As a story about an anorexic/bulimic sister, it's amazing - it really shows you how damaging and all-consuming the disease can be and how hard it can be to get them help, even after it's out in the open. As a story about a shy girl feeling too heavy, overshadowed by her smart/pretty/popular sister but becoming best friends with a new boy, it's excellent and very sweet. The extremely slow pace of their pending relationship gets a bit frustrating, but at least it's all on him - like us, she's all a-twitter with "does he like me??" feelings and anxious about the mixed signals while afraid to push for more because, well, self esteem issues. Plus the fact that he's an extremely genuine person and a victim himself makes his reluctance easier to understand once you know why.Lost an entire star when she randomly let her sister's ex have sex with her because apparently that's the ultimate goal of a 5-year crush, hooking up once to go all the way. (I mean, you know how it is the first time a hot guy kisses you, especially when you're a virgin. All of a sudden you feel like taking off your shirt, and then you can't remember how to do anything except get progressively more naked until he's done.) Completely bizarre and unnecessary to the plot. Here there be spoilers, so read at your own risk!Getting right into it, I just have to say that Never Enough frustrated me to no end. The premise, although something that's been done a thousand and one times before, is an intriguing one and therefore, this book should have been a winner. But it wasn't. Mainly because you're asked to root for an entirely unlikeable character. Usually I start out my reviews with the things I liked most about a book and then move into what I didn't like. However, since I found so little to like in Never Enough, I'm going to start with the negative.The Negative: Here's the thing about Loann (the main character and the one who has the sister with the E.D.), she's annoying and aggravating. She's just to utterly unlikeable. She's a complete and total bitch to her sister, but on top of that she acts all butt-hurt when her sister dishes it back to her. And let's not forget that Loann goes and sleeps with her sister's boyfriend. That's the world's biggest NO-NO! I know that, everyone knows that. But then asshole Loann insists on justifying it. Her obsession to be liked by guys is also annoying. She likes Josh. She likes Marcus, but she thinks she likes Josh more. But she still wants Marcus to like her and gets all hurt when he doesn't react with jealousy to her liking Josh. GAH! I just couldn't stand her. Loann was also extremely self-centered. Every action a character takes is about her, apparently. Her sister is whispering to her boyfriend: it's about her. Marcus is acting aloof: It's because of her. Her dad doesn't come home: she's the reason. What made it worse is that she had to keep reminding herself "wait, maybe this isn't about me" every single time she had a self-centered thought (which was a lot). I wanted to yell "NO, IT'S NOT! Because NEWSFLASH! you aren't the most important person in the universe!" GAH!Another Bad Thing: Never Enough was just adding issue on top of issue on top of issue. And it just wasn't following through with any of them. Loann sleeps with her sister's boyfriend...she feels guilty...Claire finds out....And that's all we read on that issue. Marcus' father is abusive (a plot point that comes from absolutely NOWHERE)...10 pages later that plot point is taken care of. Speaking of things that are virtually ignored: Shayleen and Deidre. I don't get it...what exactly was their point in this book? Deidre was barely in here and barely interacted with Loann, so it's not like she's this great friend. Shayleen, besides her bitchy attitude, didn't have enough to do here to be moved up to "enemy #1" status. The author could've just made Loann friendless prior to meeting Marcus and the plot would have been the exact same way.The Only Good Thing: Never Enough was engrossing. I hated Loann, I hated the plot points, I hated the disappearing of the actual conflicts that would have made this book better...But I could not for the life of me put Never Enough down. I just wanted to see how it would end. And yeah, the ending was cliché, predictable, and it's been done dozens of times only way better, but still: the end, I did want to read.So overall, I found Never Enough to be a huge disappointment. It's constant readability was the only reason it's not getting one star. I say skip it and read Wintergirls instead.
What do You think about Never Enough (2012)?
Good book. Rather a teenage novel than appropriate for young adults but still quite nice to read.
—jamie
shows the dangers of eating disorders and the courage and strength one family has
—C4ssi3
It tried to hit too many issues and didn't draw me in.
—Goleon
