Flawless by Lara Chapman
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 255
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Interest: Debut Author
Challenge: 2011 Debut Author Challenge
Buy the Book: 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.
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.
I'm a huge fan of modern retelling, for myself personally, and because I also feel like it makes those classic stories available to a whole new demographic of readers. I mean... I've read a few of the classics... and those I treasure, but the rest I learned about on Wishbone... you remember that show right? The little jack-russell terrier going on adventures in literature. Anyway... back to the review.
This was a quick read, it was fun, cute... a little predictable and light, but it had a great message. Sarah was a great character, she was strong & smart, and although she was self conscious of her nose at times, she never let it define her. I wished that the characters and their relationships would have had more depth... especially between Sarah and her mother, I felt like there was a lot more going on there.
I loved the quotes before each chapter about beauty. It didn't really have much to do with the story itself, but it was a nice introduction to the upcoming chapter, and I always enjoy that little extra.
Flawless is a fun read, great for a summer day!