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Iris and the Dead
This haunting exploration of love and desire, disability and madness, and trauma and recovery, is a diaristic marvel for fans of Annie Erneaux.
Weaving personal memory with magic realism and folklore, Iris and the Dead asks: What if you could look back and tell someone exactly how they changed the course of your life?
For our narrator, that someone is Iris, the counsellor with whom she developed an unusual, almost violent bond. There are things she needs to tell Iris: some that she hid during the brief time they knew each other, and some that she has learned since. She was missing her mind the autumn they spent together and has since regained it.
Iris and the Dead unfurls the hidden power dynamics of abuse, offering a beguiling inquiry into intergenerational trauma, moral ambiguity, and queer identity.
Weaving personal memory with magic realism and folklore, Iris and the Dead asks: What if you could look back and tell someone exactly how they changed the course of your life?
For our narrator, that someone is Iris, the counsellor with whom she developed an unusual, almost violent bond. There are things she needs to tell Iris: some that she hid during the brief time they knew each other, and some that she has learned since. She was missing her mind the autumn they spent together and has since regained it.
Iris and the Dead unfurls the hidden power dynamics of abuse, offering a beguiling inquiry into intergenerational trauma, moral ambiguity, and queer identity.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2025
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1059 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 24, 2026
February 24, 2026 Update Ah well, Canada 🍁 didn't make the shortlist. If you are feeling adventurous the shortlisted titles for the 2025 Republic of Consciousness Prize (Canada/US) are:
Dreaming of Dead People by Rosalind Belben.
Little Lazarus by Michael Bible.
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, David McKay (Translator).
The Endless Week by Laura Vázquez, Alex Niemi (Translator).
Hothouse Bloom by Austyn Wohlers.
Recovering 🍁
A review of the Book*hug Press paperback (June 10, 2025).
The manner and tone of the book does come across as autofiction, although the author (see interview below) does say it is mostly all fiction. The publisher's synopsis which says it is "for fans of Annie Ernaux", the Nobel Prize winning autofictionalist, would seem like they prefer to play both sides of the coin.
The story is told in very brief vignettes ranging from a paragraph to 1 or 2 pages each, which jump around the timeline from flashbacks to the narrator's present. The style does require you to orient yourself differently from standard fiction reading.
Trivia and Links
Read an interview with the author about Iris and the Dead at Maisonneuve by Nicky Taylor, July 7, 2025.
I came across Iris and the Dead when I saw it Longlisted for the 2025 Republic of Consciousness Prize US/Canada on January 20, 2026, where Miranda Schreiber is the only Canadian author.
The Shortlist for the 2025 RoC Prize US/Canada will be announced on February 24, 2026 and the winner on March 10, 2026.
Miranda Schreiber is a Toronto-based journalist and researcher who often writes about the medical industry and related subjects. You can read some of her articles at The Walrus. Iris and the Dead is her first novel.
Dreaming of Dead People by Rosalind Belben.
Little Lazarus by Michael Bible.
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, David McKay (Translator).
The Endless Week by Laura Vázquez, Alex Niemi (Translator).
Hothouse Bloom by Austyn Wohlers.
Recovering 🍁
A review of the Book*hug Press paperback (June 10, 2025).
Twelve was too young to be queer, but in the world we've made one is always a little too young for the knowledge, could always have had another few years or months.At the age of 26, the unnamed narrator in Iris and the Dead is looking back on her early life, particularly during a 3 month period when, at the age of 18, she was struggling with coming out and began to see Iris, her then 26 year-old therapist. The relationship became obsessive on both parts and resulted in their spending time together away from their sessions. Iris moved back to the States from Toronto (the work was only a temporary assignment) and keeps only intermittent contact. Eight years later the narrator is still struggling to process it all and has recurring bouts of depression.
When I told my psychiatrist I had found a cure for my sickness and re-entered the world, he said he was happy for me.
What did you do to cure it?
I quadrupled my doses, I said.
You shouldn't do that, he said. It's very dangerous.
But when Iris emailed me back, she said she had no idea what I meant. I had to say it explicitly. I put it very clinically, but I did not say it all. We were way too close, give the power differential inherent in a relationship between someone who is counselling someone else. It has continued to affect me.There is an interlude section where it is as if the narrator's ancestors have come back to life to tell their story. They were jews in Uzhhorod, Ukraine who had perished in the Holocaust. The placement of that section towards the later part of the book makes them a catalyst towards the narrator's recovery.
The manner and tone of the book does come across as autofiction, although the author (see interview below) does say it is mostly all fiction. The publisher's synopsis which says it is "for fans of Annie Ernaux", the Nobel Prize winning autofictionalist, would seem like they prefer to play both sides of the coin.
The story is told in very brief vignettes ranging from a paragraph to 1 or 2 pages each, which jump around the timeline from flashbacks to the narrator's present. The style does require you to orient yourself differently from standard fiction reading.
Trivia and Links
Read an interview with the author about Iris and the Dead at Maisonneuve by Nicky Taylor, July 7, 2025.
I came across Iris and the Dead when I saw it Longlisted for the 2025 Republic of Consciousness Prize US/Canada on January 20, 2026, where Miranda Schreiber is the only Canadian author.
The Shortlist for the 2025 RoC Prize US/Canada will be announced on February 24, 2026 and the winner on March 10, 2026.
Miranda Schreiber is a Toronto-based journalist and researcher who often writes about the medical industry and related subjects. You can read some of her articles at The Walrus. Iris and the Dead is her first novel.
May 11, 2025
Iris And The Dead is a novel about a depressed young woman who is struggling to come out as queer. She gets paired with a therapist named Iris, ten years older than her, who also happens to be sapphic. Under the guise of helping her come out, Iris crosses boundaries, which has drastic effects on our narrator for many years.
As someone who was groomed by another woman nearly a decade older than her, this novel made me feel validated and seen. The author’s descriptions of mental illness and depression really resonated with me, too. Reading Iris And The Dead was a near-religious experience.
There is a misconception that sapphic relationships are inherently “pure” and “non-predatory”, which (in my opinion) may stem from the “they’re just gal pals” rhetoric. As a result, sapphic women often aren’t taken seriously when reporting abuse or mistreatment by their partners. Iris And The Dead shines light on important issues that are not well-represented yet in modern literature. I recommend In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado for another book that champions this topic!
Thank you to Book*Hug Press for my advanced copy. Iris And The Dead releases 6/10!
As someone who was groomed by another woman nearly a decade older than her, this novel made me feel validated and seen. The author’s descriptions of mental illness and depression really resonated with me, too. Reading Iris And The Dead was a near-religious experience.
There is a misconception that sapphic relationships are inherently “pure” and “non-predatory”, which (in my opinion) may stem from the “they’re just gal pals” rhetoric. As a result, sapphic women often aren’t taken seriously when reporting abuse or mistreatment by their partners. Iris And The Dead shines light on important issues that are not well-represented yet in modern literature. I recommend In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado for another book that champions this topic!
Thank you to Book*Hug Press for my advanced copy. Iris And The Dead releases 6/10!
February 19, 2026
I can't recall a novel I have read that pries open the inner workings of a mind quite like this one. Here we have a girl, presumably based on Miranda Schreiber herself, battling mental health issues and internal conflict about her sexuality. Yes, the book is about abuse, but the novel's power rests in the author's curiosity about trauma, unfair social constructs, solitude, and depression. She seeks understanding and yearns for growth and love. That attitude of striving for and wanting makes this novel all the more moving. And the writing is wonderful. I'm grateful for indie presses and literary prizes like the Republic of Consciousness US/Canada for bringing this book to light. High four stars and I'm willing to bet I will reflect on this one for quite some time.
July 8, 2025
"Nothing ends. I can revist things too. I can rename things. These memories are deathless. They have no fixed date."
Some people change our lives and then there are people who haunt our spirits. For the narrator of Miranda Schrieber's debut, Iris is both of those people. As a young girl in her teens, the narrator is assigned Iris as an interim counsellor who helps her come out leading to power dynamics and confusing boundaries. Iris and the Dead challenges the sapphic love trope and explores not the romantic ideals but the predatory and manipulative nature used by Iris. How many of us have played over and over in our heads the things we would say to the people who have dramatically altered our beings and left us in a pile of confusion, hopelessness and abandonment?
"Every mind is a world. When a mind is lost, sadly a world dies with it."
Schreiber's arresting and introspective writing, would have been great delving into these aspects alone, however, Iris and the Dead further probes the effects of intergenerational trauma on the narrator's being with haunting and magical realist musings in the second part. This part of the book leaves the reader feeling a bit ungrounded which is probably much of how the narrator felt during and after her swirling drama with Iris. The writing touches on what is still alive and what we think is dead, as opposed to what is very much still alive in ways we can't quite put into words.
"Trauma wounds a prehistoric part of the brain, which predates the human capacity for speech. Therefore language fails to describe trauma. Being beyond language is trauma's inherent trait."
Miranda Schreiber has written a haunting coming-of-age debut about depression and intergenerational trauma in a way that is both beautifully stunning and frighteningly human. Coming to terms with ourselves is messy and through it all Schreiber's writing is courageous, earnest and hopeful. Sometimes losing ourselves seems like the most frightening thing, and sometimes in hindsight it can be seen as the necessary cost of becoming who we are now.
"A gift is frightening. It comes with moorings. I am indebted to you, which makes this whole thing stranger. You overflow, my love. You exceed. For years your gift and its consequences seemed uncontrollable."
"I am a soul, please don't look any deeper."
"The living believe what they experience is all there is, perturbed by their ignorance. The living abstract arbitrary things from their lives and assume they are true for everyone. They have lived in one world, one state, and disbelieve the possibility of others."
"A great and long sickness leaves the patient with the understanding of change. The knowledge of sickness is as long as the knowledge of love."
"I am losing my mind. I am terrorized and so happy."
"The first rupture of my universe was sickness and the second was meeting you. The third rupture was health."
Some people change our lives and then there are people who haunt our spirits. For the narrator of Miranda Schrieber's debut, Iris is both of those people. As a young girl in her teens, the narrator is assigned Iris as an interim counsellor who helps her come out leading to power dynamics and confusing boundaries. Iris and the Dead challenges the sapphic love trope and explores not the romantic ideals but the predatory and manipulative nature used by Iris. How many of us have played over and over in our heads the things we would say to the people who have dramatically altered our beings and left us in a pile of confusion, hopelessness and abandonment?
"Every mind is a world. When a mind is lost, sadly a world dies with it."
Schreiber's arresting and introspective writing, would have been great delving into these aspects alone, however, Iris and the Dead further probes the effects of intergenerational trauma on the narrator's being with haunting and magical realist musings in the second part. This part of the book leaves the reader feeling a bit ungrounded which is probably much of how the narrator felt during and after her swirling drama with Iris. The writing touches on what is still alive and what we think is dead, as opposed to what is very much still alive in ways we can't quite put into words.
"Trauma wounds a prehistoric part of the brain, which predates the human capacity for speech. Therefore language fails to describe trauma. Being beyond language is trauma's inherent trait."
Miranda Schreiber has written a haunting coming-of-age debut about depression and intergenerational trauma in a way that is both beautifully stunning and frighteningly human. Coming to terms with ourselves is messy and through it all Schreiber's writing is courageous, earnest and hopeful. Sometimes losing ourselves seems like the most frightening thing, and sometimes in hindsight it can be seen as the necessary cost of becoming who we are now.
"A gift is frightening. It comes with moorings. I am indebted to you, which makes this whole thing stranger. You overflow, my love. You exceed. For years your gift and its consequences seemed uncontrollable."
"I am a soul, please don't look any deeper."
"The living believe what they experience is all there is, perturbed by their ignorance. The living abstract arbitrary things from their lives and assume they are true for everyone. They have lived in one world, one state, and disbelieve the possibility of others."
"A great and long sickness leaves the patient with the understanding of change. The knowledge of sickness is as long as the knowledge of love."
"I am losing my mind. I am terrorized and so happy."
"The first rupture of my universe was sickness and the second was meeting you. The third rupture was health."
July 11, 2025
Miranda Schreiber writes in a way that makes you want to write poetry. Gut-wrenching and beautiful.
July 10, 2025
Poetic prose is not my favourite. I didn’t struggle as much as I expected, so I didn’t hate it.
It was a group read and I will read anything for friends 🥰
It was a group read and I will read anything for friends 🥰
January 15, 2026
“I realized I could not make things magnificent. I realized I would live with things as they were.”
Thematically, there’s overlap here with “Milk Fed” (inherited Jewish grief, mother-wounds, and the golem as metaphor for deep disconnect, illness, and the turn inward), but this is much darker. The prose is undeniably electric; autofictional, yes, but also sparse and poetic, constantly turning the self over as something both private and monumental.
As a lesbian person myself, the book’s usurpation of a hard truth—our cultural assumption that two women in love cannot harm each other—is a wounding premise that rang true to my own heartbreak. Watching the narrator move through that, through shame and growth and fallout, was deeply affecting, and it speaks candidly about peer-to-peer queerness in a way I don’t often encounter. Lines are crossed both professionally (between therapist with her client) and metaphysically (between life and death).
What stunned me most is how the narrator subverts Hell (specifically the way it’s created and leveraged against queer folks) by crafting a kind of folklore of displacement. It’s hard to describe, but it’s beautiful to behold. When she imagines her mind leaving her, she imagines it as her ancestors’ chance to experience the world through her, as a vessel: speculative by genre but piercing and raw in how it handles trauma, disability, and meaning-making. Within it, too, is the uniquely lesbian yearning of wanting a child that can be difficult to conceive.
In the end, the question becomes: how might a body, or a mind, be accepted when it exists only incompletely—just like a sexuality that’s still forming? That becomes the final facet in this novel’s exploration of disappearance and recovery. Existence is valid across its many forms, even when there’s no script for it; its foundation is the literary critique of resilience.
Wrenching, sublime, and completely unique with an astonishing grasp on every single sensorial detail. I was profoundly impacted by this novel and will undoubtedly return to it again and again. A sheer feat of storytelling.
Thematically, there’s overlap here with “Milk Fed” (inherited Jewish grief, mother-wounds, and the golem as metaphor for deep disconnect, illness, and the turn inward), but this is much darker. The prose is undeniably electric; autofictional, yes, but also sparse and poetic, constantly turning the self over as something both private and monumental.
As a lesbian person myself, the book’s usurpation of a hard truth—our cultural assumption that two women in love cannot harm each other—is a wounding premise that rang true to my own heartbreak. Watching the narrator move through that, through shame and growth and fallout, was deeply affecting, and it speaks candidly about peer-to-peer queerness in a way I don’t often encounter. Lines are crossed both professionally (between therapist with her client) and metaphysically (between life and death).
What stunned me most is how the narrator subverts Hell (specifically the way it’s created and leveraged against queer folks) by crafting a kind of folklore of displacement. It’s hard to describe, but it’s beautiful to behold. When she imagines her mind leaving her, she imagines it as her ancestors’ chance to experience the world through her, as a vessel: speculative by genre but piercing and raw in how it handles trauma, disability, and meaning-making. Within it, too, is the uniquely lesbian yearning of wanting a child that can be difficult to conceive.
In the end, the question becomes: how might a body, or a mind, be accepted when it exists only incompletely—just like a sexuality that’s still forming? That becomes the final facet in this novel’s exploration of disappearance and recovery. Existence is valid across its many forms, even when there’s no script for it; its foundation is the literary critique of resilience.
Wrenching, sublime, and completely unique with an astonishing grasp on every single sensorial detail. I was profoundly impacted by this novel and will undoubtedly return to it again and again. A sheer feat of storytelling.
June 6, 2025
Iris and The Dead by Miranda Schreiber
Publication Date: June 10/25
A haunting and lyrical queer coming of age novel that navigates the depths of debilitating depression, a toxic and life altering relationship, and the complexities of trauma and healing. With insight, brilliance, and touches of magical realism it explores intense themes such as mental health, intergenerational trauma and exploitative relationships.
Told through a series of vignettes, the narrator recounts “losing her mind” at 12. Isolated, terrified and trapped within an unrecognized condition, later diagnosed as atypical depression, she invites you into her world with writing that is poignant, visceral and deeply affecting.
Central to the novel is the narrator’s exploration of a pivotal relationship with a counsellor when she was at her most vulnerable. The emotional intensity and power of their relationship contrasted with her overwhelming struggles with depression and her sexual identity is powerfully rendered. Her journey to understand, acknowledge, and name the abuse and exploitation she endured is compelling, heart wrenching and unflinchingly honest.
While this story is rooted in trauma and mental illness, it is equally about healing, resilience, and self discovery. It is a beautifully written testament of the courage to keep living during dark times, and finding hope and connection on the other side. This is a spectacular debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she produces next.
Thanks to @riber and @bookhug for the chance to preview this book.
Publication Date: June 10/25
A haunting and lyrical queer coming of age novel that navigates the depths of debilitating depression, a toxic and life altering relationship, and the complexities of trauma and healing. With insight, brilliance, and touches of magical realism it explores intense themes such as mental health, intergenerational trauma and exploitative relationships.
Told through a series of vignettes, the narrator recounts “losing her mind” at 12. Isolated, terrified and trapped within an unrecognized condition, later diagnosed as atypical depression, she invites you into her world with writing that is poignant, visceral and deeply affecting.
Central to the novel is the narrator’s exploration of a pivotal relationship with a counsellor when she was at her most vulnerable. The emotional intensity and power of their relationship contrasted with her overwhelming struggles with depression and her sexual identity is powerfully rendered. Her journey to understand, acknowledge, and name the abuse and exploitation she endured is compelling, heart wrenching and unflinchingly honest.
While this story is rooted in trauma and mental illness, it is equally about healing, resilience, and self discovery. It is a beautifully written testament of the courage to keep living during dark times, and finding hope and connection on the other side. This is a spectacular debut novel and I can’t wait to see what she produces next.
Thanks to @riber and @bookhug for the chance to preview this book.
July 13, 2025
usually this style of writing goes right over my head, but i found this easy to follow and quite beautiful. part 2 lost me a bit, but it was short enough where it didn’t discourage me from continuing.
October 7, 2025
“Your river of forgetfulness—which you live by, which you drink to survive—has a permanent flow. Never splitting, never draining into the sea, it ferries you only forward.”
I took me around 3 hours to finish the book, and I can’t remember the last time I picked something up that I couldn’t put down until I was done. To think this is her debut novel just baffles me. What a brilliant mind. What a beautiful mind. I’m so glad it’s hers again.
I took me around 3 hours to finish the book, and I can’t remember the last time I picked something up that I couldn’t put down until I was done. To think this is her debut novel just baffles me. What a brilliant mind. What a beautiful mind. I’m so glad it’s hers again.
August 16, 2025
Absolutely gorgeous little novel, I will be thinking about this for a while.
Read
February 8, 20262026 RofC US/Canada Prize Longlist #3
I have zero patience for this brand of "first-world intergenerational trauma" text. It reads rather grotesquely while people are being exterminated left and right, like right now..
I have zero patience for this brand of "first-world intergenerational trauma" text. It reads rather grotesquely while people are being exterminated left and right, like right now..
Read
February 27, 2026Longlisted for the 2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
"Only when access to the imaginative life is denied does one go in for love in a big way"
—VIVIAN GORNICK, Fierce Attachments
*
Your circular universe, which ends and begins forever, leaves behind traces in other worlds. Iris, you should know: the places you leave do not simply vanish. (86)
*
Nothing on this earth could ever make what had happened worth it. It was not worth it. I can only try to understand it. Trying to make it worth it was like trying to bring back the dead.
Instead, we must have a world where no one, no matter how sick they are, is made to disappear. (158)
_____
fast-paced, dark & reflective… exploring identities, trauma, & the messy moral terrain of intimate relationships, with an experimental literary edge in how the book unfolds…
so needed. so real. &, this is her debut, so I’ll definitely be looking for future works!!
2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
in-progress personal rankings; shortlisted books are numbered
1. The Endless Week, Laura Vázquez (tr. Alex Niemi)
2. Little Lazarus, Michael Bible
—On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia (tr. Padma Viswanathan)
3. Hothouse Bloom, Austyn Wohlers
—Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
—Little World, Josephine Rowe
—Iris & the Dead, Miranda Schreiber
5. Dreaming of Dead People, Rosalind Belben
—Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation, Sarah Yahm
[9/10 & up next: The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (tr. David McKay) - shortlisted]
"Only when access to the imaginative life is denied does one go in for love in a big way"
—VIVIAN GORNICK, Fierce Attachments
*
Your circular universe, which ends and begins forever, leaves behind traces in other worlds. Iris, you should know: the places you leave do not simply vanish. (86)
*
Nothing on this earth could ever make what had happened worth it. It was not worth it. I can only try to understand it. Trying to make it worth it was like trying to bring back the dead.
Instead, we must have a world where no one, no matter how sick they are, is made to disappear. (158)
_____
fast-paced, dark & reflective… exploring identities, trauma, & the messy moral terrain of intimate relationships, with an experimental literary edge in how the book unfolds…
so needed. so real. &, this is her debut, so I’ll definitely be looking for future works!!
2026 RofC US/Canada Prize
in-progress personal rankings; shortlisted books are numbered
1. The Endless Week, Laura Vázquez (tr. Alex Niemi)
2. Little Lazarus, Michael Bible
—On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia (tr. Padma Viswanathan)
3. Hothouse Bloom, Austyn Wohlers
—Small Scale Sinners, Mahreen Sohail
—Little World, Josephine Rowe
—Iris & the Dead, Miranda Schreiber
5. Dreaming of Dead People, Rosalind Belben
—Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation, Sarah Yahm
[9/10 & up next: The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (tr. David McKay) - shortlisted]
December 4, 2025
“I would like you to know you can go missing within your own body. Everything can be within reach and not.”
January 8, 2026
Iris and the Dead is a triggering cautionary tale and a beautiful examination of generational resilience.
Iris is both recounted and addressed directly in the narrative. People who like journalling or struggle with it will enjoy reading this. Patients who have endured long wait times to get medical issues investigated, or utilized mental health services / support / medications, will find this novel relatable. Anyone in a position of trust will benefit from reading this story (as a guideline how not to behave toward their dependents). Iris and the Dead will resonate with Survivors of trauma, and descendants of intergenerational trauma.
Reading this made me feel connected and understood.
Iris is both recounted and addressed directly in the narrative. People who like journalling or struggle with it will enjoy reading this. Patients who have endured long wait times to get medical issues investigated, or utilized mental health services / support / medications, will find this novel relatable. Anyone in a position of trust will benefit from reading this story (as a guideline how not to behave toward their dependents). Iris and the Dead will resonate with Survivors of trauma, and descendants of intergenerational trauma.
Reading this made me feel connected and understood.
September 1, 2025
“Even if no one knows what I mean, I will claim meanings for things. I will say what is violation. I will say what is love.”
I really enjoyed reading most of this novel. Many of the depictions of mental illness and disability really struck a chord with me, as someone who also struggled with depression from a young age. Although the story seems to be mostly about the narrator’s relationship with (and subsequent impacts left by) Iris, it is just as much about her relationship with mental health and her healing journey.
Unfortunately, where the book lost me was the sections touching on magical realism. I understand what the author is going for and recognize the importance of the subject matters, but it unfortunately just felt very out of place in the novel. It didn’t work for me.
I really enjoyed reading most of this novel. Many of the depictions of mental illness and disability really struck a chord with me, as someone who also struggled with depression from a young age. Although the story seems to be mostly about the narrator’s relationship with (and subsequent impacts left by) Iris, it is just as much about her relationship with mental health and her healing journey.
Unfortunately, where the book lost me was the sections touching on magical realism. I understand what the author is going for and recognize the importance of the subject matters, but it unfortunately just felt very out of place in the novel. It didn’t work for me.
December 23, 2025
pure poetry. queer abuse, depression, and rebirth. queer healing. love love love love love.
February 1, 2026
Book experiences like the one I had with Iris and the Dead are some of my favourite. I came across this book while browsing a local bookstore and decided to take a shot on it because it seemed so perfect for me—and it was.
And I feel like I was the perfect reader for it as well—I'm from Toronto, I'm a lesbian, I'm dealing with the aftermath of an abusive relationship, and I've been mentally ill since childhood. It really felt in some places that I was reading about myself, which eerily mirrored the toxic dynamic between Iris and the narrator. I think so much of what goes right and then wrong between queer women is that we finally see our experiences reflected in another human being and mistake the similarities for the other person literally BEING us. When that happens in a toxic dynamic, like the one between a manipulative therapist and patient, it becomes ownership, codependency, abuse. When it happens in a book, where I have the space between me and the pages to tease apart the reflection from who I am, it is magic. There is nothing more profound than having an unnameable feeling and seeing it named, nothing more than poignant than experiencing something unspeakable and seeing it spoken.
Beyond the relatability, or perhaps in concert with the relatability, the prose was beautiful. Lyrical and precise, which is my favourite combination. The vignette style initially reminded me of In The Dream House, which I thought was lovely considering how absolutely groundbreaking that book is for the depiction and understanding of abusive lesbian relationships. Soon, though, I felt this book take on its own unique shape and colour. The section on the dead, part 2, felt a little too abstract for me (my only minor criticism), but I appreciated the scope that it was hoping to cover. The last part was very successful in conveying just how complicated and simple the healing process can be. Sometimes it's so complicated that words are once again stolen from you when you see something of hers, and sometimes it's as simple as seeing the sun through the window, and the constant oscillation between those is exhausting. That is a very hard reality to capture, and I felt it was done extremely well.
This is the kind of rare book that I wouldn't recommend widely BECAUSE I loved it so much. I do think that anyone who enjoys a vignette-style narration, deep introspection, and lyrical prose would enjoy this book. However, I think its beauty is mostly that it tells a story no one else wants to tell, or no one else CAN tell, and it is a story that I am so desperate to read.
I think that's it, actually: I felt desperate while reading this. As part of recovering from my abusive relationship, I've recently realized just how fundamental reading is to the processing of my pain. I truly believe that there is pain within me that I can heal only through reading and writing. To find a book that gives language to this specific pain—I felt like I was drinking in every word and nothing was enough to quench me.
And I feel like I was the perfect reader for it as well—I'm from Toronto, I'm a lesbian, I'm dealing with the aftermath of an abusive relationship, and I've been mentally ill since childhood. It really felt in some places that I was reading about myself, which eerily mirrored the toxic dynamic between Iris and the narrator. I think so much of what goes right and then wrong between queer women is that we finally see our experiences reflected in another human being and mistake the similarities for the other person literally BEING us. When that happens in a toxic dynamic, like the one between a manipulative therapist and patient, it becomes ownership, codependency, abuse. When it happens in a book, where I have the space between me and the pages to tease apart the reflection from who I am, it is magic. There is nothing more profound than having an unnameable feeling and seeing it named, nothing more than poignant than experiencing something unspeakable and seeing it spoken.
Beyond the relatability, or perhaps in concert with the relatability, the prose was beautiful. Lyrical and precise, which is my favourite combination. The vignette style initially reminded me of In The Dream House, which I thought was lovely considering how absolutely groundbreaking that book is for the depiction and understanding of abusive lesbian relationships. Soon, though, I felt this book take on its own unique shape and colour. The section on the dead, part 2, felt a little too abstract for me (my only minor criticism), but I appreciated the scope that it was hoping to cover. The last part was very successful in conveying just how complicated and simple the healing process can be. Sometimes it's so complicated that words are once again stolen from you when you see something of hers, and sometimes it's as simple as seeing the sun through the window, and the constant oscillation between those is exhausting. That is a very hard reality to capture, and I felt it was done extremely well.
This is the kind of rare book that I wouldn't recommend widely BECAUSE I loved it so much. I do think that anyone who enjoys a vignette-style narration, deep introspection, and lyrical prose would enjoy this book. However, I think its beauty is mostly that it tells a story no one else wants to tell, or no one else CAN tell, and it is a story that I am so desperate to read.
I think that's it, actually: I felt desperate while reading this. As part of recovering from my abusive relationship, I've recently realized just how fundamental reading is to the processing of my pain. I truly believe that there is pain within me that I can heal only through reading and writing. To find a book that gives language to this specific pain—I felt like I was drinking in every word and nothing was enough to quench me.
December 19, 2025
A difficult one as it’s obviously deeply autobiographical and deals with difficult topics that have clearly affected Schreiber but I don’t think I got anything out of reading this. Some really beautifully written passages but not quite enough to make it worth an re-read. It is written probably exactly how I would’ve done between 18 to 21 but I think this almost works against it because it’s difficult to not be so in your feelings at that age and often doesn’t make for a good reading experience.
Felt more like I was reading someone’s diary that shouldn’t really have been published, the theme of which ironically does come up in the text somewhat, but I don’t think you could make a sufficient argument of that being the point it’s trying to make.
Felt more like I was reading someone’s diary that shouldn’t really have been published, the theme of which ironically does come up in the text somewhat, but I don’t think you could make a sufficient argument of that being the point it’s trying to make.
September 1, 2025
extraordinary
July 30, 2025
Not my usual genre, but I won it in a giveaway so I gave it a try.
I opened it at lunch, read a couple of pieces, and by night I’d finished the whole thing. It was surprisingly gripping. I wanted to know what Iris would do and how it would end.
The writing is really beautiful, intriguing, and offers insight into depression —something I can’t personally relate to, yet still found relatable and moving. It also explored very relatable feelings (love...shame...confusion).
I would dock half a star if I could, just because Part 2 (which is a small part of the book) lost me a bit, but overall, it is an unexpected and thought-provoking read.
Thank you to the author for giving me the chance to win this, would not have read it otherwise and I am so happy that I got the opportunity!
I opened it at lunch, read a couple of pieces, and by night I’d finished the whole thing. It was surprisingly gripping. I wanted to know what Iris would do and how it would end.
The writing is really beautiful, intriguing, and offers insight into depression —something I can’t personally relate to, yet still found relatable and moving. It also explored very relatable feelings (love...shame...confusion).
I would dock half a star if I could, just because Part 2 (which is a small part of the book) lost me a bit, but overall, it is an unexpected and thought-provoking read.
Thank you to the author for giving me the chance to win this, would not have read it otherwise and I am so happy that I got the opportunity!
June 18, 2025
Thank you to @River Street Writes & @Miranda Schreiber for the gifted copy.
This book follows a young woman who enters therapy for depression and coming out, only to have her trust betrayed by her older, queer therapist, Iris. What starts as a space for healing turns into a crossing of boundaries that leaves lasting emotional scars. It’s a raw, honest look at trauma, mental health, and the pain of being taken advantage of when you're most vulnerable. The story touches on sapphic relationships, but more deeply explores how abuse can shape your sense of self. It made me feel angry, heartbroken, and somehow, a little healed. Self-discovery isn’t always pretty—but it can still be
This book follows a young woman who enters therapy for depression and coming out, only to have her trust betrayed by her older, queer therapist, Iris. What starts as a space for healing turns into a crossing of boundaries that leaves lasting emotional scars. It’s a raw, honest look at trauma, mental health, and the pain of being taken advantage of when you're most vulnerable. The story touches on sapphic relationships, but more deeply explores how abuse can shape your sense of self. It made me feel angry, heartbroken, and somehow, a little healed. Self-discovery isn’t always pretty—but it can still be
January 7, 2026
yeah wow lots of grooming for sure… as expected… but i did heavily relate to the second half of this book about her longlasting illness that sucked the soul out of her. i haven’t really seen that represented in that way in any piece of media yet
February 4, 2026
There might have been a time when I really got this, but I think I’m too old now. Maybe struggled for the same reason I struggled with Bell Jar. Anyway. Got halfway through, won’t finish.
February 10, 2026
2.5 stars
December 29, 2025
never read anything like it
August 13, 2025
✨Book Review✨
Iris and the Dead - Miranda Schrieber
This was written in a very interesting and experimental form. It explores a scenario in which a woman in her 20’s looks back on her experience having an inappropriately close relationship with her female counsellor who was about a decade her senior at the time. You really felt like you were in this girls head and felt her connection to this person while realizing how manipulative it was.
It also explored mental illness and how it can feel to grow up and feel an emptiness that no one really understands. Especially when the illness presents itself at a very young age.
3/5⭐️ I would recommend this as I think it is a very uniquely told story, I did I just want something more from it.
Iris and the Dead - Miranda Schrieber
This was written in a very interesting and experimental form. It explores a scenario in which a woman in her 20’s looks back on her experience having an inappropriately close relationship with her female counsellor who was about a decade her senior at the time. You really felt like you were in this girls head and felt her connection to this person while realizing how manipulative it was.
It also explored mental illness and how it can feel to grow up and feel an emptiness that no one really understands. Especially when the illness presents itself at a very young age.
3/5⭐️ I would recommend this as I think it is a very uniquely told story, I did I just want something more from it.
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