Perfected

Imagine a world where people are bought and sold.  Not quite slaves, but more like pets - Human companions for the rich and famous.  That is exactly the disturbing future that Kate Birch imagines in Perfected.  This beautifully crafted novel explores a world where these “pets” are genetically engineered for their calm demeanor, short stature and grace and sold to the highest bidder. Troubling and alarming this examines the coming of age of one of these naïve pets as the way she views the world around her changes and crumbles.

Summary courtesy of 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.

I really instantly fell in love first with the premise of Birch’s novel…I mean who can beat this horrific future where humans are made to be pets for the uber wealthy?  The second thing that really captivated me about this one was the cover.  Simple, clear, clever and GORGEOUS!  Perfected reminded me of a few futuristic books that look at genetically modified people but Birch does it in a different way where there is a bit of controversy around the idea of human “pets.”   There are parts of this book where it really keeps you on the edge of your seat.  I personally expected the evil/creepy to be lurking around the corner for Ella but it never really came to that which on one hand was like “whew…” but on the other hand I really did expect a bigger conflict on that front...I mean really, what type of people buy human companions...Creepy people, right?  The only thing that I would say is lacking is that the romance between Penn and Ella didn’t really do it for me.  There wasn’t really a long period of time where the two really got to know each other and build their relationship.  The relationship that they did develop was sweet and Penn really is more than just the typical rebellious bad boy but it just seemed to happen so fast.  I like my love stories drawn out I suppose...

The world building was quite good and allows the reader to really dive into the world that surrounds Ella.  At first nothing seems wrong, but then she begins to see the world for what it really is.  This is a perfect beach or vacation read.  The story reads fairly quickly and the ending will really get your heart pounding.  I really am eager to read the sequel as I’m thinking the best is yet to come!