Book review: Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch
41) Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch
Ella is a beautiful young woman, very skilled in music and polite conversation. She's been groomed to be a companion and live a life of idle luxury, and even though she's human, she's not seen as human. She can't eat at the same table as her family, and she doesn't eat the same food. She's not expected to keep up with intelligent conversation, even though she's perfectly capable. Ella is a genetically engineered human pet, bred as part of a controversial program approved by the government years before. One of the backers of that legislation is the U.S. senator who purchases Ella to be his family's pet. While Ella succeeds in entertaining the senator's young daughter, she is surprised by Penn, the senator's son, who isn't fooled by Ella's polished exterior and can see the human girl within.
Of course, not everyone likes the idea of genetically modified humans as pets. A radical neighbor kidnaps Ella in the hopes of setting her free. While the tracking device planted within Ella aids in her rescue, Ella for the first time gets a taste of freedom and wonders what it would be like to live as a human. A plan forms in Ella's mind: In Canada genetic clones are treated with the same rights as humans, and Ella thinks if she can only get to the border, she might escape her life as a pet and become truly human.
Author Kate Jarvik Birch explores a number of human rights (as well as animal rights and animal cruelty) themes in Perfected. She plays with the question of what it means to be human, and forces the reader to consider whether personal freedom at great cost is more valuable than a life of luxury lived on someone else's terms.
Ella is a beautiful young woman, very skilled in music and polite conversation. She's been groomed to be a companion and live a life of idle luxury, and even though she's human, she's not seen as human. She can't eat at the same table as her family, and she doesn't eat the same food. She's not expected to keep up with intelligent conversation, even though she's perfectly capable. Ella is a genetically engineered human pet, bred as part of a controversial program approved by the government years before. One of the backers of that legislation is the U.S. senator who purchases Ella to be his family's pet. While Ella succeeds in entertaining the senator's young daughter, she is surprised by Penn, the senator's son, who isn't fooled by Ella's polished exterior and can see the human girl within.
Of course, not everyone likes the idea of genetically modified humans as pets. A radical neighbor kidnaps Ella in the hopes of setting her free. While the tracking device planted within Ella aids in her rescue, Ella for the first time gets a taste of freedom and wonders what it would be like to live as a human. A plan forms in Ella's mind: In Canada genetic clones are treated with the same rights as humans, and Ella thinks if she can only get to the border, she might escape her life as a pet and become truly human.
Author Kate Jarvik Birch explores a number of human rights (as well as animal rights and animal cruelty) themes in Perfected. She plays with the question of what it means to be human, and forces the reader to consider whether personal freedom at great cost is more valuable than a life of luxury lived on someone else's terms.
Comments
Post a Comment