Review ~ Flawed ~ Cecelia Ahern

Title: Flawed

Author: Cecelia Ahern

Published: March 24th 2016

By: Harper Collins

First line: I am a girl of definitions, of logic, of black and white.

Last line: I run.

Synopsis: Celestine North lives a perfect life. She's a model daughter and sister, she's well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she's dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.

But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule. And now faces life-changing repercussions.

She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED.

In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her-everything.

It normally takes me a while to get into a new series.  I have new characters to learn and try to form an opinion on, a new world I have to learn to navigate and typically I'll normally be scouring the pages to figure out which characters I need to dislike the most.   Not so with this book. From the first page I was totally addicted.  Ahern's writing style is so easy and fluid and the characters and storyline are so addictive I actually lost the best part of a day reading Flawed and didn't realise that I had until I realised that I was starving!

The world that Ahern has created is of course a fictional one,  but it retains elements that are familiar and that in itself I think makes for a more realistic backdrop. School, home life, policing and politics are not that far away from what is the norm now so everything is easy to picture when reading. It becomes easier to say what if even when the storyline becomes more dark.  There are several plot points in the book that make you realise how even after war history is still doomed to repeat itself, even when measures are put in place to stop that happening.  I also love the dynamics within Celestine's family which seems so strong at times but then under certain circumstances, particularly at the beginning it can become so fragile it's easy to imagine the family imploding under the pressure.  Family members are not always as perfect as their outward image suggests. Same goes for the Celestine's relationship with Art and with her sister and threefold for Art's relationship with his father.

There are characters to dislike in here, Judge Crevan being your main object of hatred who is brutal and flawed way beyond those around him.  And there is an inequality between those that are flawed and those that are 'perfect' that made my blood boil!  This is particularly the case when Celestine herself displays traits that would be seen as desirable in most societies but are deemed as flaws within this new world. Her treatment after the fact is deplorable but it keeps you reading because you're waiting for her to get justice.

I don't want to give away more detail than I have already.  Best just to say I loved this book and I more than eagerly await the release of the next instalment, Perfect, which comes out at the end of March 2017.  Seems like too long a wait for me!

4/5 - I was hooked after the first couple of pages.   More now please!!

Review ~ Night Study ~ Maria V. Snyder

Title: Night Study

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Published: 26th January 2016

By: Mira Ink

First line: Valek blinked at me.

Last line: "It'd be worth dying for."

Synopsis: Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia are safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear. 

Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he's quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he's been keeping secrets from Valek...secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander's mysterious plans, they realize it's far more sinister that they could have ever imagined.

I love reading Yelena's story.  As a reviewer I go through so many different stories, so many different characters and so many writing styles that, when I get another of Snyder's books in my mitts it's kind of like getting out my literary security blanket and wrapping myself up in it.  Snyder doesn't disappoint in this latest instalment of Yelana's story.

The second book in the majority of series is very often a prelude to the big finale but not so in this case.  We have an investigation going on with most of our main characters involved concerning a mutated plant whose results could be devastating and we have an increasing amount of political tension between Sitia and Ixia which makes for a dangerous world for Yelena and her friends.  Top that with Yelena's continued loss of her magic and the 'developments' in the relationship between Yelena and Valek and you're in for  one hell of a read!

This book revolved around the adaptations that its main protagonists have to go through, not only as their circumstances change but also as a result of their past, the latter referring to Valek moreso.  I love the multi POV aspect to this read, especially as there are so many major threads within this story. Getting the view fro each unique perspective really helps keep everything clear in my own mind as I'm reading.  The friendships and relationships between characters still provides the backbone to the Study series, with Janco still providing much needed humour, a must when there are so many potentially dark outcomes to this tale. 

I loved delving back into this world!  The final chapter leaves you with quite the cliffhanger so now it's just a case of waiting for 2017 and for the final instalment Dawn Study to land on my doorstep.  Can't wait!

Stacking the Shelves #167

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tyngs's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your  shelves, may they be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Clicking on a book image will take you to goodreads so you can read all about it.

We love sharing our books with you each week but more importantly we loving see what you add to your shelves.

I bought Half Lost (The Half Bad trilogy #3) by Sally Green this week.  Hearing really good things about this so looking forward to reading it!

What have you been buying this week?