Flawless by Lara Chapman

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

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.

Review:

If you are anything like me and are continually on the lookout for the next fabulous and realistic contemporary YA read, look no further as Lara Chapman’s Flawless is the book for you. Finally, here is a book that is not only repeatedly laugh-out-loud funny (sometimes several times per page!) but also presents such realistic and adorable main characters.

For high school senior Sarah Burke she’s never been flawless. Sure, she has clear blue eyes, blonde hair, and a dazzling future ahead of her, but she is also the girl with the big honker, the nose that nearly anyone notices within a five-mile radius. However, because of her best friend, the perfect and flawless Kristen, Sarah has always felt like the ordinary girl. That is until Rock Conway walks into their lives. Charming, smart, and witty, Rock is the guy Sarah has always been looking for. The thing is Kristen likes him, and she needs Sarah’s help in order to gain his attention. Always one to put friendship in front of guys, Sarah quickly comes to Kristen’s aide. Yet, what happens as Sarah quickly begins to fall for even more? Will she tell Kristen the truth and get Rock, or will she lose this perfect guy once and for all? Only time and more pages can tell in this sweet and charming coming-of-age tale of acceptance, love, and friendship.

My favorite part of this novel would have to be the characters, hands down. Richly developed and full of spunk and wit, it was hard not to love each one of them flaws and all. My favorite would have to be Sarah though. Sarah is a girl I had no trouble relating to, and I feel many other girls (and even boys) will agree. Everyone always has that one friend that’s seems to be perfect, and for Sarah that person is her best friend Kristen. The thing Kristen is awesome in her own way. Sure, she’s a bit dopey, but she’s loyal and a model-worthy friend, making the situation between Kate and her not only complicated to no end, but also well-done to say the least. I also adored Rock…the person everyone was after in this. Sometimes in YA, the leading males are a bit shallow and one-dimensional, but that was not at all the case with Rock. Full of heart, I could not help but love him. He nearly is the perfect guy if there is one….

Furthermore, I loved the plot of this. It was full of tension, drama, and more tension, and I loved every single moment of it. I constantly was flipping the pages, dying to know what would happen next. Would the sexual tension between Rock and Sarah ever lead to something more? Would Sarah ever tell Kristen how she felt about Rock? Would everything end happily or badly? These questions and more were constantly spinning in my head, and until the very last few pages, I barely knew what to expect. Better yet, I loved that strong representation of not only friendship in this one but self acceptance.

Finally yet importantly, Lara Chapman’s writing was fabulous in this one. For a debut novelist, she sure knows how to spin quite the exhilarating of reads- ones full of plenty of character and plot development.

Captivating, romantic, and full of fun, Flawless proves to be quite the debut novel. I cannot wait to suggest this one to readers come its release in May! Here to hoping Lara’s next book will be just as great…if not more.

Grade: A+

Flawless will be released May 10, 2011!

Source: Publicist at Bloomsburry/Walker Books- thanks Kate!