Beyond Repair by Charlotte Stein

Beyond Repair
by Charlotte Stein
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My Review:
This book was billed as New Adult. It's written in 3^rd person, but only from Alice's perspective. I agree that it's a bit different than many of Charlotte Stein's other books, which tend to be extra-super filthy. It had a little bit of dirty, filthy sex, but that was mostly an afterthought compared to the emotion and gravity of the characters. Alice and Holden were so, so, so messed up. The way they met was crazy; their time together was sweet and bewitching; and their conclusion was gritty, poignant, and intense.

There was Charlotte Stein's signature depth of feeling and complete submersion inside the characters' subconscious. I knew them, I was them, and I couldn't help loving them. The language was so fun and quirky. They felt like real people that I'd want to be friends with. Here's an example of just a little piece of awesome:

She'd always seen the term grab ass and imagined something brutal and rude. The equivalent in her head was punching someone's great-aunt with a penis.

I felt like neither character had much in the way of physical descriptions. In this case, it made it so easy to let them fly free. They could both be attractive to each other without needing to narrow down what that attraction meant. They loved each other because they connected and accepted each other. It sounds like such a simple thought, but they worked through things heartbreakingly and beautifully.

Alice had some deep emotional issues to work through. I can't give away too much without spoilers, so let's just say that her issues could have veered into major psychological help needed, but I felt happy with the way the book went. She was able to overcome, in what I felt was a believable way, through being accepted and needed. She already had a lot of the psychological help paving the way, but she found a reason to fight once she established an emotional connection.

The experience of this book is so intense because everything is so constrained; one house, one moment in time, one single step taken before thinking about the next. Holden and Alice are so broken and seeing them heal and open up to each other makes life worthwhile. I was drawn in to the pain and disconnect of these two. Life just didn't work for them. They didn't have meaningful connections and they're full of emptiness. Things didn't get easy once they meet, but their love gave them reasons to fight through the emotional pain.

I loved seeing how Holden and Alice connected. They met each other exactly where they were. They pushed each other just a little bit, but there was no judgement – only acceptance. It was exactly the type of relationship that felt perfect. Even when they were dealing with heavy issues, they were whimsical and quirky – giving each other nicknames and allowing space for growth.

I'm not often a fan of movie star books. I hate the whole famous person thing. But it didn't matter that Holden was externally famous. It only mattered that he was famous to Alice because it gave them a connection. They got a little kinky, but that was just another way for them to accept each other.


Beyond Repair didn't quite knock my very favorite Charlotte Stein books off the top of the stack, but I did love it. It was so vulnerable and achingly raw. I agonized, I smiled, and I couldn't help the wistful feeling when I read this book.