Is anyone truly perfect? A review of Cecelia Ahern's new YA novel: Perfect (#ad)

I hadn't read "Flawed", Cecelia Ahern's bestselling debut novel. But I was keen to read this sequel. The basic premise of it, humans being able to judge other humans as 'flawed' if they don't live up to the standards of the morality court, reminded me of Max Lucado's book for young children 'You are Special' where the Wemmicks judge each other and stick dots and star stickers as they see fit.

In Ahern's book, the punishment structure is rather more severe with the "flawed" being branded with hot irons in the shape of an 'F'.

And the heroine at the centre of the story is the immediately likeable Celestine North. Her traits of care, kindness, compassion and wanting true justice make her seemingly the least likely candidate for a 'flawed' branding. And yet here she finds herself on the run, not knowing who to turn to or who she can trust.

Full of twists and turns, this gripping novel had me turning the pages to know if Celestine succeeds in saving not only herself but all of the Flawed.

Whilst we'd all like to think that we are reasonably good people and would never do anything do be branded flawed ourselves, in this novel, things aren't so clear cut.

I took the Perfect/Flawed test with these simple questions on this quiz and was shocked to find myself 60% Flawed. A sentence of 2 brands would be my punishment in Celestine's world where she is fighting to bring true justice which holds compassion and logic at it's core.

Richard fared even worse in this world which has lost sight of what is truly right and wrong. His morality score came out at a mere 10% with a sentence of 5 brands! Yet he is the most honest person with the greatest integrity that I've ever known.

Having read the book, I'd rather be 'flawed' than 'perfect'.

Whether you've read the original Flawed book or not, Perfect is a gripping read which works in its own right. 

You can buy a copy of Perfect here. 

Disclosure: We were sent a copy of Perfect for the purpose of review. A small fee will also be paid for our time.