Perfected (Perfected #1) by Kate Jarvik Birch

Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch is a YA Dystopian where glamorous, genetically-engineered girls, I mean “pets,” can be yours at a price..

“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 Kiera Cass’ 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.”

When I first started reading this book, I have to say I was up in the air on whether or not I was going to like this book.

But honestly, I think that you would have to have that view with what this book is about: human pets. For one, this is definitely a new take on the whole YA spectrum. The story began with a slavery meets YA dystopia vibe. BUT I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised on how the story went.

I really liked the unique twist to how society sees this evolutional, genetic-engineering concept. Since this story is told through the viewpoint of one of the “pets,” we got to see the differences in how people reacted to seeing her out and about. I think the author did a great job in pulling in such a variety of standpoints to this rather political concept.

My ONLY drawback to the story was the dialogue. If you love the more cheesy moments in a YA dialogue, I recommend you take a look at this series. The relationships (and yes, there is romance within the story-line) felt a little overdone for me, but that is just because I am drawn into the more complex-type relationships. This book focused more on the new-love relationship dialogue that is usually seen in the YA genre.

Beside that, this was a really enjoyable story-line. It received 3/5 stars. This was a book where I had no clue how it was going to play out. As a reader, 75% of the time I can catch on pretty quickly to how a book may plan out, but Perfected was a constant surprise which I highly appreciated in a story. Without realizing it, four chapters would have gone by.

I can’t wait to read Book 2.

Published: 1 July 2014

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Pages: 304

How I Read It: eArc from Publisher

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my book reviews contain my honest opinion only and are not influenced in any way.*

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