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A review by icanreadish
Beyond the Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block
3.75
darker than i anticipated. the summary led me to believe this would be more like a crime drama a la criminal minds, but really it was more desperate housewives, and so much darker and bleaker by the end. the plot follows catt's sexual/romantic adventures than her friendship with bree or the serial killer, though both always loom in the background as things catt can react to. it's rather smutty, very bisexual-hetero adjacent ( like the character is obviously bisexual, but acts so hetero with other men idk how to describe it im a lesbian )
catt's breakdown doesn't really hook until the last 1/3 of the book, but it's a car crash from the house party to the end. you can't help but feel for her, after watching her take care of the other people in her life and try, desperately, to form connections with men who don't beep her weirdo radar. i think the story would've felt stronger if the presence of men was dialed back a bit and there was more focus on bree's relationship with catt. all our men still definitely could've stuck around in the background - cyan, dash, jarrell, todd, stu, the foot fetish guy - but yeah. too many men for the promised bestie-story in the summary. ( i kind of expect this now from lisa block books? i've only read like, 3, but in all our MC is basically the only woman and the rest of the cast is straight and gay boys )
i do love the ending, and i appreciate catt as a protagonist so much.goodness did the people in her life SUCK
catt's breakdown doesn't really hook until the last 1/3 of the book, but it's a car crash from the house party to the end. you can't help but feel for her, after watching her take care of the other people in her life and try, desperately, to form connections with men who don't beep her weirdo radar. i think the story would've felt stronger if the presence of men was dialed back a bit and there was more focus on bree's relationship with catt. all our men still definitely could've stuck around in the background - cyan, dash, jarrell, todd, stu, the foot fetish guy - but yeah. too many men for the promised bestie-story in the summary. ( i kind of expect this now from lisa block books? i've only read like, 3, but in all our MC is basically the only woman and the rest of the cast is straight and gay boys )
i do love the ending, and i appreciate catt as a protagonist so much.