Perfected (Perfected Series Book 1)

Oh God this story. It's so beautifully written. It makes you fall in love with the characters. I literally sat down and read this all evening, all night and now it's morning as I write this. It forms a beautiful love story that just tears at your heart. I really. Really. Really hope there's another in this series.

This book was pretty good, I loved the romantic love that sparked between Penn and Ella! I loved how she wanted to deny that she loved Penn but he was open to letting her know he loved her! I love the ending with that twist with the congressman's wife!!! Loved this book!

Perfected was written with beautiful prose however the story lacked depth. There was little world-building and in many sections you have to force yourself to suspend your disbelief because things haven't been well-thought through and don't really add up.

I really wanted to like this book because I thought the concept screamed "great read!!" but unfortunately it fell flat for me. This book was recommended after reading The Selection series and I thought it would be along the same lines. While this book can manage to pull on your heart strings (just a tad), I felt like it was underdeveloped and probably would have fared better as a series. There's so much that's introduced that could have (and I was hoping would have) been explored further but everything is presented in tiny glimpses. Even what's supposed to be a major part of the book only lasted for a chapter (or close to it). By the time I hit 75%, I found that I was reading just to say I finished the book. I didn't even care how it ended. I think the book will probably go over well with teens but if you're an adult who enjoys Teen/YA literature then I wouldn't recommend it.

This was a well executed book, but I ultimately couldn't buy premise.

I was wary about the idea of humans keeping other humans as pets, but curious, too. I wanted to hear the backstory. I wanted to hear how these pets were genetically engineered and what differences were made in their genetic code to make them pets. I wanted to know what society had defined being human as.

Alas, earwax. It seems to me like the only difference between Ella, a 'pet,' and an ordinary human was her appearance and her upbringing. I feel like any baby could eventually be turned into a pet given the right breeding.

But I continued, hoping I'd be proved wrong. Ella is initially very submissive, and very eager to do exactly as she's trained. I wanted to hear how she'd evolve, how she'd change, how she'd come to eventually want freedom. I figured she might read books, eavesdrop, and have intellectual conversations.

But instead, she just falls for a guy with a pretty face. And the romance in this book honestly kind of sickened me. As the blurb gives the romance away, I'll talk freely--Penn and Ella seem to have an instant physical attraction, and Penn's interest in Ella comes from her looks and her ability to play the piano with emotion. It seems like Penn's father's interest in Ella came from practically the same aspects, yet Penn despises his father. Where's the difference?

The romance happens incredibly fast. If it had built up steadily over a year or so, maybe I would have bought it. But it happens practically instantaneously. The weak, naive female protagonist needs to have a guy to show her what the world could be like. Lovely.

Throughout the book, since the premise hadn't really been explained, the idea of keeping people as pets just made me squirm. I thought I'd be okay with the premise because I thought it'd have much more explanation, but honestly I was in no way okay with the whole idea.

While this did have potential, I was pretty disappointed by this book.

Imagine a world where specially bred (genetically modified) humans could be kept as pets. "Perfected" features Ella who was bred and raised to be a pet- complete with catering to her master's whims, being fed special food, used for looks, wearing a collar, being implanted with a microchip, and under threat of being spayed. Ella is happy with her lot in life, because she has been raised to do just that. The wealthy are the ones who can afford the human pets, and even though there is a lot of ethical debates about it (some people refusing to buy them and an underground resistance to help them escape to Canada), it has been made legal in the United States to own these pets.

Ella, at 16 years of age, is a product of the system and a perfect pet- she is happy to be owned and seeks to please her masters- the Congressman who helped to get the laws to make it legal through and his wife and two children who are still at home- Penn, a college student, and Ruby, a young girl. Ella gets a feel for the landscape with this new family as well as begins to realize the more sinister aspects of being a pet. She notes how another purchased pet is touched strangely by the wealthy man who just purchased her and how the Congressman treats her (calling her "Love," kissing her uncomfortably, and touching her with ownership/placing her on his lap uncomfortably).

While a completely enthralling story that was impossible to put down, I am curious how the developed romance will evolve in future books. Ella is susceptible to sexual harassment/assault, even if she doesn't understand what it is. There is a huge power differential between the owning family and herself. Additionally, without freedom to make her own choices, the 'romance' that develops between her and the son, Penn, cannot be real, as she is never really free to choose/never on an equal playing field with him. Will Ella realize this as the series evolves? This is a big question which I am curious to see whether it will develop in earnest in future books. Penn's feelings might be real, but Ella's cannot be, due to the power dynamic and, to an extent, some form of Stockholm Syndrome. I will be curious to see how this plays out in future books. The relationship was uncomfortable, to say the least, to read about, as it mirrors unfortunate parts of the US history.

Although the overall tone seems somewhat light, it carries some very dark themes that make me think of The Lone City series. I would give it somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but I do want to see how this all develops in future books- what a ride!

Please note that I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars - Excellent writing, captivating dystopian / science fiction novel.

Set in the present-day, the US government has approved of humans owning other humans. These genetically engineered 'pets' are bred like dogs in order to attain certain features, such as beauty and small stature. Ella is one such pet, bred at a kennel with 19 others and trained in posture, conversations with adults and composing one's features to always seem happy. Though pets are given etiquette and voice lessons and are trained to play at least one musical instrument, they are never taught how to read or swim or fend for themselves. They are bred and trained to be completely dependent upon their owners.

Ella is chosen by the congressman who made all of this come about; the one who introduced the legislation and pushed it through to approval. Naturally, it is only fitting that he and his family have one of these pets after he fought so hard. Each member of his family seems to have a different opinion regarding humans-as-pets; from the young daughter who likes to play dress-up and hairdos with Ella, to the congressman’s wife who is clearly annoyed that her husband brought a second pet into their home, after some unsavory events occurred with their first one.

Though we see Ella put on display for many of the congressman’s friends, donors, and political connections, other characters are introduced who view the practice of humans-as-pets to be the creepy slavery that it is. When Ella is exposed to other aspects of life, away from the rich and powerful, she questions whether being a pet is really all that bad, if it allows her this luxurious lifestyle.

It is the congressman’s teenage son who has the most powerful reaction to Ella, and sparks feelings and desires in Ella that she was never trained to understand or deal with. Being together would be wrong, according to everyone’s views, except that it feels so right.

I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

It's modern day America; however, legislation passes that allows for the rich to purchase genetically modified human girls and own them as "pets." Girls like Ella are created and raised at "Kennels," which are very much like a dog breeders selling the girls to those that can afford them. Only so many are allowed to be 'made' per year and so it's considered high social status if your family has one.

Ella and all the other girls at the Kennels are humans, yet they are genetically modified to be beautiful and physically perfect in every way. They are raised very naive and in a controlled setting. They are even taught to call their owners 'master.' A Congressman who had to return his previous pet is the one that buys Ella, and she thinks her role is only as a companion to the family. However, the more time she spends with the Congressman, his wife, and their two children, the more Ella starts to question the 'pet' program. She find out that many people are outraged at the this idea of people owning people in america and she is confused as to why. Ella grew up brainwashed, so although it's rather annoying that she is so naive, it makes absolute sense that she would act and feel the way she does.

The congressman's wife is not pleased with having Ella around, but is kind to her. The oldest sibling Penn, dislikes the idea as well, but eventually comes to have feelings for her. I'm not really sure why he develops feelings since she has a rather bland personality. But, I suppose a beautiful girl with a pleasant enough personality could make him develop some feelings. Especially since he feels like she is not being treated right.

Ella eventually finds out about the rest of the world and grows suspicious as to what happened to the previous pet. She also doesn't like how the Congressman and his friends look at and talk about her. The Congressman is also getting too close to her and the idea of freedom is becoming something that she might want. Her life may depend on it.

Perfected was a very disturbing and shocking read, and I think that's exactly what Birch was going for. The idea of teenage girls being owned by the wealthy is disgusting enough, but it seems like it's something only wealthy men are doing in this story. How something like this could even be considered plausible makes the story a bit hard to read. A well written, although disturbing story. I think my rating would be higher if it was a little more plausible or considered to be in a dystopian setting.

This.Was.HORRIBLE. Just terrible. I couldn't even finish the book. I had zero desire to find out what happened to any of the characters. The whole "pet" concept doesn't bother me...I love The Jewel series by Amy Ewing and it has a similar premise. But gosh, it was just executed so poorly in this story. The main character had absolutely no personality. I made myself read probably 85% of this book because I kept thinking, "Okay, it HAS to get better." But it never did. If this book sounds appealing to you, just go read Amy Ewing's series. Skip this one entirely.

Fantastic read. Well written witha great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish. Perfected is about human pets, first we meet number eight, a young female that has been genetically bred at a "kennel." These pets are bred to be the perfect companion for any family that can afford the hefty cost of one. Once eight gets bought, her masters decide to call her Ella. She’s been taught from birth not to read and write, how to sit quietly, how to pay attention when one of her masters speak, to be a living doll for their daughters, basically to do whatever her masters wish. Ella believed that pets were important, but little did she know that once at her new home of a distinguished congressman that she truly was little more than an actual pet. Ella's role in her new master’s home is starting to feel really wrong. The little touches of the congressman’s hand on her cheek and shoulder is starting to give her the worst feeling. The one feeling that does make her heart swell is her friendship with congressman’s son, Penn. He makes her skin tingle, her pulse kicks up in happiness, but it’s a short lived feeling as Ella realizes everything with her situation. In order to truly feel, she must first be free. I really enjoyed this read, I can't wait to read the next book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

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.

- Treestand Book Reviews 4/8/18

the world of perfected echoes the world of the handmaid's tale, where young women are kept subservient and are trained to do the bidding of others. in perfected the girls are bred to be pets. the more elite the family, the higher pedigree they want.

ella is raised to be a pet. to not question. to serve. but ella is something more. her humanity, her basic curiosity, her thirst for freedom is all there, beneath the surface. spending time with penn, the son of the family she's been adopted into awakens things in her she didn't know were possible.

but their relationship is forbidden. and the closer they get the more awakened ella is to her circumstances. to the injustice. to the fact that there is something sinister about all of this.

things will need to change, and ella will need to take a chance. and given that this is book one in a series, don't expect everything to work out.

**perfected published on july 1, 2014. i received a digital copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entangled teen) in exchange for my honest review.