Review: Flawed (Flawed #1) by Cecelia Ahern

Collaborative feature with Alexa. We read ARCs together and post our reviews on the same date.

Flawed (#1) by Cecelia Ahern
pub 4/5/16 by Feiwel and Friends
YA - Dystopian
Received ARC from pub

I was completely unprepared for the dystopian society in Flawed. When you read a lot of YA dystopian, it becomes easy to see similarities or parallels between the different worlds. One of my first thoughts as I delved into Cecelia Ahern's writing was that she had created a society that felt scary, harsh and worst of all, real. In a way that I don't think I've seen before. That alone impressed me a lot.

We start off by meeting Celestine North is who considered perfect by this society's standards. She follows the rules, charming, model daughter and sister and girlfriend of Art Crevan, whose father Judge Bosco Crevan ensures that the laws are followed. And those laws are basically all about obedience, strict black and white views of right and wrong and a skewed vision of what being good and perfect means. Stepping out line would literally allow the government to brand a person as flawed, imprisonment and force them to live under strict conditions. So you can see why everyone tries to follow this model of "perfection" whether they really believe in it or not. What struck me again was the social commentary here. If you read between the lines, the author has a lot to stay about prejudices and how we treat others. It was, by far, the strong aspect of her book and the most impressive. It certainly reeled me in and I was very affected by a handful of the scenes depicted.

(Some) reservations

Where Ahern started to lose me was with character development and how the plot moved forward. Celestine is a logical but kind person and while she's been someone to always toe the line, she unexpectedly takes a stand in the face of injustice. It's out of character but that moment works and I wanted to see how it would change her. In some ways, more of the backbone she didn't know she had started to assert itself more. But in lots of other ways, she just felt stuck? Like she was floundering or mostly wallowing. What was most interesting to me was her relationships with her family members and how that changed. It's addressed but not fully. Then stuff with her schoolmates? Far less important but given unnecessary time that could've been put to better use elsewhere. People of authority trying to use Celestine? Again, interesting but so many open questions. The two (yes, two!) guys in the book? One is definitely more interesting than the other but yet again, they felt thrown into the ruckus and not given enough time. And then that ending! Nothing felt remotely wrapped up by the last page. It's a series so of course some things should be left open, but there should also be at least one thing resolved or discovered that's relevant.

Do I recommend?

I do. In spite of my reservations, I am curious about what happens next. If this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I would recommend checking it out.

What do you think is the most terrifying YA dystopian society?

My answer is The Hunger Games. I just can't imagine living in fear that you could be chosen one year to participate in the games, year after year. And then having to kill other people you're age in order to survive? Yup, definitely the most terrifying to me.