Flawed

Flawed is Cecelia Ahern's debut YA novel.

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 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.

The Breakdown:
1. First, I was lucky enough to get a chance to see and hear Cecelia Ahern talk about this book on the Fierce Reads Tour.  She was amazing, and I loved hearing how she did not set this book in a distant future.  Rather, the ideas were largely influences by how media/social media has become so judgmental about everybody's actions.  I could see how these things influenced her story, and even the characters.

2. I loved Celestine.  She acted with compassion, when others refused to help.  Despite what many tried to make her, she had no desire to be the poster girl for change.  She just did what she thought was right, not because of outside influences or change the system, but because it was the kind thing to do.

3.  I am intrigued by the mystery that is Carrick.  The boy who Celestine met while awaiting her trail.  Ahern slowly gives bread crumbs about him, his past, and the reason his was in the Flawed court, but there is so much more I want to know about it.  I am already excited about the next book, so I can get more of Carrick.

4. So, I am circling back around to the society that Ahern has created in this book. So being flawed means you have broken society rules, but have not actually broken any laws.  There is a court that judges the flawed and they are then branded, and have to keep to certain rules, like curfews, diets, etc.  It is an interesting concept, and frightening at the same time.  There is a lot of moral ambiguity in the system, which partly leads to the flawed judges being able to use the court for their personal goals.  I am interested to see how things play out in the next book, and what is the future of the court and those deemed flawed.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

P.S.  I just got back from vacation, so check back tomorrow for my review of Kingdom of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas.