A sister and an OCD brother go on a road trip. Sounds like a great set up for a comedic routine; however, this book is anything but funny. Jennifer Brown writes a heartwarming tale about two siblings, neither of which is perfect, on an unplanned trip to California. On this ride, Kendra and Grayson make an unlikely friend and learn the truth about an old one.

I absolutely adored the relationship between the siblings and the sneak peek into the heartbreak of loving someone with OCD. I totally recommend this book to everyone! ( )

Honors student Kendra is about to graduate high school when something very bad she has done comes to light. The scandal promises to ruin her chances of college, and will certainly tarnish the "perfect-kid" impression her parents have of her. Rather than face up to what she's done, which readers don't fully know until the end of the book, Kendra makes a split-second decision to hit the road with her just-out-of-treatment-for-OCD older brother Grayson. As she formulates her plan on the road, Kendra comes to see the trip as a way to cure both herself and her brother, whose illness has controlled her family life for almost as long as she can remember. The trip is not easy. Kendra has very little money, and Grayson's need for routine and cleanliness about makes Kendra crazy. The one secret hope Kendra has is of getting them to California, to visit Zoe, a girl who is both Kendra's long lost best friend and Grayson's former girlfriend. Even that plan has its flaws, though, as Zoe's family packed up and moved out of Missouri to get away from Grayson.

Author Jennifer Brown very effectively captures the interplay of the two siblings trapped in the car together, each with his or her own reasons for liking and disliking the other. Brown also gives what seems to be an honest depiction of a young man suffering from extreme OCD (I can't say firsthand how accurate it is, having little firsthand experience with it). Grayson is a quirky, difficult, and highly sympathetic character, and the strongest character in the book even though it's Kendra doing the narration. Brown slowly reveals the story of their relationship with each other, as well as the others around them, as the trip unfolds. Teen readers will relate to the young characters in the novel, and Brown does not provide a tidy, well-packaged resolution. Instead, readers are faced with questions about Kendra's actions, and their possible consequences-- just like Kendra is herself by the final page of the novel. This would make a very good book club book, as there are plenty of topics to discuss. ( )

Anybody who read Jennifer Brown's Hate List knows that she's an excellent writer. So they'll immediately jump on Perfect Escape, her latest YA novel and they won't be disappointed. The book jacket gives a perfect synopsis: "Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines."

But that's just the story line. Perfect Escape really talks about each sibling's feelings about themselves in relation to the other. The mechanism for this is a road trip. You know early on that Kendra, a superior student, cheated somehow during her senior year. Always feeling that she has to be the perfect child to compensate for Grayson's "failings" (my word), she is unable to face the consequences when she is found out. Driving on autopilot, she finds herself at "The Quarry" where Grayson spends hours counting the rocks. Finding him there, she gets him into the car and, instead of heading home, starts driving, thus begins the road trip, one in which she hopes to 'cure' Grayson of his foibles.

During the course of the trip, Grayson and Kendra share feelings and frustrations, encounter strangers, and face disappointment. Perfect Escape is written with tenderness and love, you can tell. Readers will love brother and sister, sympathize with each and share their happiness and sadness. So, go along with them on their journey. You might learn something about yourself in the process. ( )

When the shit hits the fan, Kendra decides to take a little road trip to escape from her life. She can't help it if her OCD brother fell asleep in her car right before she leaves. As they story moves on we find out what Kendra is running from and how she has lived in Grayson's shadow.

This is a story about family and finding your place in that family. It's not easy and at times Kendra is an unsympathetic character but over the course of the novel you come to understand her. ( )

It is easy to say that this is a novel about the effects of OCD on a family, but doing so would be glossing over so much. It would be ignoring Kendra and her problems that are not related to her brother; which are already ignored by everyone in her world. Most of all, it would be trivializing the strength of the sibling relationship between Kendra and Grayson. They may have forgotten how close they can be for a while, but as the story progresses and the reader sees them getting more and more into a long lost flow, it is quite evident how much they need each other. So what is the novel about? Perhaps siblings. Or you could argue that it is about life, when life is nowhere near where you thought it would be or think it should be at that point.

Kendra has learned and adapted to striving for perfection. She has always been overshadowed by her brother, first when he was a "genius" and next when needed help to preform every day tasks as his OCD got progressively worse. Kendra is sick of always having to fetch her brother from the quarry where he trespasses to count rocks in the cold for hours at end. She may not have a disability, but everyone needs the guidance and attention of their parents. When that is no longer an option, she decides to find the answer to her problems by leaving - Grayson in tow - and driving until it becomes clear.

There were so many parts about this novel that I loved. I loved seeing Kendra evolve from of resentment to love for her brother; feelings that have always been present but both not very evident at times. She also changes from running away, to looking for an answer, to completing a mission, and finally to owning up to her mistakes. Grayson on the other hand, does not necessarily change, but the reader - and Kendra - begin to understand him more, which is really interesting. There is one character in particular that they meet in their travels that really stood out to me. It was a great reminder for both the reader and Kendra that no matter how bad you think you have it, someone has it much worse.

My only real criticism is that the sub plot of the cheating scandal that Kendra gets wrapped up in is told to the reader in a confusion manner. The story is split up between the present and relocation of the past with the scandal blowing up in her face. However, the method of telling the story,which I assume was to create suspense, really just confused me and made me think "Enough already, tell me what happened." However, you do find out the answer, it is not some big mystery, so it came to be just a small annoyance.

Overall, this novel is different and definitely worth the read. Jennifer Brown is able to tell a story with many intriguing parts that reiterates to the reader that no situation is exactly what it seems; that even your life can use some reflecting and understanding to come to terms with whatever situation you are unhappy with. Kendra's life does not change, but rather she sees her situation in a different light, which makes a huge impact. Is that change of thought not available to all of us? ( )