My Name Is Iris

A Novel

By: Brando Skyhorse

Narrated by: Alejandra Reynoso

“Brilliant.” —The Washington Post * “Nuanced and compelling.” —The New York Times

From the PEN/Hemingway Award–winning author of The Madonnas of Echo Park, an engrossing dystopian novel set in a near-future America where mandatory identification wristbands turn second-generation immigrants into second-class citizens—“a well-imagined allegory of divisive racial politics” (Kirkus Reviews).

Iris Prince is starting over. After years of drifting apart, she and her husband are going through a surprisingly drama-free divorce. She’s moved to a new house in a new neighborhood, and has plans for gardening, coffee clubs, and spending more time with her nine-year-old daughter Melanie. It feels like her life is finally exactly what she wants it to be.

Then, one beautiful morning, she looks outside her kitchen window—and sees that a wall has appeared in her front yard overnight. Where did it come from? What does it mean? And why does it seem to keep growing?

Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley startup has launched a high-tech wrist wearable called “the Band.” Pitched as a convenient, eco-friendly tool to help track local utilities and replace driver’s licenses and IDs, the Band is available only to those who can prove parental citizenship.

Suddenly, Iris, a proud second-generation Mexican American, is now of “unverifiable origin,” unable to prove who she is, or where she, and her undocumented loved ones, belong. Amid a climate of fear and hate-fueled violence, Iris must confront how far she'll go to protect what matters to her most.

“Part social commentary and part thoughtful consideration of themes that include family, identity, transitions, perspectives, and hope” (Shelf Awareness), My Name Is Iris is an all-too-possible story that offers a brilliant and timely look at one woman’s journey to discover who she can’t—and can—be.

Critic reviews

"Skyhorse’s timely dystopian tale comes to life, thanks to Alejandra Reynoso, the voice of Iris, an American citizen born of undocumented immigrants. Iris’s struggle to “be American” has taken a toll on her. When she was a child, her mother insisted that she speak only English and eschew bilingual education. Then there was the teacher who changed her name to Iris because Inez was too hard to say. Now Iris’s voice is accent-free, but she often sounds angry. Reynoso transitions smoothly into Spanish when Iris’s parents and sister speak, giving the listener a taste of the challenge of being surrounded by an unfamiliar tongue. Iris’s daughter Melanie’s voice displays the range of emotions a nine-year-old feels as she copes with changes in her life."

but the ending....

I felt this got better as it went along. I was sure this was a 5 star but the last 2 chapters ruined it for me. I unfortunately could see this as a way we would use to see who is " Americans".

I want to like this book more, but it felt like it was missing something.

The book started off a bit slow with vauge descriptions of Iris' life. But it felt like she was the main character on an undefined quest that kept getting distracted by other side quests. I wanted Iris to get back to the point at hand, but kept getting lost in the immense details about objects and her surroundings and unemotional conversations with those close to her. Towards the end I was waiting for an exciting turning point, but was left with questions I wasn't going to get answers to. The book has an interesting premise, but unfortunately left me hanging.

Did Not Enjoy

We expected this book to have an entertaining plot about a disturbing program relating to singling out immigrants and a mysterious wall. Instead, the whole first half of the book explored the characters, primarily their varying attitudes and approaches about racism and being immigrants or children of immigrants. Some of this discussion was interesting and thought-provoking, but it went on and on and ON, repetitively at times, with little to no action/plot development and a lot of frustratingly untranslated Spanish (we know a little but are not fluent). The narrator could not make the story more interesting and made frequent use of a tone that sounded “complaining” to us. We stopped listening halfway through. Just not one we enjoyed.

What was the point?

The write-up and initial premise of the book are intriguing, enough for our virtual bookclub to choose this book for our December selection. But what was going on here?

Was Iris mentally ill? Did she see things others could not see (the answer is yes). Was she haunted by guilt for her childhood friend's death and trying to escape it all by being "white"?

Plus, I do not speak Spanish. So I feel like I missed a quarter of the dialogue in the book. What was the point of that?

I've been an Audible member since 2011 - and I think I've only returned three books thus far (this being the third), The other two were a direct response to the narration - but this - this was the direct result of the storyline. The narrator couldn't do anything more with what she was given.

I don't particularly appreciate returning books. With this one, there was no option but to do so. Deeply disappointing.