Flawed [review]

Flawed by Cecilia Ahern

[Synopsis]

You will be punished…
Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.
But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found flawed.
In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where perfection is paramount and flaws lead to punishment. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.

Flawed (Flawed, #1)

[My Rating]

This is a very different kind of novel than the others by Cecelia Ahern; that’s to be expected as it’s a young adult title and her other novels are mainly all variants of the ‘women’s fiction’ genre. I’ve read a few and really enjoyed them, so wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, billed as a dystopian young adult novel (and I don’t usually read much YA) but I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Flawed!
The novel is pretty fast moving, setting up the world in which Celestine and her family live in and presenting a lot of information to help you understand how they live their lives; there’s a lot to get your head around right from the off but it’s all easy to read and understand. We don’t know when this world is existing; there are mentions of modern-day technology such as mobile phones etc so we know it’s likely to be present day or in the future, but either way, it’s really interesting to read about. You can imagine living in a world like that (not that you’d want to) what with our current society’s preoccupation with perfection, though not to that extent, of course! It really made me consider how I’d react in the situation that Celestine found herself in on the bus: I feel that, without a doubt, I’d have helped the old man, but it’s all about context I suppose. Everyone is so scared of being classed as flawed, for obvious reasons, it must make otherwise good people behave in horrible ways, so you can kind of see both sides!
Throughout the book, Cecelia Ahern seemed to hint and refer to key historical moments and I enjoyed reading parts of the story and thinking, “Ah – that is very similar to/ reminds me of that incident/ event”. She includes humour and parts that are more light-hearted whilst still retaining the threatening feeling of Celestine’s world.
I am really pleased that there will be a sequel, titled Perfect; it looks like there’ll only be two parts to this series and, although I feel like this could definitely be made into a longer series, sometimes it’s nice to just have a few really good quality books that don’t drag the story out for too long, and I think this will be one of those gems! I certainly enjoyed Flawed and am looking forward to reading the concluding novel, which is billed to come out in 2017.

[Rating: 4/5]

Many thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review

0 comments

  1. I felt the same! 🙂 And I also liked the historical references, such as the echo of racial segregation on buses.
    I’m also very glad that this will be a duology. I’m getting a bit fed up of stories being strung out unnecessarily over 3 or more books when 1 or 2 would do.

  2. Great review! I’ve got Flawed on my TBR but haven’t had a chance to read it – your review has made me want to pick it up as soon as I can. 🙂 I didn’t realise this was a duology – it definitely makes me more inclined to read it. I’m also getting really sick of novels being dragged out over three or four books when there really isn’t enough story to warrant it.

  3. Fab review! Flawed has been on my TBR for some time now, and I have heard great things about it, which makes me want to read it even more. I love the idea of inserting historical references. I did not know there would be another book. You’re right, sometimes a duology is amply enough to make a great series.

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