Author: Lara Chapman
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pub. Date: May 10, 2011
Length: 256 Pages
Summary (from goodreads):
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.
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.
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.
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.
My Thoughts: I'd never head of Cyrano de Bergerac before picking up Flawless. Honestly, I've never been too interested in reading any classics because the way they are written and the differences in time periods just makes them confusing to me, regardless if I liked the plot or not. However, these modern retellings have a different vibe that really draws me to them. That being said, I really enjoyed Flawless.
The message sent out in this book was wonderful. I don't think I can even explain how amazing it was and how happy I was that I decided to read it. Flawless teaches us that we are all wonderful in our own, unique way despite our flaws and helps us to remember that you don't have to be an absolute beauty or the prettiest girl to be liked because you are judged on more than just your appearance. Sarah was a girl who constantly brought herself down because of her nose and felt no one looked past it and saw her other fantastic qualities. She was easy to relate to and very real.
Overall, Flawless was a good read but there were a few things that bugged me and kept it from being a great read. (After all, nothing and no one is absolutely flawless.)
Wow I had no idea this was meant to be a classic retelling! I got a copy for review a while back and just thought it was an 'original'. Can't say I'm not more curious to read it now though. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteAnd what exactly bugged you about this book?
@cass. gosh, id love to answer your question but i read flawless such a long time ago that i honestly cant remember exactly what it was that bothered me! I remember i loved the lesson behind it (although the ending was predictable) and there was something about kirstin that annoyed me :/
ReplyDeleteinteresting!
ReplyDeleteoh, this is such a perfect review for this book <3 i read it this year too ~ and thought it had an awesome message as well :)
ReplyDeleteI loved this book so much . I didn't think that it would have the effect on me that it did , I wasn't sure what the book was going to be about but once I got started I was hooked and then with the last few chapters and by the time I had finished the book , I actually had tears in my eyes and I HARDLY ever cry in books , movies I do but never really books and especially not in Teen books lol. But Flawless brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe book starts with two best friends Sarah and Kristen and of course a new hunky guy named Rockford aka Rock Conway. He is not only gorgeous and handsome but he is also smart and intelligent and of course the perfect gentleman. When Kristen sets her eyes on him , Sarah always the best friend takes a step back though she liked him too. The next part reminded me of the book "The Julian Game" by Adele Griffin when Kristen asks Sarah to write to Rock pretending to be her , as this goes on though Sarah is finding herself fall more in love with Rock as he is definitely more perfect for her than Kristen. Throughout the novel Flawless , we read as Sarah continually questions the factor of Loyalty and how far one can go to remain loyal and when has loyalty gone too far that one loses it's own morals and self-worth. The other issue in which the title stems from is the fact that we learn Sarah has a big nose - a nose that is out of place on her face, one that is so big -people stop and stare. In Flawless , we read as Sarah tosses and turns with the issue of her appearance and self-esteem. This part of the book reminded me of "The North of Beautiful" by Justina Chen Hedley in which the main character had a port wine birthmark over the side of her face. In the last chapter we read as Sarah reads out an essay she wrote on Loyalty and the consequences of what she did are revealed.