Fictional Candy: Review: Flawed Perfection by Cassandra Giovanni

Title: Flawed Perfection
Series: Beautifully Flawed #1
Author: Cassandra Giovanni
Published: March 2013, Show N'ot Tell Publishing
Format: Ebook received for review

Bobby Beckerson was the American All-Star hockey player--he was the spitting image of perfection to his family. Goofy, sweet and undeniably gorgeous, he had everything but the one girl he wanted: River Ahlers.

River Ahlers is successful in everything but love. She's been in love with Adam Beckerson since they were kids. Worst of all she's stuck right in the middle of the brothers dueling over everything and anything, and she doesn't even know she's the ultimate prize.

Adam Beckerson was a boy with a guitar, a smile that sunk girls' hearts and a stone wall around his own. He was anything but perfect, and no matter how hard he tried he was nothing compared to Bobby. Sweet, damaged, with boyish good-looks, nobody thought Adam loved anyone but himself.

Bobby loved River, River loved Adam and Adam only loved himself--or so everyone thought. Then one night everything changes, and as it threatens to destroy everyone involved a tragedy strikes that will break them all...

So for today's post, and my review of Flawed Perfection, I'm also including my own personal Dream Cast, which is something a bit new for me to include with a review.

As for this book, I did find it enjoyable. I thought the storyline was definitely an interesting one, and something that fit it perfectly with the New Adult category. Ten years ago, River had fallen in love with a boy named Adam. Present day, she's still in love with him, and lives across the hall from him...and his brother, Bobby. Bobby loves River, River loves Adam, Adam... well, Adam seems to love women. Classic triangle with a twist.

This book was unusual for me, because the men shined more than the woman. So let's start with Adam. Adam was only described as Ambercrombie & Fitch. I kind of pictured him as sexy nerd, with a bad boy flare. I think Adam used women as a band-aid. He feels like he lives in his brother's shadow, and in reality - he does. He's definitely cast aside many times by his family in favor of Bobby. But with River, he's always number one. Once he "saw the light" and stopped being a douchey guy, I liked him much more.

This is kind of how I pictured Bobby. He was repeatedly described as a body builder, but I never got the impression that he was outrageously huge. I don't know. Anyways - Bobby was probably my favorite character, and the only one that showed a greater range of emotion. He loved River, and made no secret about it. But he knew she loved Adam. Sometimes I felt River was really quite bitchy about it to him, and would try to sweeten up to him after a blowout. I feel like she toyed with him and his heart. But Bobby, while he sometimes acted out, was a shining star. He had a good heart and was trying his best to make everyone happy. He often felt like the third wheel, and that made me feel for him.

As for River... I didn't really care for her. There were times that I felt bad for her, she seemed to be on the bottom of hers and the boys' parent's list, but that's no excuse for much of her behavior. And when two families grow up arm in arm, that's important. But I found River to be childish and petulant most of the time. It's like she wanted her cake, and to eat it, too. Many times I even found her to be outright manipulative and thickheaded. I felt like she belonged with Adam, and didn't deserve Bobby.

As for the story on a whole, it was enjoyable. The triangle was interesting. But I never really fully felt connected to the characters, and like I really wanted to root for them. I think this is because more often than not, I sympathized with the odd man out rather than the main characters. There were definitely some sweet moments to be had by all characters, and there are some really tough things to deal with too. But I would have liked more detail. It felt, sometimes, like the story had jumped and I had to reread a few paragraphs, thinking I had missed something.

If you like New Adult, I'd say give this one a try. It was a quick read for me. I liked the drama of the situation. And while there were some things that just didn't click with me, overall the story was enjoyable.