Flawed

Sarah O'Brien is alive because of a pact she made with her brother twelve years ago: James will shield her from their violent father, and in return she will promise never to leave him. For years she has watched James wreck his own life to keep her safe, telling herself that her affection is a small price to pay. But when a single kiss reveals that James wants far more from her than she can give, the bargain that protected her becomes a trap. Sam Donavon, James's best friend and the boy Sarah has quietly loved for as long as she can remember, decides he is going to save her, and their forbidden closeness deepens into something neither can stop. What Sarah does not fully grasp is that her brother is far more unstable than the father they both fear, and he has no intention of letting her forget her half of the promise. A dark, intense young-adult novel, it confronts abuse, obsession, and the terrible cost of love twisted into control, building toward a harrowing conclusion.