Author: Lara Chapman
Publisher:Bloomsbury
Pages: 272
Read Time: 1 Days
Tag Words: retelling, friendship, betrayal, trust, dating, high school, coming of age, accepting yourself, 2011 debut author
My Summary:
Sarah is just about perfect in all aspects, but one, her nose is huge, a beak, really.
The one person who has always been able to love her despite her major flaw is her best friend Kristen.
When Rock, the new hottie of the school begins dating her best friend Sarah can’t help but feel her honker is what is coming between her and the boy of her dreams.
In this modern retelling of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac Sarah has a gorgeous best friend, a shared crush and a big problem...
My Review:
Recently Mandy Hubbard wrote an amazing post on what publishers are currently looking for. She remarked, “Retellings are still hot, but it’s best if its not something like a straight-up contemporary version of an oft-used tale...”
I feel like this is what Flawless became, even if the story of Cyrano and Roxana is not continuously regurgitated. It still came off as too modern, too one-dimensional because Flawless came down to two things, a girl wanting her best friends boyfriend, and a girl struggling with what she, and everyone around her, sees when she looks in the mirror.
Been there, read that, right? It may be because I basically read as my job, AKA all the bloody time, or it may be a general consensus, but after I read the same contemp theme for the ump-teenth time I tend not to get excited when I find myself inside the same exact storyline yet again. I can’t make myself be excited unless there is an added hook that grabs me from page one. I was hoping that the story being a retelling would add that extra punch, but I didn’t feel it grab me, or hold me.
I don’t have any suggestions for what Chapman could have done differently, and I think she did adapt it to a modern teen life situation, but I just wasn’t interested in the end.
If you love contemp coming of age books, then you will love this, but if the Cyrano spin is what first hooked you into wanting to read Flawless I would suggest you skip this one.
Notes on the Names:
Sarah Burke-- Cyrano de Bergerac
Rock--- Roxane
Baron Christian de Neuvillette- Kristen
What do you think? I think she did well!
Thoughts on the Cover:
I love this cover and the gorgeous make-up! Some people think it’s boring, but I think it is the perfect fit for the book; the editing is very, very well done, bravo!
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
Sexual Content:
Moderate.
Sexual innuendo.
Language:
Moderate.
A- 5
D- 10
B- 1
S- 1
H- 13
Violence:
None.
Other Notables:
None.
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