A review by dreamofbookspines
Beyond the Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block

5.0

As Block ages, her books get scarier and less light, though the beauty in her writing remains strong. This is rawer somehow, with more sex scenes and violence. This was hard to put down, as I wanted to know more about Catt. Catt's an unreliable narrator who's both deeply appealing in her vulnerability/humanity and deeply repelling in her penchant for sleeping with people to avoid looking at herself. The mystery of the story (who's the killer? what's happening to the people in Catt's life? what's happening to Catt?) and the theme of death are well integrated into the book.