3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll start by saying that I did like this book. But I didn't love it and I certainly wasn't blown away by it. If, like me, you have read a variety of dystopian YA novels, then there won't be much in this novel that will blow you away. We have a leading female character who gets herself in a spot of bother after standing up for her beliefs, a sort-of love triangle and people rallying to her cause (which she inadvertently started). Sound familiar?

I did really like the concept of this novel, however. Personally, I cannot imagine living in a world where people deemed to be imperfect, or Flawed, are branded and left to live a life outside of the norm. Different food allowances, no more than two Flawed people together at a time, lie detector tests each day, no alcohol and a curfew... I couldn't imagine it. Everyone has flaws and I often think that these flaws can be beautiful in many people, they definitely define us has human beings. The idea of a society where Flawed people are considered to be lesser humans was interesting to me and I did like the way this was represented in the book. I liked that the author had considered that people would be branded in different locations based on the way in which they were Flawed.

The characters were quite well written. For me, I didn't particularly love Celestine (the main character). I found her quite frustrating at times and actually much preferred her sister, Juniper. But again, this is personal preference and I am sure that there will be enough people out there who do like Celestine. Plus, you don't have to love a character to enjoy the story! I was terrified of Judge Crevan. (For some reason I picture him in my head to look like Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.) He is so evil and I actually liked him because of this.

I won't write much in the way of spoiling the plot but some parts of it were fairly predictable if you follow the usual dystopian pattern. I enjoyed learning about the life of the Flawed and seeing the effect of having a Flawed person in the family. For me, some of the chapters were incredible. They were really fast-paced and action packed and I could easily devour three or four chapters without realising it. Then all of a sudden I would find myself reading through chapters which were a lot slower in pace and not as much importance (in my opinion) to the plot of the story. This ruined the story for me in a way as every time I started to feel really excited by it, it seemed to slow back down and I just didn't feel that spark of excitement.

I would say that there are some scenes in this book that I felt a little bit uncomfortable reading. There is nothing sexually graphic, but one of the chapters describing the brandings did make me feel a bit sick, but it was a perfect example of the effectiveness of Ahern's writing style. This shouldn't put anyone off reading this book though.

The romance isn't overwhelming in this book at all. Celestine is in a relationship with Art which comes under considerable strain during the story. Carrick isn't actually in the book a huge amount. He actually appears more in Celestine's thoughts about him than he does in any dialogue with her. I actually wish Carrick had been in this more as I think he will be a great character and I'm intrigued to learn more about him.

On the whole, I did like this book, I just didn't feel crazy about it. Had there been a little bit more action in parts then this would have been a solid 4 stars. As it stands, I've rounded my 3.5 upwards generously. If you like dystopian novels then you will probably like this, just don't expect to be totally blown away as it is fairly predictable. A good debut from Cecelia Ahern in the YA genre.