Friday, May 27, 2016

Review: Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Release date: April 5, 2016
Author info: Website | Twitter | Instagram
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 336
Format: Egalley
Source: Publisher provided for review through Netgalley
Buy the book: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository
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.
I keep thinking I'm totally tired of dystopians, and then I read another and I like it! With Flawed, I knew I liked Cecelia Ahern's adult novels, so I figured, why not? Flawed does fall into some of the dystopians traps we've seen over and over again, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment much.

I always love when your protagonist goes from being someone you really dislike into someone you want to see succeed. This was the case with Celestine for me. She's one dimensional, completely ascribes to her society's ideas, and only strives to be the perfect citizen. But, one action on the bus, when her morals take over her self interest, makes Celestine into someone totally different. It's like flipping a switch; she sees the wrongs of her society, how their interest in perfection has fallen prey to individual's thirst for power.

Flawed isn't terribly long, and I found I read it really quickly--in two short sittings--but I didn't feel like all that much happened. Most of the action is told in the synopsis or you can guess at it--standard dystopian stuff--but, to me, it felt like a big setup. Certainly the sequel, Perfect, can build quickly now, but I'd rather a book that stands on its own, rather than one that feels like its just setting up.

I think the biggest flaw (heh) is that Flawed manages to hit all the dystopian trends. There's a love triangle. There's a distinct bad guy who is controlling the government and attacking our protagonist. At times that government seems a little nonsensical. I wish there had been something new and exciting, but I'm still enjoying the old formula in moderation, and I'm sure others are too.


About the author:

Cecelia Ahern is the award-winning and bestselling author of many adult novels, including P.S. I Love You and Love, Rosie--both of which were major motion pictures. Flawed is her debut young adult novel. She resides in Ireland.

No comments:

Post a Comment