Flawed

Flawed Flawed Book One
Written by Cecelia Ahern
Dystopian, Young Adult
Published March 24th 2016
400 Pages
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia
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★★★☆
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 in which 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 this stunning novel, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society in which perfection is paramount and mistakes are punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.
Seventeen year old Celestine North is a vision of perfection. She's smart, beautiful, dating the handsome son of Judge Bosco, the head of the Guild and is the golden child of two parents who themselves promote an image of the perfect family. Since the Guild was introduced into a corrupt and morally unethical society, citizens who are less than perfect are branded as Flawed. The Flawed live among the community, but ostracised and abide by the rules of simple living in a life sentence they will never escape. Celestine has always followed the rules, until she's posed with her own moral dilemma and decides to aide an elderly Flawed citizen, a crime which may see her punished and branded.

Thrown into isolation, the media have caught wind of Celestine's case, the latest in a long line of questionable decisions of the Guild. Judge Bosco needs Celestine to defend her case, to insist she was merely protecting citizens against the Flawed by providing a misguided public service. But doing so will sentence an elderly, innocent man to his death, something Celestine must decide if she can live with on her conscious. Her decision made more difficult by her boyfriend Art who refuses to see her, and the strange young man being held in the next cell also awaiting his fate. Living her seventeen years of life as an exemplary member of society means very little if Celestine is branded and found to be Flawed.

Kelly's Thoughts

Following the storyline of Celestine, readers are introduced into a society that breeds perfection. Those deemed less than are branded as Flawed and made an example of. It reminded me of The Giver with that aspect, an introduction to dystopian without delving into intricate details. Celestine lives the perfect existence. She's intelligent, with a bright future and is dating her long time friend and son of Judge Bosco, the head of the Guild. Her only misdemeanor is her nightly rendezvous with Art, where the two teens sit atop the mountain and watch the world go by. It's her sister Juniper who has always had the rebellious streak, so when an elderly Flawed passenger on the bus needs assistance, it's Celestine who breaks the law and rushes to his side.

Reminiscent of the warfare between Katniss and President Snow, It's Judge Bosco who is facing an inquiry between his fellow members of the Guild who want to make an example of the seventeen year old. In order to ensure her freedom, Celestine will need to plead her innocence and sentence an already Flawed man to what may be an early death. The system of the Guild law is itself Flawed. Open to not only interpretation to suit each case but also to be abused by those in power and Celestine is about to discover what a dangerous game she's playing. Telling the truth means risking it all. Her relationship, her family, her status as a model citizen and faces the wrath of Bosco.

The barely there romance made little impact to the storyline, as Art lacked any real personality or character development. It was Carrick who was being held in the next cell who captured my attention. With little interaction, his character was far more interesting than Art and has already asserted himself as a possible love interest for Celestine. But it was the morality behind Flawed that captivated me. A panel of self appointed and wealthy citizens that decide the fate of those posed with moral dilemmas from crime, cheating on a partner to something as small as aiding a Flawed citizen to a chair as in Celestine's case and the corruption behind the kangaroo court method of justice.

The Final Verdict

Flawed was a great introduction to dystopian or for those who are hungry for a new and entertaining read that will sate your need for the genre. Apart from a few snippets of information exchanged between characters, the history of the Guild wasn't fully explored but hoping book two features greater world building than it's predecessor,

With a few minor issues, Cecelia Ahern has created a successful transition into the young adult genre. With more emphasis needed on world building and character depth, the Flawed series is a new and exciting series from a much loved adult author.

Exclusive

Thanks to Harper Collins,  Cecelia is sharing with readers her official playlist that inspired her while writing Flawed, book one in the Flawed series.


Look out for our upcoming Flawed prize pack giveaway with thanks to Harper Collins

18 comments

  1. I supposed she's another well-known veteran author who's trying her hand in YA. And while I haven't read any of her books, I'm wondering if, perhaps, she really can't get away from the formula she's always known. I only know of one author who can do it with one flip of the switch and that's Rainbow Rowell. Though she hasn't written too many, I can read her books from different genres easily.

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    1. I think Rainbow Rowell is really versatile, another one was Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella which I believe was her YA debut as well and a raging success. I think they both had that fun, flirty contemporary base so the jump into YA seemed effortless. I haven't read Cecelia's adult titles though.

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  2. I wasn't sure about this one, so I skipped over it when I was offered to read it for review. It sounds like it's great for those craving another dystopian, although it's kind of disappointing that the MC was kind of bland and the world building wasn't done particularly well. Lovely review Kelly!

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    1. I love my dystopians Jeann, but it sadly needed a little bit more to get this one over the line for me. Just a tad underdone and bland, so hoping book two really picks up the pace.

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  3. I used to read a lot of Cecelia Ahern back in the day. This sounds so different from her earlier works. I’m on the fence about this book, probably I’ll wait when the next installment would be released. Wonderful review, Kelly!

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    1. Thanks Ksenia. I haven't read any of her adult releases, but apart from a few issues with world building and character development, I still enjoyed this one and looking forward to where she takes the series.

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  4. I've read some of her adult books and I quite liked them, but I'm not into dystopia sadly, especially if it doesn't have a great romance. Judging from your review, I don't think I'm missing out on much. The lack of world building would especially bother me. I'll wait to see how book 2 fares before I pick this one up.
    Wonderful review, Kelly!

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    1. I think it's more so aimed at the younger audience, but for mature readers or those who wouldn't normally read dystopians. It was good, but it can only get better from here.

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  5. I rarely read Dystopian which sucks because I really enjoyed some titles I've read from the genre. It's just so hard to find Dystopia books that aren't replicas of another. This sounds really interesting though, definitely different than any other Dystopian book I've read, so I'll put this on my TBR. Here's to hoping I actually like it lol.

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    1. I hope so too Tika. It wont be for everyone, but it's a really easy read. Looking forward to seeing what you think of it.

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  6. I feel like utopians like these are actually more interesting these days than dystopian societies, where the same things seem to go down. How do you survive in a perfect world...that's not actually perfect? It's such an interesting concept to think about. I really loved Brave New World, so glad to see that similar themes are flowing into YA fiction as well. Great review Kels!

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    1. It felt very much like The Giver too Joy, but not as engaging sadly. I haven't read Brave New World, but going to check it out.

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  7. Hmm, this does seem to call back to many other dystopians and the premise isn't unique per se, but I like how it isn't just "LET'S REBEL THE HECK OUT OF THIS" but instead it's a more "quiet" court case. Definitely intrigued by this book!

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    1. It very much is a quieter and more unassuming dystopian. A utopian society that is corrupt and how the injustice changes the actions of one girl. It was a quick and easy read and looking forward to book two and hoping the world building and character development is a little more prevalent.

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  8. I went from almost DNFing this to not being able to put it down, and I think it's mostly because I am a HUGE sucker for dystopians basically. Art was super annoying. Carrick is MUCH better, though he also leaves the door for a love triangle WIDE open. But I liked Celestine's character development, and her family's too. I am hoping that it ends up being a situation where Celestine discovers more about the world as we do- like, if SHE didn't know about it, it would be more believable that there was such a lack of it. But I will definitely be reading the sequel too! Great review :D

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    1. Me too Shannon and there's not many new series left in young adult now, so we seem to grab them when they come by. Really looking forward to the next one as well, but hoping the world building and Celestine's character furthers her development a bit more too.

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  9. I'll probably give this book a miss because the dystopia setting does not sound nearly compelling enough, it's been done a lot of time before. I haven't been a huge fan of Ahern's adult books either - her writing is very flat. From your review, the characters sound quite bland as well. Thanks for the balanced review, Kells!

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    1. It lacked a bit of personality for me too Aentee, but hoping it picked up in book two. It was still pretty good for her first foray into young adult, but I'll need more from book two to continue with the series.

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