Flawed

Cecelia Ahern has been a firm favourite in my author list for years, in fact one of the best chic lit books of our generation (P.S. I Love You) was penned by this wonderful Irish author. This is her first foray into young adult fiction and it also is a move away from a standard romance format to one that fits more into the dystopian fiction that has become so hugely popular with teens in the last few years.

As with some of the more popular dystopian series of recent years we have a strong female central character, Celestine. We also have a society which due to corruption has chosen to impliment strong rules and regulations for it's citizens, in the case of Ahern's Flawed it is that society will make an example of anyone found to make a decision that is deemed immoral or not in line with decent society. This can be anything from bad business decisions to aiding a family member with assisted suicide. In this case people found guilty of being Flawed are deemed to be lesser citizens and they therefore have to live life with a different set of rules around jobs they can hold, how and where they can socialise and children they bear.

Celestine is a popular girl, dating the son of the ruler of the flawed court. She has great prospects for her future and is deemed to be almost perfect by those she knows. One day she makes a mistake which will change her life forever and see her faced with the prospect of living life as one of the ‘Flawed'.

The first in a series this book contains all the checklist formula required for books in this genre, we have the fiesty good looking heroine, two potential suitors who fall into distinctly two categories (the good boy and the one from the other side of the tracks), a bad guy we can all hate who is in charge of the system and a society beginning to question the rules under which it lives. Ahern has ticked all the boxes and you cannot fail to draw parallels between this series and The Hunger Games and The Divergent series.

I really enjoyed the book, perhaps more than I believed I would initially. I liked the way in which Celestine's crime was written. It was an ideal example of how corrupt the society in which she lived actually was. I liked some of the characters that weren't featured that much in the book, especially Celestine's grandfather, who I believe should play a larger role moving forward in the series as it would appear he has much to share. The family around Celestine was also well constructed, especially her mother and it was nice to see how she changed throughout the book.

In relation to the piece of evidence Celestine is seeking throughout the book, I have a sneaking suspicion I know exactly where it is and I'm sure I'm not alone, surely we aren't as readers so much smarter than the lead character? I did find this frustrating and kept silently shouting at the book, “You haven't looked there yet!” Unless there's a major plot twist it would appear to be clear where it's gone.

I'm definitely going to read the second book in this series, I just hope that unlike Hunger Games and Divergent that it doesn't become too embroiled in the breakdown of society through mass fighting, I'd have to say I like it when people win through words not through action and at times I felt the latter books in the other series could be let down by this and it would be nice to see this series break the mould.

gelezen als audioboek

Dit was een boek waar ik nu eigenlijk niet meer in geïnteresseerd was en de enige reden waarom ik het toch wou lezen was omdat ik het een aantal jaar geleden in een Owlcrate doos had ontvangen en het nog steeds ongelezen in mijn kast stond. Ik had het al een paar keer vast gepakt om eigenlijk te lezen, maar andere boeken trokken me altijd meer aan. Nu ik ontdekte dat het als audioboek beschikbaar was op Storytel, besloot ik het eindelijk eens op te zetten, terwijl ik wat achterstand in mijn genredeken weg haakte.

En kijk eens aan, ik was heel aangenaam verrast. Hoewel dit boek me deed terug denken aan andere typische dystopische YA-romans, was de maatschappij uniek en intrigerend genoeg om mij helemaal mee te trekken. Ik moest een beetje wennen aan het hoofdpersonage, maar dit was zo bedoeld, gezien gans het verhaal rond haar ontwikkeling gaat en haar groeiend besef over de wereld waarin ze leeft.
Het feit dat ik het audioboek zo goed als in één keer uitlas spreekt boekdelen over mijn intrige. Ik zal niet lang wachten om boek 2 te lezen, gezien de cliffhanger het enorm spannend maakt.