What if perfection came with a price tag? In Perfected, Kate Jarvik Birch crafts a haunting dystopian tale where the government has legalized genetic engineering to create ideal human “pets” for the elite. One of these engineered girls is Ella—graceful, obedient, and raised to serve. Her destiny? To live in luxury as a companion in the home of a powerful congressman. But beneath the polished exterior of this glamorous life lies a sinister truth.

Ella’s days revolve around serving her new household—until she meets Penn, the congressman’s rebellious son. Unlike the others, Penn sees her not as property but as a person. Their growing connection opens Ella’s eyes to a world beyond obedience and restriction. But freedom, once glimpsed, is hard to ignore—and the consequences of chasing it could be deadly.

When Ella is suddenly kidnapped and thrown into a world that exposes the horrific underbelly of this “perfect” system, she’s forced to make impossible choices. Staying could mean losing herself forever—but leaving could mean death.

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🖋️ Review by Nat

This novel is a dystopian gem for fans of morally complex worlds and high-stakes emotion. If The Selection by Kiera Cass or Wither by Lauren DeStefano kept you up at night, then Perfected will likely blow your mind. Birch takes an unthinkable concept—humans bred and sold like pets—and spins it into something disturbingly believable.

From the very first chapter, I was hooked. The opening scene, set in a kennel where girls are groomed and trained like animals, is surreal and unforgettable. It’s horrifying, yet fascinating—like watching a slow-motion train wreck you can’t tear your eyes away from.

What makes Perfected truly unsettling is how casually cruelty is dressed up as comfort. When Ella is “named” during dinner like a household pet, or when she receives a literal engraved name tag, the horror lies not in brutality but in normalization. Birch captures this eerie, quiet dystopia with unsettling finesse.

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❤️ The Romance: Subtle, Tragic, Necessary

The love story between Ella and Penn isn’t your standard YA swoon-fest. It’s delicate, slow-building, and tangled in layers of ethical complexity. Penn loathes the very system that gifted him Ella, while she’s only beginning to understand how much of her life has been a lie. It’s hard not to ache for them both—trapped by circumstances they didn’t choose.

But Penn isn’t the only man in Ella’s life, and one particular figure takes the creep factor up to a 10. His obsession, masked as care, is a stark reminder of how power corrupts. I found myself wanting to scream at the page—and that, to me, is the mark of an immersive read.

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💭 The World-Building: Brilliant and Bizarre

This is one of the most disturbing yet innovative dystopias I’ve come across in a while. Birch’s world is disturbingly plausible—especially when you consider how often society markets perfection and commodifies beauty. You start asking yourself: Could this actually happen?

And that’s where my one frustration lies. So many questions are left unanswered:

• How did this practice begin?

• Why only girls?

• What’s the breeding process like?

But perhaps Birch intended to leave readers hanging, because the book closes with a brutal cliffhanger—an ending that cuts off right after a scene of intense chaos. You’ll slam the book shut and say, “Wait. That’s it?!”

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📌 Final Thoughts

Perfected is more than a dystopian YA novel—it’s a chilling commentary on control, freedom, and the illusion of luxury. It forces you to look beneath the glossy surface and question what makes us human.

This isn’t just a book—it’s a conversation starter, a mind-bender, and, most importantly, a page-turner.

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⭐ Verdict:

Must-Read for Dystopian Lovers | 4.5/5 Stars

📌 Add to your shelf if you love thought-provoking dystopias, morally complex romances, and books that leave you questioning everything you thought you knew.