InDesign Data Merge using different layouts in one document

I've been tasked with automating our catalogs. I'm a creative designer for a book puyblishing company and I love what I can do with data merge except that I need to be able to have differently designed pages in a single document. Some books are features and require a different design application - full page or half page options.  Some books can be in lists which data merge is happy to do. Some pages have four books on them and some have 18. I've been researching this on and off for a couple of weeks and it seems like all I can do is a single design (image/text) on single pages (not facing). I know I can add design elements to the Parent page but it appears I cannot create more than one Parent page design for data to flow into. All suggestions are most welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!