Jennifer Brown (Hate List) has created a realistic and emotional sibling journey with Perfect Escape.
Kendra's life has revolved around her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD has forced him into breakdowns, therapy and routines. Feeling the pressure to be a "normal child" for her parents, Kendra has spent years attempting to be perfect. This drive for perfection takes her down a path of cheating and lies in an effort to receive an A in a class she's failing and ruins the image she has tried to uphold for her parents and her college dreams. Needing a moment to think, Kendra finds herself at Newman Quarry where her brother has come on hundreds of occasions to count rocks. Sure enough, he's there again. Soon Grayson and Kendra are 100 miles from home, with Kendra planning to drive all the way to California.
The main theme of Perfect Escape may be a road trip, but the real journey here happens in the relationship between Kendra and Grayson. Brown doesn't take the easy way out, weaving solutions together for a neat package in the end. Instead, we witness Kendra's extremely realistic inner monologues as she realizes her place in life and where Grayson fits, and the shattering of her previous perceptions. The story moves quickly enough to keep readers interested, but slowly enough to fully explore the importance of a sibling relationship. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit