Review: Flawed (Perfection #2) by J.L. Spelbring

Once again thanks to both Spencer Hill Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this book.  And it was good to read it almost right after I finished the first one, Perfection, which I reviewed HERE.  And I don't know if it was because I had just finished the first one and was getting to read right on, but I think this one was better than the first one.  I mean I liked it better, not that I didn't like the first one though.  So, here's the best summary I can give without too many spoilers for those who haven't read the first book.

Our main character is again Ellyssa.  She was able to save Rein with the help of his brother Woody.  Unfortunately when they get back to the cave in Missouri the rest of their Renegade family called home, they find they have been discovered.  There is a massacre in one of the rooms in the cavern.  The only thing that gives them hope is that there aren't as many bodies as there should be.  While they are trying to get their bearings and figure out where to go looking, one of their family shows up, Trista.  At first they're unsure whether to trust her or not as she is wearing a Gestapo uniform.  Ellyssa is unsure if she has betrayed them or is planning to.  But it turns out Trista was saved by the cop from the last story, Dyllon, the one the crazy Gestapo lady after Ellyssa had almost fallen for.  Rein is immediately ready to kill Dyllon when he sees him, remembering how Dyllon had stood by while Ellyssa's sister Aalexis had tortured him.  But Trista is able to convince them to give him a chance, along with help from Ellyssa who is able to read his mind and see whether he plans to betray them.  They are taken to the house of one of the supporters we met in the last book. They stay there while they try to figure out where the other survivors from their Renegade family have been taken. 

Ellyssa was sure that when they blew up The Center in their escape at the end of the first book, that all of her siblings were dead.  But she is wrong.  Aalexis and Xaver survived.  And the lat thing Dr. Hirch, der Vater as they call him, told Xaver, was to protect Aalexis at all costs.  With her being able to control things with her mind like she can, she is the most important of all the children the doctor created.  Aalexis wants to continue her father's work, but she also wants revenge on Ellyssa for killing him.  But she can't just kill her, because they need her DNA as part of the next set of children, the more perfect children with all of their abilities.  As Xaver and Aalexis mature, they begin to undergo some of the same issues with emotions that Ellyssa had experienced, something that they had always been told was weakness.  But Xaver convinces Aalexis that their father was imperfect, so he must be wrong about this.  He used the example of how far Ellyssa would go to save this imperfect boy she was in love with, Rein.

The survivors are in a concentration camp. Sent there on purpose, and Aalexis is going to use them as bait to try to get Ellyssa where she wants her, and to get her revenge.  There will be betrayal, and lots of hard traveling and planning to try to save their family.  And we will even see her friend Mathew, the Renegades' doctor in the first book, deal with Aalexis and other Nazi's at the concentration camp in his own bid to survive and save his family.  It all ends up at the camp, with a conclusion that doesn't quite end it.  It leaves us open and ready for the next book.

Since other characters from the first book that we got to read from their point of view are dead in this book, we get some new ones besides Ellyssa.  We get to go into the insane mind of Aalexis, and see how she reacts to all of this, and how she schemes to complete her father's plans.  And as I said, we also get into Mathew's mind as he tries to make it in the concentration camp. 

I feel like we got more background and details on the outside world, as well as some of the history between the World War II and the current time, since Hitler won the war.  December 7th is Ellyssa, Aalexis, and Xaver, as well as the other children who are no longer alive's birthday.  In honor of the day of the Pearl Harbor attack.  According to this alternate reality, that is when the war turned in Hitler's favor.  I found that interesting, and hope to hear even more about that in the next book.  Which I will be waiting on impatiently, as well as keeping my eye open for when an e-galley of it might be available.  The title of the first book, Perfection, fit well as we learned about the perfect children like Ellyssa and her siblings, and the doctor's goal to truly create a perfect race, even at destroying many of those who were currently close to the ideal, but not truly there.  And the title of this, Flawed, fit this as well.  Aalexis and her brother becoming "flawed" as they began to feel more and more emotions, which was totally not part of the goal their father had. 

Review: Perfection by J.L. Spelbring

First thanks to Spencer Hill Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an e-galley of this title.  It actually came out this July, at least in the US.  And I think the sequel, Flawed, which I also have an e-galley of, comes out in August.  So it is nice having them to read together.  Although I tend to read an e-book/galley then a physical book, so as to try to keep up on all my TBR piles, both real and virtual.  So I will be reading the sequel after the book I'm reading now.  Anyway, I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book.  It is dystopian for sure, but it is also an alternate history story, something I haven't read much of, but have always been intrigued.  This one is set in a world where Hitler won the war.

The main character is Ellyssa, and she was created by who she calls her father, Dr. Hirch.  He is planning to complete Hitler's dream of the perfect Aryan pure race.  And so he is creating children in his laboratory, at The Center.  Not only are they creating the perfect children, with special traits, they are also training those who are "almost" perfect to be the police force, basically a present day Gestapo.  The story begins with Ellyssa running away from the Center.  She's found something in the files that she isn't supposed to read that make her not want to be a part of all of the testing and plans.  It all began when she heard a young man saying "Kansas City" to her as he was being dragged down the hall.  But he wasn't saying this out loud, it was in her mind.  And he did this several times, until she knew that he was dead, killed as other Renegades were.  Renegades are the people that wouldn't be part of the Pure Race.  In this alternate time, people are blond, different shades, and only Ellyssa's white blond hair is really the "perfect" color.  Blue eyes are the norm, as well as the light color skin. 

Of course as soon as Ellyssa is found to be missing, they send out one of their Gestapo detectives, Ms. Petersen.  So now she is on the run.  She finally is able to get away and get on the train, she knows she must head to Kansas City.  That is where the boy told her.  But soon someone figures out she is on the train, and so now she must jump, even though the train is still going at normal speed.  She isn't really concerned, as her advanced physical traits should help her to make it off with as little injury as possible.  Unfortunately it isn't that easy, and she does become injured.  Not only that, she had to leave all her food and supplies on the train.  She trudges along, until finally she can go no more and sees a small ghost town.  I believe it is called Deepwater in the book.  When she stumbles into a store and thinks she will hide there from those chasing her, she runs into some renegades. And while her superior fighting skills help her at first, she is knocked out and taken back to their camp. 

This is where she meets Rein and his brother Woody.  The leader of this group of Renegades is named Jordan, and if he can accept her, then the rest of the group should too.  But as she grows to know them, and see just how wrong what her father was doing, she also knows that she is now putting them in danger, since she is being looked for.  And she doesn't know the lengths that her father will go to to get her back.  But knowing what the final plan is according to the files she found, she only knows she must protect these people, all people, and that will mean going back to the Center.

Definitely a good read.  I was very interested in how things were working.  I would like to know more about the actual society, maybe some more of the history of the time period between the end of the war and "today".  We did get some information later on in the story, which in a way, I kind of like now that I think about it after finishing the book.  When I started I felt like I needed to know more about what happened to make her run away.  But the way it was worked into the story was really pretty great.  As Ellyssa let down her guard and learned more about the world and people outside of her home, we also kind of learned more about her.  I will be interested to read the sequel and see what will happen after where we left off.  And, as I have lived in Missouri my whole life, I love that this story is set for the most part in so many Missouri places!  Places I've lived or been.  For instance, they talk about Warrensburg, and that's where I went to college!  So, I was hooked from that point on.  Plus, partly in Chicago, I am a big fan of the city Chicago.