Review: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch (Chrissy’s review)

Perfected
written by Kate Jarvik Birch
published by Entangled Teen

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange  for an honest review.

Did I enjoy this book: I really didn’t. About halfway through, I was going to give up. But it was just one of those books that I wanted to see how it ended because of my feelings toward it.

I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe something more romantic. Something more dystopian. Something different than what I read. Maybe I missed the point of Perfected. But it just really bothered me that they referred to her as a pet, that Ella was from a kennel, and that they were talking about having her spayed. And Ella’s owners — yes, owners — talked about these things in her presence. She was also chained in her room and walked by the chain as if it were a leash. And parts of the book felt like pedophilia and human sex trafficking. It was just too much.

The whole way through the book, I was going to give Perfected 1 star. However, I finished it. I wanted to see how it ended. Something about Perfected kept me reading. And for that, I am giving it 2 stars.

Would I recommend it: Sadly, no. And if this is a series, I don’t think I will read the next book.

About the book – from Goodreads: Perfection comes at a price.

As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.

Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.

But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.

For fans of Keira Cass’s Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.