Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Title: Flawed
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Publication date: April 5, 2016
Pages: 368
Source/format: ARC from publisher

Rating: ☆☆☆☆1/2

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

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 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.

In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her-everything.

M Y  T H O U G H T S
 
Celestine North is the perfect and ideal citizen until one day she stands up for someone. She is only voicing her opinion about what she thinks is right but society deems this ethical motion to be unethical and morally wrong. In this society, if you break a rule you may be sentenced to a life as a Flawed. If a citizen makes a moral or ethical mistake, the citizen goes to trial and is deemed guilty or not guilty for their "crime."

If they are found guilty, they are branded with the symbol of the Flawed on Naming Day. There are five areas where one can be branded depending on what the error of their judgement is. If one makes a bad decision, one is branded on the temple. If one lies, one is branded on the tongue. If one steals from society, one is branded on the right palm. If is disloyal to the Guild, one is branded on the chest over the heart. And if one steps out of line with society, one is branded on the right sole of the foot. Not only do the Flawed get branded, but they must wear an armband with the letter F on the sleeve at all times.

Flawed reminds me of the Hunger Games series, The Scarlet Letter, Noughts and Crosses and segregation movements around the world. Cecelia Ahern writes an engaging novel that transforms one young lady into a young lady who sparks a rebellion movement. She has become the poster girl for the Guild and the poster girl of the Flawed. However, she does not want to side with anyone. Celestine does not want to be famous.

Ahern's writing is to the point. She doesn't include a lot of extra description about the world because it's clear from the actions of the people about what kind of world Celestine lives in. Through the actions and words of the characters in novel, it makes the reader think. Can this happen in real life? Yes, it can because some of this has happened before. During the Holocaust, Nazi Germans believed in a racial policy. Those who were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp were tattooed a serial number. Some didn't even make it that far and were sent to the gas chambers. In the United States during the times of slavery, African Americans were not even deemed citizens. They were treated very poorly and even when they were able to gain their freedom, people still didn't treat them as equals. African Americans and Caucasians had separate bathrooms, water fountains, seats on the bus, etc. Ahern shows how society is still segregated and how discrimination still exists.

Those who are Flawed are treated as second class citizens. There cannot be more than two Flawed people sitting near each other, they have certain seats on the bus, they have curfews and they have people who monitor them all the time. This segregation of the Flawed is horrible to read about. There are many instances where people will purposely call the the Flawed names and some Flawed people will get beat up for no reason. I found it interesting that if someone aids a Flawed, that person will be brought on trial and can be guilty of being Flawed. How ridiculous is that? Apparently the human race doesn't exist. There is no compassion for others at all. In this absurd society, Flawed people don't matter. They can be dying and if someone helps the, the person that helps gets punished.

Flawed is an emotionally gripping and thought provoking story. I read this novel in one sitting and I was immersed into Flawed from the first sentence of the novel. If you are looking for a compelling dystopian read, definitely check out Flawed.