Customer Reviews

When Is Perfect, Perfect Enough? (Raise the Flag)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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This is the moving story of Shannon, one of a group of close friends who stick together through everything and love each other a lot. In the story, Shannon believes that she has to be perfect to make up for the way that her sister acts (this chick is horrible--through the beginning of the book, she is at a Christian boarding school). If that isn't enough, Shannon is also anorexic. This story, though fictional, is a great story of friendship and togetherness, one of those books you curl up with and read by the fire. Rue has woven together yet another wonderful tale!

Though I am not super religious, I have found over and over when it comes to being honest, insightful, and dead on, Christian novels do the best job.

I highly related to the main character Shannon, whose life is being controlled primarily by her mother. Her father treats her like a little kid and doesn't respect her opinion. As her life spins out of control she tries to remain in control by not eating.

The author does a wonderful job in making Shannon a totally believable character. I related to her thoughts of the need to be in control and the way she avoided social situations so she wouldn't have to eat.

The only complaint I would have about the book is that it seems that Shannon was at a pretty low weight. I'm not sure what her height was because the author never mentions it, but it seemed that unless she was pretty short she would have been hospitalized.

But it really was an awesome book.

I also recommend Ashely and Jenn, if you want another very insightful story.

"When is Perfect Perfect Enough" is a young adult Christian novel. This book is the sixth in a series. This story appears to have began in book five (which I haven't read), but the things that have come before this regarding Shannon's anorexia and her sister's misbehavior are summarized at the beginning of this book. Certain events from books four and five regarding Ira are mildly spoiled in this one.

Of the four books in this series that I've read, the other three seemed to push events to extremes to increase the suspense. This one felt more realistic to me in terms of it being a situation the readers are more likely to encounter (in person or in a friend) and in how the characters reacted to the events. All of the characters were more rounded out and complex in how they dealt with problems, and we got to know them on a deeper basis. I liked that. I also liked how her friends were involved and how they learned how to help her.

The Christian element was mainly some God-talk ("we'll pray" and "God loves you"), and God was credited for helping Shannon make progress. There was some "he cussed" style bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I would recommend this book.