Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Harper Collins 2016. ISBN 9780008126360
(Age: 14+) Is there anything worse than imperfection? In a world that champions perfection should your flaws be laid bare for the world to see? With a system that is inherently flawed - how can it be overthrown? From within? Or from without, could the Flawed rise up and begin a revolution? How? Who would lead them?
When the system fails and you become the most flawed person in existence what do you do? Sentenced to five brands (foot, hand, heart, head, and tongue) for the simple act of compassion towards another human being, Celestine North finds herself the reluctant emblem of a revolution she never had any intention of fighting. She put her trust in one man, her boyfriend's father, Judge Crevan. A fearsome man, but a man just the same. With Crevan and her family pressuring her to lie in the courts when she is on trial for being flawed, Celestine begins to question a system that would judge her flawed for simply helping an old, sick man who just happened to be flawed. Even though he was flawed, he, like Judge Crevan, was just a man. For her compassion and her honesty Celestine's life is forever changed - she can never go back to her life of utter perfection. Her dreams, her plans, and her future are all ruined-forever.
Sitting in the same class as Veronica Roth's Divergent series, Flawed is certainly recommended for girls aged fourteen and up who like dystopians. While the first few chapters are questionable, the book improves and mellows out into an easy read with a great and terrifying concept. Certainly something to make the reader appreciate our society.
Kayla Gaskell (University student)