Flawless

By Sonythebooklover


Flawless by Lara Chapman

I’ve been dying to read Flawless but I could never quite get to it. There was always another book in front of it in my ever growing TBR list. So when I spotted Flawless on the shelf at the library. I squealed and jumped at the chance to read it, and scooped it up right away. This re-telling of the tale of Cyrano from a modern day prospective was a pleasant surprise. Flawless was funny, Sarah was my favorite character her comments often had me chuckling or laughing out loud at the oddest moments.

Writer Chapman’s portrait of teenage life is quite accurate, a snapshot at least. Sarah‘s character I related to her the most, in experience and some personality traits. Sarah’s inner contemplation, conflict was an honest portrayal of growing pains and experiencing first love, and discovery of one’s selves. From Sarah’s inner musings I felt as if I was peeking  into her diary. I give props for the realistic narration it gave the story some color.

The pacing was excellent once you start reading it was easy to just keep going until human fragility (hunger, bathroom breaks, and sleep) broke Flawless’s spell. I loved the dynamics of Kristen and Sarah’s friendship the give and take. But that gets goes out the window when Rock enters the picture and leaves both girls breathless. Sarah’s constant losing battle of wills to Kristen’s unreasonable requests and her use of emotional blackmail to get her way. I didn’t have much issue with Flawless except for Kristen at some point she morphed into self centered obnoxious brat. Using Sarah as a crutch to keep Rock.

Yet Kristen wasn’t all bad she was a stand up friend ready to defend Sarah. If anyone teased her. She was fiercely loyal but hormones and a guy she lost her way for awhile but, in the end Kristen came to her senses, before she ruined their friendship. Jen’s character in my opinion didn’t need to be in the story. Her addition read like an after thought her arc was glossed and faded out as if it was never there. Flawless is a cute story of love, loyalty between friends, self discovery (main character). Good pace, believable characters and situations was the reason I gave it a 4/5 rating.  Flawless was a nice snippet the growing pains of teenage life. Definitely earned a spot on my shelf. Recommended for all age groups.

Rating: 4/5

 


 

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  • Title: Flawless by Lara Chapman
  • Published: May 10, 2011
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury
  • Genre: Re-tellings/ Contemporary romance
  • Rating: 4/5
  • Source: Library
  • Age Group: 14+
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 255
  • Buy: Amazon

Sarah Burke is just about perfect. She’s got killer blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and impeccable grades. There’s just one tiny-all right, enormous-flaw: her nose. But even that’s not so bad. Sarah’s got the best best friend and big goals for print journalism fame.

Books Worth Reading:

On the first day of senior year, Rock Conway walks into her journalism class and, well, rocks her world. Problem is, her best friend, Kristen, falls for him too. And when Rock and Kristen stand together, it’s like Barbie and Ken come to life. So when Kristen begs Sarah to help her nab Rock, Sarah does the only thing a best friend can do-she agrees. For someone so smart, what was she thinking?

This hip retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac is filled with hilariously misguided matchmaking, sweet romance, and a gentle reminder that we should all embrace our flaws.