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A review by elisekatherine
Black Iris by Elliot Wake, Elliot Wake
2.0
On paper this book looks exactly like my jam: dysfunctional, mentally ill, bisexual protagonist, fucked up relationships, a revenge plot. The trouble was that this book was painfully overwritten. The writer felt like she was trying too hard to be deep, and too often dropped quotes by T.S. Eliot or other "great" writers in - frequently with the main character doing the quoting, to demonstrate how intellectual she was. The metaphor of Laney as predator or wolf was overdone to the point of becoming trite, and it all felt like it was trying just a little too hard to be Dark and Real.
Not to mention the conclusion felt...weird. It was definitely trying for Edgy - "this isn't a story about redemption or forgiveness" type subversion - but it ended up just feeling unsatisfying, and like none of the characters had really grown or learned anything.
And then the twist at the end...also seemed to come out of left field and was just plain bizarre. What a bust of a recommendation.
The sex scenes were pretty hot, though.
Not to mention the conclusion felt...weird. It was definitely trying for Edgy - "this isn't a story about redemption or forgiveness" type subversion - but it ended up just feeling unsatisfying, and like none of the characters had really grown or learned anything.
And then the twist at the end...also seemed to come out of left field and was just plain bizarre. What a bust of a recommendation.
The sex scenes were pretty hot, though.