Book: Perfect World
Author: Shari Sakurai
Page Count: 332
My Rating:
Description:
London, 2115
It is the year 2115 and the world is very different. With climate changes, natural disasters and war shaping the landscape, England has become a nation made up of several super cities and wasteland in between.
Eric Rawlins is a genetically engineered superhero created by the London Security Agency (L.S.A) to defend and protect the city against both national and international threats. With his superior abilities, celebrity status and beautiful girlfriend, Eric appears to have the perfect life. However, it is an illusion created by the L.S.A in order to control him.
Eric's nemesis is the charismatic Adam Larimore. The only son of billionaire business tycoon Victor Larimore, Adam is gifted with a genius level IQ as well as the same longevity as Eric.
When the actions of the L.S.A throw the two of them together Eric finds himself questioning everything that he has ever known as well as discovering the true course of events that led to Adam turning to a life of crime. As they become closer Eric realises that the L.S.A may be the real threat to London. But can he trust Adam or is he part of Adam’s plan for revenge against those who have wronged him?
Review:
I loved the premise of this book. It’s sort of Gattaca meets Captive Prince, so I was really excited to see what would happen. Although Perfect World didn’t fully live up to my expectations and hopes, it’s still an intriguing, fast-paced science fiction tale that I recommend you check out.
First of all, what’s not to love about the “hero who
realizes his perfect world isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and is forced to
fall in with his enemy” trope? Eric Rawlins is too naïve to see the corruption
around him until it is shoved in his face, but he clings to his morals no
matter what is going around him. From the get-go, I just felt for Eric and the
situation he is in.
I also really enjoyed how Adam Larimore’as character was
revealed to the reader. I suspected there was more to him than what met the
eye, but even I wasn’t able to predict what was really going on in his head or
what he would do next all the time. He could still get on my nerves sometimes,
but despite that I still found myself rooting for him.
While there was a lot I liked about Perfect World, there were
aspects that fell flat for me. For one thing, I felt like Adam and Eric’s
relationship was way rushed. They go from being enemies to being in love in,
like, a day, and I didn’t quite buy the fact that they’d fallen in love over
the times they’d met as enemies. I could understand that to explain attraction,
but not love. Instalove may not bother other people, but it’s kind of a pet
peeve of mine.
A smaller thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of was the constant
reference to Eric as “the hero” and Adam as “the villain.” I get it. Writing “Eric
said this,” “Eric thought this,” “Eric was this” can get repetitive and it is
nice to find other ways of referring to people other than their names. However,
using “hero” and “villain” came off as cartoonish and silly. It’s made
abundantly clear that the LSA and even Eric for the first half of the book (at
least) sees Eric as the hero and Adam as the villain, it’s unnecessary to spell
it out like that.
While not perfect, Perfect World is still an entertaining
read that is absolutely worth your time. I’ll be excited to learn more about
Adam Larimore in the next book released in the series, Adam, that follows the
title character’s perspective.
Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.
