Flawed is one of those books that you really enjoy but have some serious qualms. Find my review also on Goodreads.
Firstly, the concept of a separation between a moral/ethical system and the criminal justice system is a new idea to me, and it was a difficult to accept. Morals/ethics are the foundation on which a justice system sits, because they determine what is wrong, illegal, a crime. However, separate the morals/ethics from the justice system and...it no longer makes sense, lacking substance and a driving force. And the society in this book struggles with the separation--it isn't necessary illegal to be Flawed (a person found guilty of a moral/ethical failure in judgment/character), but you are brought before a Guild, your "flaws" listed and discussed publicly, and then a sentence announced of whether you are not guilty (has happened only once as far as protagonist Celestine knows of) or guilty of the Flawed accusation. If determined Flawed, an individual is branded with an 'F' on the place of their body representing the flaws they were found guilty of--temple for poor judgment, chest for disloyalty to society, hand for theft, tongue for lying, foot for walking away from society (think The Scarlet Letter). In Celestine's case, she receives a sixth brand along with the other five, because Crevan (awful man, a judge on the Guild and his ancestor was a founder of the Flawed ideology) said she was Flawed to the bone and needed a brand to remind her and punish her further. As we find out throughout the remainder of the book, this disparity in the systems and how they are failing society are coming to life. Celestine's trial after helping an ill and elderly Flawed man to a seat he was not permitted to occupy (think Jim Crow/Segregation/Apartheid laws) was the eruption of a revolution that had been steeping for a while. Society was slowly crumpling--Flawed people were no longer guaranteed safety or basic human rights. There were terrorist attacks against Flawed individuals (Celestine experiences one such event). Not even law enforcement, those enforcing the criminal justice system and keeping ALL Flawed and non-Flawed individuals safe, was able to distinguish between right and wrong because of the failures in the system. Even though this started off as what I thought a plot hole, it turned into the heart of what the plot was--this is a broken, corrupt system that underground individuals are trying to change/destroy, and I can totally get behind it being intentional like this.
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J. Edwards
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