Review: Flawless by Lara Chapman

I seem to be relating well with a lot of books I'm reading these days. Being born into a family who were blessed with straight proud noses, I felt like I was switched, or worse, adopted because of my pudgy nose. So like Sarah, I am insecure because of that facial feature.

Title: Flawless by Lara Chapman
Pages: 272
Release Date: April 29th 2011
Published by: Bloomsbury USA
Source: Bought
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

Not even five pages into the story, I was already laughing my head off. The humor factor of this book is off the charts. Lara Chapman wrote Flawless in an easy to understand, conversational way that makes it easy for readers to breeze into the story.

Sarah is pretty. Almost. Sure she's got blond hair, blue eyes and a good brain. But even that wasn't enough for people to stop staring at her and her big nose. It doesn't help that she has a drop dead gorgeous best friend, but because of some cruel twist of fate, Kristen ended up liking the same guy Sarah likes. What's a friend like her to do? Step aside, help Kristen and hope for the best. But as Kristen and Rock's relationship progress, so is Sarah's misery and insecurities.

Let me just say, no matter how much I wanted to hate Kristen, I can't. She appreciates Sarah more than Sarah appreciates herself and despite Kristen being shallow and using Sarah's "abilities" to get the guy she likes, she's also the one person who believes that Sarah isn't defined just by the size of her nose, which I think was really sweet. I'd love to have a friend like her.

Sarah might just be waiting for that one guy who will appreciate her for all the things that she is and see past her nose. I'm glad that Sarah, despite her sky high insecurities, didn't want to change a part of herself even a bit. She's smart, devoted and loyal. And even though she fights with her mom, she's a great daughter. But she can be stupid too, and all her problems wouldn't have happened if she just decided to not help Kristen.

The male protagonist in this book, Rockford (or Rock, for short), is one of a kind. For one, he's nice. And he loves to read! Finally, an intellectual male protagonist. He's sensitive when it comes to Sarah and understanding of her feelings towards her nose. But in the end, him being a boy, for someone so smart, he was so dense and oblivious to Sarah's feelings. He keeps sending mixed signals to her. Boys just love confusing girls, don't they?

Flawless a great re-telling of Cyrano de Bergerac with a youthful twist and overflowing humor. It's also a great tale of friendship, and one that tells us that sometimes, beauty is skin deep. Filled with hilarious moments and scenes that will tug at our hearts, Flawless is a tale of accepting ourselves for what we are, giving ourselves a bit of self-respect and loving ourselves despite all the flaws that we have.

Content (plot, story flow, character):

Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:
So that's why there's no nose.