more developed. Indeed if Simon’s and Blue’s characters are fleshed-out (which is amazing concerning Blue, because we know him only through his emails during the most part of the book) unfortunately the others lack depth in my opinion, especially Nick and Leah. Now, we’re following Simon’s journey, so on the other hand it can be explained.

“If she thinks me drinking coffee is big news, it’s going to be quite a fucking morning.”

▥ Truth be told, I absolutely adored the dynamic between the different members of Simon’s family. Indeed they’re far from perfect, a little on the crazy side, unable to mind their own business, but the most important is that they rang true to me. Perhaps that’s because my family always was a little anti-conformist either? Even if yes, we do the Blue’s Christmas thing where we open our presents one after the other but that’s pretty awesome in my opinion and I so stick out my tongue at you, Simon.

“It is definitely annoying that straight (and white, for that matter) is the default, and that the only people who have to think about their identity are the ones who don’t fit that mold.”

▥ Finally, this book deals with pretty hard subjects as bullying, blackmailing, and above that, the difficulties to find and express our identity. Actually, I’m not sure of what I think about the way they are handled here. Indeed if they aren’t completely dismissed (which would have maddened me for sure) they’re not completely treated either and I got the feeling that everything was wrapped too nicely in the end. Perhaps am I too pessimistic? I don’t really know. Maybe. But in my opinion it would have been more interesting to explore these issues further, even if it would have impacted the general happy feeling we get when reading this book. Not that we don’t come across some heartbreaking moments. We do, and that’s what make the whole book beautiful in its own way – flawed, but sincere.

✐ As for the writing, the fact that I read it in one sitting says something, doesn’t it? While I can’t brag about amazing metaphors or original writing, in my opinion it’s perfect how it is, that is to say, addictive as a book from Kody Keplinger or Kasie West can be, with the right amount of fluffiness and laughter to keep you in a good mood. That was the case for me, anyway.

BOOK REVIEW – Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz

BOOK REVIEW – Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah MoskowitzGone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

In the wake of the post-9/11 sniper shootings, fragile love finds a stronghold in this intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer.

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives.

Craig's crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he'll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.

Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.

I remember September 11th. I was in Junior year in High School (in France, of course) and I learnt what happened late afternoon when I was heading for practice.

I remember being sad for all these person and mad because how unfair is it? but I also remember being pissed at all these teenagers around me who kept bragging that it had opened their eyes and showed them how much life is worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to minimize it, god of course not, but I just couldn’t understand how people could use it to appear cool, to spread some philosophical bullshit, as if they could understand what people in New York could feel, what people in US could feel. I couldn’t, and I don’t think they could, either. We were just fucking French Junior who couldn’t have a locker anymore because bombs. All that is to say that I didn’t get it at the time. I was only a self-centered teenager whose interest never holds long and I asked myself exactly what Lio and Craig wonder about : how do we define loss? Is it the number that counts? Or is it something else? Is it the fact that we knew someone? I didn’t know at the time, but I know now.

“What’s love when you’re too fucked up to feel it right?
I think it’s a weapon.”

Perhaps it’s going to sound incredibly selfish but to me there’s nothing truer than this : We really feel loss when we know someone. Of course we can empathize, we can feel sad and mad and sorry for someone, it remains it always seems borrowed, if we can use a word so practical when dealing with loss. Every day I hear about people who are sick, who have cancer, and yes, I feel sorry for them. My dad died from cancer two years ago. I didn’t feel sorry. I felt broken. I felt lost. I felt scared. And I’m never, ever going to say that it is the same thing. It isn’t. In my opinion we are partly defined by the person we love, by the person we care about, and no empathy can overtake that. None.

“Craig is just one person. The chances that he will get shot are the same as anyone else’s.
The hole in the world when he’s gone would be the same size as the FBI agent’s.
Except…
It wouldn’t be.
To me.
I have no way to measure these holes.
Click.
Numbers don’t matter.
Because what if loss is immeasurable? What if all we can do is call a loss a loss? “

The story takes place in 2002, during the Beltway Sniper Attacks, and for someone like me who wasn’t familiar with this tragedy at all, the way Hannah Moskowitz deals with this issue is truly wonderful because it felts real. Indeed I felt the threat, the fear, the panic this kind of random attacks could lead to. And then, there’re these boys. There are these broken boys who meet and fall in love. They are hurt. They are hesitant. They are fucking afraid. But they are.

“Just wanted to let you know I got in all right. And also that my chest hurts as if I MAY BE DYING, because I accidentally left my heart on your kitchen counter. I hate when that happens.
Li”

And I love them. I even developed a not-so-little crush on Lio. Even if he’s fictional. Even if I have a boyfriend. Even if he’s gay. Whatever. As I said, I developed a crush on Lio because this guy is so fucking adorable that I couldn’t help. As for Teeth, Gone gone gone offers us a flawless characterization with characters who aren’t perfect, who mess up, who evolve, and in the end, we just want to hug them something fierce. I do, anyway.

“It’s up to me whether I’m okay with the possibility of being broken.
Plus, I’m a tough little son of a bitch, and don’t you forget it.”

Finally, I’m sorry if this review isn’t organized or doesn’t even mention how incredible the writing is, how emotional this story is, how fucking beautiful their love is. I guess I didn’t feel writing a complete review tonight – but the only thing I’ll say is READ IT. Please, go meet Craig and his fourteen pets, Lio and his five colored hair, go read their emails and cry and laugh and fall in love. You won’t regret it. Because even if I preferred Teeth, Lio and Craig’s story goes instantly in my favorites, and I like to think that it’s saying something.

BOOK REVIEW – Black Iris by Leah Raeder

BOOK REVIEW – Black Iris by Leah RaederBlack Iris by Leah Raeder
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

Black Iris was poetically beautiful.  From the way that the writing was intoxicating and a simple sentence could be woven with such beauty and grace.  To the message that the story delivered that was heartfelt and needed.  Even the way the relationship between Laney and Blythe would transfer from alluring to sexy.  Those elements were all perfect.  Unfortunately, I struggled.  A lot.  The darkness that was radiating from the pages was too intense for me.  I felt as though I was drowning from all of the pain.

Laney is looking for a fresh start.  Between having a mother that killed herself, to being taunted and tortured through high school, it is more than needed.  Upon meeting two new people, Blythe and Armin, she might have finally found her new beginning.  But a shadow from her past is looming back in her life, and everything is about to become a tangled mess.

Laney was dark, damaged, bitter and at times it felt as though she was trying to destroy herself.  To make herself become a blur in her own mind.  I tried my hardest, but struggled to feel a connection to her.  But while I struggled feeling that connection, I understood why she was that way.  Between the atrocities with her mother and the horrific way she was treated and suffered through high-school, it was impossible not to choke on her pain.  To not feel it cutting through you like a knife.  It was a constant that never faded, and could never be forgotten.  It was a part of who she was, whether she wanted it there or not.  Her actions at times, were unforgivable when she would use and manipulate people.  But at the same point, how could she not go down that path?

The light in this book for me was Blythe.  She was a good friend to Laney, and she would stand up and protect her.  The sexual chemistry between the two of them leaped off of the pages.  What they felt was real.  What they felt was intense.  I enjoyed the moments when it was just the two of them and Armin wasn’t around.  Because in all honestly, I just didn’t get him.  I never once felt a connection between him and Laney or even Blythe for that matter.  So of course I didn’t want him to be with Layne.  It’s probably horrible to say, but I kept waiting for him to disappear so she could delve into that connection she had with Blythe. Unfortunately for me, the moments of light were too fleeting.  After a quick glimpse, I would be dragged back down.  Whether it was the flashbacks with Zoeller or something else, it made me sick to my stomach for what she had to endure in life.  It was emotionally heartbreaking to watch so many events take place and not have enough joy to compensate for it all.  I know, believe me I know that life can be wretched.  Honestly, wretched is too kind of a word sometimes.  But personally speaking, I need more lightness then darkness in the books I read.  If even for an infinitesimal amount.  I tried my hardest, but I just couldn’t find that here between the drugs, lies, betrayal and revenge.

I always go into a book, keeping my fingers crossed that it will be next favorite read.  And it pains me that I couldn’t even get close to that with Black Iris.  But, I am happy the way certain things were handled, no matter how dark and twisted they were.  I enjoyed the relationship between Blythe and Laney.  And I loved the way the sentences were woven so poetically.  But, between the drug abuse, sorrow, hatred and revenge that permeated from the pages constantly, I struggled for air.  I kept getting lost in how everything was doused in depression.  Sadly, those feelings outweighed any other thoughts I had, and I just couldn’t get past it.

*ARC kindly provided by Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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