Highly recommended.

FROM PUBLISHER: 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. ( )

I don’t read many contemporary books, every once in a while a cover will make me pick one up. Perfect example of a cover that caught my eye The word flawless right over the area of where the nose should be on a stunning face.
Yep, that made me pick it up and wonder why no nose? So as you can guess somehow a nose is involved with this book and a young girls nose to be exact. The book is a story of being comfortable in your own skin even if you have others trying to change your appearance. I enjoyed the book but there were a couple of characters introduced that weren’t really necessary to the book and the point that it was trying to make could have been explained in other ways.
Nice easy read, not a book to think about and try to figure the who done it, this kind of book is sometimes the best kind of book to clear your mind for the upcoming crazy book you have up next on your list.
( )

When I first read the summary for Flawless, I immediately thought of a classic that I thoroughly enjoyed: Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. How could I not make such a comparison when the narrator's main "flaw" is a large nose? When I started reading, it confirmed right away that's just what Chapman had intended only using a modernized and feminized formula.

First off, the book was written entirely in present tense, which you don't see very often in books. Or perhaps I've just not noticed it in many of the books I've read. Reading in this tense didn't really disrupt the flow of the story and perhaps it helped in speeding me through the pages. Chapman really does have a way of reaching out to her readers and completely immersing them into the book. I felt as though I was there with Sarah right when Rock first came into her Journalism class, to all the times when she was writing for Kristen, to the very end where I'm almost certain I felt a lump of anxiety in my stomach. Truth be told, I almost felt that Rock was unbelievable as a character, that he was too good to be true, but the romantic part of me squealed like a fangirl about his interests which included literature and poetry. But he also became a bit more real to me when he behaved in typical teenage boy fashion after Kristen gave him so much attention.

The main plot was slightly predictable, especially if you've read Cyrano de Bergerac, but there was also the side plot involving Sarah's mom and a new coworker that was a refreshing break from the main story. The end result of this plot helped show the closeness that Sarah had with her mother and the complete loyalty she felt for her. Despite it's predictability and semi-after-school-special feel, I really did enjoy reading Flawless. I whipped through the story because even though I thought I knew what would happen, I really wanted to see when and how it would happen and the resulting consequences.

There was no serious 'bang' when everything came tumbling down, but I think in this kind of story, you don't need a massive climax. Sometimes, it is the more subtle climax that has readers on the edge of their seats, anxiously eager to turn the page. I believe Chapman pulled that off quite nicely here for the overall warm and light feel of her story, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more books from Lara Chapman. ( )

Flawless is a contemporary retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. Thankfully it doesn’t end as grim.

Sarah Burke senior in high school has learned to deal with her nose, as it's been the source of all her insecurities and unhappiness. To put it bluntly, it’s just really huge. She thought she was fine with it, until she develops a crush on Rock the new boy from Atlanta. Unfortunately she’s not the only one smitten, Kristen her best friend is as well. Because Kristen isn’t into literature or poetry she enlists Sarah to help woo him on Facebook, but how long can this go on with Sarah’s own feelings getting in the way... not to mention she’s deceiving pretty much everyone, including herself.

I like this book for its exploration of loyalty, friendship and embracing self. I think in this sort of situation it would be easy to become catty with your friend, but that isn’t the case for Sarah and Kristen. They remain close friends throughout the book. Though Sarah sort of learns a lesson the hard way because of it, and lets opportunities pass her by because of her insecurities.

Towards the end there were some random plot bunnies that were kind of just thrown in there. I still don’t know what the point was. I suppose to change-up the plot a bit. Also I found myself with the second male lead syndrome. He wasn’t even mentioned that often but from what I heard of him I liked him better.

This came off like a Disney Channel movie. That’s not necessarily bad, I TiVo those things... It's just the kind of book you give your niece in high school to read. Well it's meant for that age demographic anyway. It wasn’t perfect, but I think the overall message was important. I rather liked this happier approach to the tale then being overly dramatic and sad. If you know a younger kid with self-image problems then this is one book to recommend. ( )

One of my all time favorite stories is Cyrano de Bergerac. So, when I found out that this story is a modern day retelling of that classic tale, I jumped for joy. I enjoyed this version immensely.

In Lara Chapman's Flawless, a young teenage girl has the misfortune of being born with an enormously large honker. But don't feel bad for Sarah; she is a strong and determined girl. With the help of her best friend Kristen--aka Barbie-- they put the taunters in their place and manage to implement an inpenetrable aura of self-confidence. But that's only on the outside. Inwardly, both Sarah and Kristen have major insecurities.

Like the classic version, Sarah has a way with words. A gift, actually. She can spin out prose that would make both Cyrano and Shakespeare turn green with envy. Kristen, however, is a bumbling (albeit extremely sexy) idiot. At least in the area of the fine arts. When Rock enters their world, it becomes very clear that this walking Adonis has a functioning brain. Kristen instantly snags Rock with her flirty ways, but it seems like Rock is interested in Sarah's intellect. That's a major problem for Kristen. She needs Sarah's brain to impress Rock. (I mean, Kristen offered to arrange a meeting with his favorite poet-- Walt Whitman! Hysterical.)

Sarah, being the great best friend that she is, allows herself to be roped in to one of the most insane schemes of all time. She becomes Kristen's voice (via e-mail and Facebook), and Rock's muse. You can imagine the misadventures that ensue from this horrible decision. Classic stuff. It kind of reminded me of Steve Martin's movie Roxeanne. Through all of this, however, there is a lessoned to be learned, and Sarah learns it the hard way. Just like my buddy Will says, "To thine own self be true."

If you're familiar with the original story, this one is pretty easy to predict. It really is a retelling. One thing that I do love about this story, however, is the incorporation of Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter. How powerful. In case you're wondering, Sarah and Rock have the same literature class together. They have to disect quotes from The Scarlett Letter and apply it to real life. Chapman picked wonderful quotes to illustrate the conflicting nature of her characters. It also helped that the literature class's annual theme was "love."

I couldn't decide if I wanted to give the story 3 or 4 starts. I love Cyrano so much that it's hard to compare a contemporary version to such a piece of perfect literary fiction. But on its own, Flawless, was a good story. The plot was consistent, the characters believable, and the overall story was true to Cyrano. There was even a little lesson about loyalty (to yourself and others) in there. So, I ended up marking it as both 3 and 4 (which I guess is really 3.5). Make of it what you will.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie Roxeanne or read Cyrano de Bergerac, you really need to get with the program. You might enjoy this book even more if you had something to compare it to. It is a retelling, afterall. ( )