Cat St. Clair is ready for her messy love triangle era now that she’s in an open relationship. But she didn’t foresee a forbidden love triangle with the only two people who are off-limits: her boyfriend’s best friend and his girlfriend. Being a twenty-something writer who lives for plot, she falls for them anyway, with disastrous consequences.
Blassingame mixes spare, aseptic language with ambrosial observation ... This proves fitting ... What makes the novel so refreshing is Blassingame’s seeming lack of interest in explaining away Cat’s behavior ... Probing and unpredictable ... A mournful love song for anyone afraid of being lost in translation.
The slow-burn love square provides soapy entertainment, as the tension among the characters crackles into a roaring, uncontrollable fire ... However, though They All Fall in Love at the End attempts to dive into the question of how to survive and thrive in the bleak landscape of contemporary romance, the answers it provides are sadly bleak as well ... While this might not make for the most fun read, it is certainly an achievement in seeking the zeitgeist.
Although at times the narrative packs too much in—telling the story of Cat’s parents’ marriage alongside her own romantic entanglements and struggle to stay focused on school amid political upheaval—the result is a painfully realistic and enjoyable portrait of a messy young adulthood. It’s a promising first effort.
