Author: Katarina Bivald
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Published: January 7, 2020
Book Description: From New York Times bestselling author of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend comes a charming tale of a ramshackle roadside motel: a heartwarming story of love, friendship, community, and the art of living, even when it’s already too late.
The Pine Creek Motel has seen better days. Henny would call it charming, but she’s always seen the best in things. Like now, when she’s just met an untimely end crossing the road. She’s not going to let a tiny thing like death stop her from living fully―not when her friends and family need her the most.
After the funeral is over, her body is buried, and the last casserole dish is empty, Henny is still around. She’s not sure why, but she realizes she has one last opportunity to help her friends discover the happiness they once knew before they lose the motel and cabins they’ve cherished for years.
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: I just adored The Reader’s of Broken Wheel Recommend so much, so I was very excited to receive an ARC of her new book. Like her previous book this is a very quirky story. What started as one type of story, turns into a somewhat political story, which I was not expecting, but nevertheless it worked.
The story is narrated by Henny, who from the opening pages we found out has just been killed when she was hit by a car crossing the street by the motel she works in. Henny then gives you an inside view of her father and her close circle of friends.
Her Dad is not handling his daughter’s death well. He has dealt with a lot of death before, but this appears to be the last in the line of his family that he has to be bury. Then we get to see Henny’s closest circle of friends, McKenzie who runs to the Motel, Camila who owns the motel and Michael, the boy she appears to have always had a romantic interest in.
The other side character is the actual town that they reside in Oregon. Oregon has always been known for anti-gay measures and this particular town seems to take it to the extreme. This town gangs up on this motel, in part because of Camilla who is trans and McKenzie who is a lesbian, and partly because the motel is not everything that is advertised per the original sign.
This story is about grief, living you best life and overcoming people’s prejudices. This book is very lengthy, but because of this you do get to see the characters mature, which is very much needed, There is a lot to make you think as you progress through this story. I think this would be a great book club read as there is so much to unpack in this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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