[Review: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch]

"Perfected"
Author: Kate Jarvik Birch
Series: Perfected #1
Pages: 304
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Date Published: July 1st, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format Read: Purchased eBook

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Summary:

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.

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Perfected,

Hello there, you diabolically, twisted, messed up, book! I love that you had me inwardly and outwardly cringing as I read your pages. The things inside of you are screwed up on so many levels, but you also use them in a way that reminds us of what it means to be a person. You're unsettling and I like you even more for it all...

-The White Unicorn

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Birch has a way with writing stories that set you on edge as you read them. She's not afraid to tell a story with uncomfortable story devices. This time around she's telling a story of humanity through the eyes of a girl who's been genetically created to be something like a pet to people. The creepy factor is that Ella has emotions and feelings and is in all actuality a person. A person who is forced to be treated like a pampered poodle. It's a disgusting thought, but Birch gives us strong story building and characters that you will love.

While reading this book, I was left with a creepy feeling. The fact that people were out there creating other people for their own pleasure makes me sick inside. These girls are being created in kennels to be the perfect doormats, but Birch reminds us that you can't take humanity out of someone, so things don't always go as planned. Going in to the book I had no idea that it was set in an dystopian future. I'm not sure what I thought it was going to be, but I'm glad that this was the case. It made it even more unsettling, knowing that the technology might be out there to do something like this.

Ella doesn't even have a name while she's in the kennel. It isn't until she ends up at the congressman's house that they decide on her name. I can't even imagine what it's like to go 16 years without a name and only a number to your person. She shows up, get's a name, a necklace with a dog tag on it and a world full of luxury. She's clueless. She's been raised to listen and that's about it. Well, they also taught her how to play the piano as a way of entertaining her owners, but that wasn't originally for her, though she loves it with everything inside of herself. She doesn't know how to read, or cook, or do much of anything but sit around and look pretty. This could have been terrible for her as a character, but it actually makes the world that Birch created even more vivid. It makes Ella someone that you can root for as she starts to see things as they really. As she starts to see that she has options in the world, options that she never thought she'd have. 

She starts to gain a personality as the book progresses, so even though she seems like a weak character to begin with, you see that she's made of so much more as the book moves along. She starts to realize that she wants things and that she's been cheated out of the human experience and when she starts fighting for it, you'll want to cheer her on too. 

Perfected happens to be fueled by a romance. In this case it works and I think that it also softens the blow of all the intense things that are happening to Ella. How was she supposed to know that she'd fall for her owners son? I enjoyed Penn. He's what Ella needs. That being said, I felt like he was the weakest part of the book. For some reason I just didn't love his voice. I liked him, but every time he opened his mouth, it was like his words didn't match up with his personality for me. I can't put my foot on what was off, but this little thing didn't mess with my enjoyment of the story, because in the end, the book is about so much more than the love story, even if that is used to move the plot along.

Birch manages to slowly peel back the layers on what is actually going on with the pets and as more and more comes to light, the more you want to rip the pets out of the pages of the books and free them from the hell that Birch has created for them. I have to admit that I saw a few of the twists coming, because they weren't very hidden, but a few things still snuck up on me.

If you want to read a book that's going to set you on edge and make you feel like every person on this earth counts, this is the book for you. It's got so many blood boiling moments in it that will make you happy that Birch's world isn't a reality.

Rating:

   4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!

[The Writing Process Blog Tour]

A big shout out to my author pal Helen Boswell for tagging me to play along in The Writing Process Blog Tour. She's ridiculously talented and I'm so excited to be working with her on a fantastic writing project that we have in the works with a few other amazing authors. If you haven't heard of Helen's YA Mythology series, you should really check it out, and just because she has a character named Christianna in them. She also has a NA contemporary romance that every one and their mother are raving about, but don't take my word for it. You can check out her blog HERE!

So, let's get to the questions, shall we...

What am I currently working on?

I think the real question is, what am I currently not working on? At the moment I have 4 projects in the works, which is crazy. My NA contemporary is out with Betas as we speak, I'm getting close to the middle point in the first draft of a gender-bending-heavy YA High Fantasy and I'm just getting started on a YA rom/com. But the project that I'm most excited about is a short story for YA Dystopian Anthology that should be coming to you in the next couple of months... (fingers crossed) It's my baby and I'm so glad that I got a talented team of authors to contribute.

My story takes place in a worn down America and it's all about a revenge plot with plenty of gore and guns. Let's just say that these stories are going to be something rather different and amazing to get you in the mood for Christmas! And let's just say that I've been watching lots of Tarantino flicks! Bear Jew anyone?!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Okay, is this question easy to answer? No, it's not. I guess I would have to say that my Contemporary novels have a definite Indie movie vibe to them. The stranger and quirkier the characters the better. Think weird settings and ridiculous antics and you're probably on the right track.

My darker pieces tend to be mind benders. I like to trick people. I like to show you something in a guarded light and then flip it on it's head. I'm inspired a lot by the works of Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon and Danny Boyle. Once again, the weirder the better. I'm starting to think that that should be my slogan. Also, I'm totally okay with death...

Why do I write what I write?

I think I write what I write to see what my brain will come up with once I give it free reign. Life has a certain set of rules that you're supposed to live by (and I already break most of those) but when you're writing, anything goes. It sparks your brain and let's you create outside of the lines. It sets a picture in front of you along with colored markers and says "screw the lines, just do your thing." No one sees it until you deem it ready and I love that.

How does my individual writing process work?

It starts with a spark and usually a song. I'm a huge music junky and have even dabbled in music journalism over the years, so it's no surprise that music plays a huge role in my writing. My high fantasy is actually based on a Wolfmother song (insert unasked for music endorsement here). First thing I do before writing the first line is create a character board on Pinterest and pick out theme songs for each of the main characters, then I build a playlist off of that. Then I outline, and by outline I mean write a couple paragraphs about what happens. I'm not much of a plotter, but I do tend to write down important facts that I come up with as I write on the fly so that I know what's happening as I continue on. You can always find my unicorn clad notebook next to me as my fingers fly across my laptop keys (his name is Oscar Wilde). I also like to write really character driven books, so I write at least one large paragraph for each main character before I dig in. The other thing I like to do is pick a few movies that get me into the mood of the novel I'm working on and I'll watch them if I feel like I'm lost. But when it comes down to it, I force myself to write every day and get words down on paper.

And now I tag some awesome author buds...

Kate Jarvik Birch. Seriously, this woman writes some twisted little books. She has a book out with Bloomsbury Spark called "Deliver Me" and another called "Perfected" which is published through Entangled Teen. I just adored "Deliver Me" and I know that I'll get to "Perfected" soon. Through many internet chats we've also come to learn that we're practically twins, which makes her pretty cool in my book. (see what I did there?) Oh and she's also a part of said Dystopian Christmas Anthology, so she's literally in my book as well.
 

Jen McConnel. She writes about hunky Scottish gents and witches and goddesses and wonderful things like that. Her NA books "The Secret of Isobel Key" and "Her Secret Inheritance" are Bloomsbury Spark releases and I enjoyed both immensely. She's also a part of the Month9 family with her YA "Daughter of Chaos." If you have a thing for travel in your books, read hers.

Leigh Talbert Moore. Leigh has been a huge supporter of my writing since the beginning. She's also one of the authors that made me understand that self-published books could be a wonderful thing. She's written a slew of YA and NA titles and I highly recommend them all. Everyone should read her novel "Rouge", because I need the sequel to exist. Maybe I should start a campaign to get everyone to read that book? You'll also be able to see a sample of her writing in that Dystopian Christmas Anthology I was talking about earlier.

[Review: Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch]

"Deliver Me"
Author: Kate Jarvik Birch
Series: None
Pages: 250
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Date Published: April 29th, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Spark
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for honest review

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Summary:

One People. One Union. One Future.

Wynne’s entire life is dictated by the Union: the clothes she wears, the books she reads, even the genes she inherited. And like every other girl in the Union, Wynne dreams of being chosen as a Carrier on her 16th birthday—one of the elite selected to carry the future generation within her womb. Wynne and her best friend Odessa are certain they will both make the cut, but when Odessa is chosen and whisked off to a life of privilege, Wynne is left behind to work as an assistant, delivering perfectly planned babies for the Union.

As Odessa slips deeper and deeper into the role of Carrier, Wynne begins to see the Union for what it really is: a society that criminalizes the notion of love, and forbids words like mother and family.

For the first time in her life, Wynne is faced with a choice: submit to the will of the Union, or find a way to escape and save Odessa before she is lost forever.

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Deliver Me,

I didn't go into reading you thinking that you were going to be a book that swept me off my feet, in fact I didn't give it much thought, but now I can't stop thinking about you.  You posed so many questions about the human condition and the quiet strength that we all have inside of us.  You made me bawl my eyes out at one point and that doesn't happen very often.  You gave me this terrifying world and these characters that I adored.  You gave me feminine, yet strong girl power and you touched on feminist issues without being obnoxious.  You book, are going to be something I'll be thinking about for awhile.

-The White Unicorn

Okay, so this book blew my mind.  Birch has a writing style that will pull you right into the world that she's created.  Her characters are ridiculously strong and well written.  You feel like they are people that you've known forever, which makes the reality of the things that are happening to them even more heart wrenching.  Deliver Me isn't a sweet book by any means.  It's brutal and it's dark and it's full of human conditioning.  That being said, Birch manages to give us the story through the eyes of people who still hang on to hope.  People who bend the status quo and see just how far they can push it.  This book is harrowing.

Birch gives us this dystopian world that will remind readers of the Nazi concentration camps.  The men and women are separated and placed into their own barracks.  They have numbers tattooed onto their arms.  Love and families aren't something you are supposed to know about.  And a few select girls seem like they get the best deal when they are chosen to be Carriers (baby making machines).  It's not pretty and it's actually pretty darn terrible.  It'll leave you cringing at times, but it will also make you want to cheer for human resilience.  

The story is fundamentally about friendship.  Wynne does have a moment where she meets a man, but this book isn't drenched in a typical love story, in fact it barely even dips its toes in.  Instead it's a story about Wynne and Odessa.  They share this sisterly love that is huge and they've planned their lives out together as Carriers, but that doesn't go as planned.  Once the girls are separated, Wynne builds strong and lasting relationships with most of the other women that come into her path.  The relationships that Birch builds are wonderful and full of warmth, even though the circumstances surrounding them are harsh.

Wynne is one tough cookie.  The things that she sees and experience are intense, but she still manages to stay grounded.  She's continually questioning everything that's happening around her, while everyone else is just going about their lives the way they were taught to.  She asks the questions that most people wouldn't want to know the answers to and it makes her one of the most interesting heroines that I've read in a really long time.  She stands up for what is right even though she's been conditioned from birth not to doubt anything that she's told by those who are in charge.  Of course this also brings loads of trouble knocking on her front door.

I do have one little qualm with this wonderful book.  It's a slight, little thing, but it's still there.  The world building, though it's really well developed, also isn't.  Sure we see the world that Wynne lives in and it's extremely detailed, but the wide scope world building could have been fleshed out a bit more.  Though it could have detracted from the characterization and God knows I prefer that to overly detailed outside information.  Like I said, it's a little thing.

I highly suggest that this book go on your "to be read" lists.  It snuck up on me and made me take notice of all the awesome that it had to offer.

Rating:

 4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!