Name: Never Enough
ISBN: 9781442429079

Denise Jaden

Sixteen-year-old Loann admires and envies her older sister Claire's strength, popularity and beauty, but as Loann begins to open up to new possibilities in herself, she discovers that Claire's all-consuming quest for perfection comes at a dangerous price. Original.

Never Enough

Hannah Yang

Honestly, I don't know what quite to write, because there are so many things I could write about. I don't know how to describe Never Enough properly. There are so many words I could use. Complex. Dark. Intense. Captivating. Heartachingly honest. Realistic. I couldn't put this book down. Everything about it appealed to me.

The characters. Oh my goodness.

Meet Loann Rochester (sometimes called Loey by her sister and Marcus), the protagonist and narrator. She's very average, maybe even below average, and isn't a girly girl like her popular sister Claire. At the beginning of the novel, she has her own little group of friends consisting of loudmouth Shayleen (who soon after turns into a total jerk) and quiet, unassuming Deirdre (who really is just there). 

I thought Loann was an amazing narrator. I loved reading from her perspective. She was portrayed very realistically. She wasn't the-sucky-sister-who-is-angsty-and-mourns-about-her-life, nor was she Miss Perfect. She has reasonable thoughts and desires and feelings and everything for someone in her position. Loann wishes she were like her sister, who in her eyes was perfect. When she discovers her sister's problem, she tries desperately to help. Loey was a great character and a great sister.

Claire Rochester is a mess. When I first read the blurb, I already expected Never Enough to be an eating disorder book. However, I thought it would be about Claire's recovery. Not so. Claire seems to be the girl that everyone else would want to be: pretty, skinny, multi-talented, and perfect. But she has no control of the life she has fallen into and secretly wishes she were more like Loey. Claire loathes herself and doesn't know how to change.


  Her eyes fell to her lap. "I can't stop. That's it. It sounds so simple, doesn't it?" She laughed a halfhearted laugh. "I always thought I could stop, you know? I always thought I was strong and I knew what I was doing. Sometimes I actually believed this made me stronger than everyone. I'd start again... to toughen up. But now, I don't know. It's not what I thought it would be. Not at all."

This single paragraph turned me into a mess and really made my heart break for Claire. How could someone so beautiful feel so ugly?

Marcus is, of course, Loann's eventual love interest. Notice the eventual - they literally only get together at the lAST feW PagEs OF ThE NovEL. The love story did not take center stage! Let the celebrations commence!

Of course, there were times in the middle when I was just dying for them to kiss already, but I liked how they ended up together. Marcus, like everyone in this book, has problems. He's scared. Too scared. And Loann helps him out of it. She heals him like she tried to heal Claire. I love how they're not always getting along. I love how they mock/make sarcastic remarks at each other. I love how they're realistic, like everything else in this book. Marcus himself is a complicated guy and I like how his unpredictability causes Loann to react.

Oh, and Josh is a douchebag. No comments necessary.

The story. Another oh my goodness.

The blurb mislead me a little - I expected Never Enough to focus a lot on Loann's "betrayal" to Claire. However, Josh is pretty minor except for the scene in which he completely out-douchebags himself. The actual eating disorder stuff came far later than I expected as well. However, the story wasn't slow at all. The time it took to develop and build up was necessary and well-written, and allowed us readers to compare how Loann and Claire change as the novel progresses. 

I really, really liked the focus on Loann and Claire's sisterly relationship. Throughout the beginning of the book, when Loann doesn't see anything wrong with Claire, you can see how much Loann admires her. Later on, you can see how Loann's afraid for her. Little hints are dropped about Claire's disorder, such as Claire's refusing to eat and her frequent "forgetting lunch".

But the best part was that this wasn't really an eating disorder book. Sure, the eating disorder was a huge part of the book, but I thought that Never Enough explored more the relationship between Loann and Claire, and how Claire's eating disorder changed and impacted it. It was more about trying to understand Claire, trying to figure out what the question was so that they could answer it. And alongside the relationship between the two sisters, we have the ever-changing, unpredictable relationship between Marcus and Loann.

The writing was close to flawless too. The writing style was light even when it tread on heavy topics. That takes a lot of skill on the author's part. Nothing felt forced, approaching the topics gently rather than being preachy or forceful. While we could clearly see how messed up Claire was, her issues are brought to light from the realistic perspective of a sister and fellow teenager. 

So really, a huge round of applause for Never Enough. I truly give it a heartfelt recommendation. It was such a pleasant read and approaches topics that are so important for teenagers. I'd say a minor trigger warning, but Never Enough isn't too focused on Claire's eating disorders so it should be okay.