Flawed

At the beginning of the story, Celestine’s grandfather, Cornelius, is ostracized by the North family when he starts spreading what they call “conspiracy theories” about the Guild’s corruption. Although Summer’s rejection of her father can be interpreted as supporting the Guild’s ideology, her later actions suggest that she is trying to protect her family against the harm that Cornelius’s dissidence could cause.

Summer and Cutter, Celestine’s parents, unconditionally support their daughter as she goes through the branding process. Although Summer initially seems to be a model of social conformity, she is critical of the Flawed court system. In fact, she strategically uses the appearance of perfection to deter threats against her family and protest against the treatment of the Flawed.

Celestine first dismisses Cornelius’s ideas, but later realizes that he is right and embraces him back into her life. Cornelius shows his support of Celestine during her trial, and expresses his pride that she acted out of compassion. In fact, Celestine tells the jury that she helped the Flawed old man because he reminded her of her granddad. Cornelius tries to convince Celestine to join his cause and fight against the Guild several times throughout the story. At first, Celestine rejects the offer, but he encourages her to make up her own mind. Later, Cornelius is the first person Celestine calls to accompany her to Alpha’s meeting. Throughout the narrative, her growing appreciation for her granddad mirrors Judge Bosco’s fall in her esteem, showing how Cornelius is a mentor and motivator.

A year older than her sister Celestine, Juniper is initially characterized as the rebel of the North family. Celestine notes that “Juniper often likes to do her own thing, wearing something that’s not a part of our family color palette. We let her do just that—her loss, though Mom worries that it makes us look fragmented. I think the only person who looks fragmented is Juniper” (30). Although she and Celestine look a lot alike, Juniper is sarcastic, quick to criticize the way the Flawed are treated, and less socially adept than Celestine. However, Celestine admires Juniper’s perceptiveness and emotional intelligence.

At first, Celestine sees Juniper’s rebellion against social norms as immature and potentially dangerous. However, their roles are reversed when Celestine intervenes to help the Flawed man on the bus while Juniper stays quiet. Juniper does not come to support Celestine during her trial, which creates tension between the sisters. Juniper later admits: “I was jealous of your perfection. And now I’m jealous that you’re Flawed. It should have been me who did what you did on the bus. I wanted to. I thought about it all the time. But even when it came to it, I wasn’t brave enough [...]” (316). She then decides to do “the right thing, [the] brave thing” and helps her sister run away (316).

Judge Bosco Crevan is the head of the Guild, the committee that regulates moral and ethical behavior by overseeing the Flawed trials. At first, Celestine describes him as friendly and harmless, despite being an influential political figure. He is the father of Art Crevan, Celestine’s boyfriend. After his wife died, he made it his mission to hold the doctor who made the wrong diagnosis accountable, using a moral offense as a pretext to bring her to trial and brand her Flawed. After the validity of some of his other cases is questioned, Celestine realizes that “Crevan is using the Guild as his own private court” (242).

Celestine first sees Judge Crevan’s hypocrisy when he asks her to lie during her trial under the guise of ensuring her safety, while actually protecting his own reputation as a fair and unbiased judge. Throughout the story, he repeatedly manipulates and coerces people into doing what he wants, exhibiting the very behavior he claims to be fighting against. Celestine’s opinion of him goes from admiration to fear, until she eventually decides to take him down.

Carrick Vane is a young man who finds himself in the holding cells of Highland Castle at the same time as Celestine, and they wait for their respective trials together. Celestine first nicknames him “Soldier” because he is strong and looks like a fighter. They are held in separate cells during the trials, but Celestine feels a connection with him due to their shared circumstances. Carrick promises to find her once they both leave Highland Castle, which he eventually does when he rescues her from the riot after Alpha’s meeting. At the end, their roles are reversed when Celestine runs away to find him.

At first, Carrick is only seen through Celestine’s limited perception, but Alpha gives her additional information about his background. Carrick was Flawed At Birth, meaning that he was born from two Flawed parents and raised in a government agency to “teach’ the Flawed out of [him]” (263). Upon learning this, Celestine says:

He’d spent years being endlessly brainwashed, being told that his parents were worthless, that he was better than them, only to search for them too soon after his release. His love couldn’t be broken; he won. He is even braver than I’d thought. He is the soldier I believed he was (264).

Ahern foreshadows Celestine and Carrick’s romantic relationship throughout the novel, especially when Celestine compares him to her boyfriend Art in several instances.

Art Crevan is Celestine’s boyfriend and Judge Crevan’s son. Celestine says: “Art gets his good looks from his dad—blond hair, blue eyes—and with messy blond curls that can’t be controlled and big blue eyes that twinkle like a naughty imp’s, he always looks like he’s up to mischief, because he usually is” (5). He and Celestine have been friends since they were young, and their romantic relationship developed a few months before the start of the events in the novel. After Art’s mother died, Art got closer to Celestine while his father started investigating the doctor who misdiagnosed her.

At the beginning of the story, Art is carefree, and often tells jokes “when he feels awkward or scared or uncomfortable” (7). He is in love with Celestine and, on their last date before the bus incident, he gives her an anklet symbolizing her perfection. Later, he supports her by coming to her trial against his father’s wishes. Torn between anger at his father and loyalty to Celestine, Art runs away and goes into hiding. Later, he briefly reappears and tells Celestine: “I’m in the middle of the both of you, and whatever I do, it will be wrong” (171). When Celestine discovers that Juniper has been secretly helping him, Juniper explains that they “felt [they’d] let [her] down” (316). At the end of the story, Art’s whereabouts are unknown, and it is unclear whether he will help Celestine or remain loyal to his father. This reflects how Ahern doesn’t resolve numerous plot points in the story, leaving them for the sequel.