#BlogTour: Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a quasi scifi tale that leans more heavily on the murder mystery and reality tv components. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (Hardcover.app / BookHype.com / BookBub.com / TheStoryGraph.com / Goodreads.com):

For Some Reason I’m Having A Tough Time Writing This Review. I finished this book 5 days ago as I write this review. I’ve read three other books (that I also need to write reviews for) since then, and for some reason there’s just nothing flowing for this book.

To be clear, there is nothing technically wrong with this book. It is solid, with perhaps a misstep or two.

I think what it comes down to, for me, is that the most interesting question in the description: “That is…if Julia truly is a person.” doesn’t really feel as explored as I think I wanted it to be. And I don’t know if that is on me as the reader or Satterthwaite as the writer. I don’t know if it was that I was wanting a harder probe or harder questions or more forceful thinking on the subject or some such, or if Satterthwaite really did do more telling than showing or perhaps not enough telling to make me really think deeply philosophically as maybe I was hoping to be forced to or what.

Ultimately, more time was absolutely spent of the murder mystery/ reality TV side of the tale than the synth side, even as the synth side plays key roles and is genuinely interwoven with the other components of the tale. So if you’re looking for a more reality TV/ murder mystery tale than a scifi synth tale… yeah, this one may work better for you.

Perhaps most damning, particularly for a debut – although perhaps one that was never meant as a series starter – is that I’m also not sure whether I would want to come back to this world or not. I’m sure that I think Satterthwaite has done enough here that I’m willing to read the next book and see if she grows as a storyteller with more experience, I’m just not sure with what she leaves us with here if I necessarily want to come back *here*. Although if that is in fact where her sophomore effort brings us, I’m absolutely going to be back for the ride.

So read the book for yourself, reader of my review. And maybe tag me in your own review so I can see if my own questions are *me* or if others are having similar difficulties with this book?

Recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.

THEN

“Can you hear me?” A male face peers into mine. Midthirties, glasses, expressive eyebrows. Andy. Kind.

“Yes,” I say. There’s an overwhelming barrage of hot sensation, then click, it all evens out—light, sound, the air on my skin—settling like embers, then cooling.

I breathe in, feel my chest balloon, breathe out. Lift my hands to face level and flex my fingers, mapping how the smooth pale skin with its smattering of freckles shifts and ripples over my knuckle ridges.

I’m sitting. Dressed in what seems to be an evening gown. I register how tight the skirt is around my thighs. How beautifully the blue sequins catch in the ice-white light from above. Palms down, I skim the fabric, tickling the pads of my fingers as the sequins catch, lift, fall. It’s like wearing a party. I like it.

“Do you know who you are?” says Andy.

I look up and feel myself smile. He’s in baggy jeans, a gray T-shirt with a buffalo plaid shirt open over top and a pen hooked on the breast pocket. A dark five-o’clock shadow travels down his neck. His look screams sleepless nights.

“Of course,” I say. Everything is simply there, no effort, natural as breathing. “I’m Julia Walden.”

“Do you know where you are? What year it is?”

“We’re in LA. It’s January 2022 and Biden is President.” I tilt my head. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic.”

“Do you know what’s about to happen?”

I register, out of the corner of my eye, a boom mic operator to our deep left, but keep my attention on Andy.

“I’m about to compete on The Proposal.”

“God,” breathes Andy, putting a fist to his chest like my answers are slaying him. “You—you’re—” He crooks a finger at his lips.

“Here?” I suggest with a light laugh. Now I’m rubbing my arms, the rough skin at my elbows, allowing my hands to touch my own face, then wander up to my hair, long and loose. I fish it around my shoulder. It’s a fiery, sun-gleam red. I love it. I love everything about being Julia Walden.

“Real,” says Andy when he’s recovered his speech. “Working. Amazing. I kind of want to hug you?”

“You don’t have to ask.” I stand in my high heels, taller than Andy by nearly a head. His glasses collide with my shoulder as applause bursts around us. After a second, he hooks my hands in his and pulls back, eyes moist.

“Wow, Julia. Just wow.”

I scan our surroundings as flashes pop. We’re in a warehouse. To the right, large machines quietly rest. I note hydraulics, robotic arms, big sheets of pale, rubbery material. Skin, I realize, and my own skin seems to respond, tiny goose bumps racing up my arms.

It’s not a bad feeling, exactly. Just…unpleasant, like touching something wet that you thought would be dry.

To my left, a film crew makes a crescent shape. One hefty man shoulders an equally hefty camera, trained on me. I know without being told they’re here from The Proposal.

It’s a little strange to be having this intimate moment with Andy while everyone watches. Then again…that’s about to be my life. Fully on camera.

Andy claps his hands. “So. Ready to meet Josh?”

“I was born ready,” I say with a laugh. My eyes flicker up to the answering sound of laughter from the film crew. But while I did mean to be funny, I also mean it.

Andy pulls out a cell phone. “This is yours. Let’s break it in.” He leans into me and we smile for our first selfie.

“Should we post it to Insta?” he says. “Your handle just went live—we had to wait until the other contestants’ phones were taken away. Oh, and we can’t mention you’re on The Proposal yet—” But I reach for the phone.

“I got it.” My fingers navigate the screen easily. Also, wow— how does @TheRealJuliaWalden already have close to a million followers…and counting? I caption the picture the journey be-gins!!!, noting the tug of resistance within me as I put the phone down. I guess part of me wanted to watch the reactions roll in. Immediately I wall up this thought. I’m not here for everyone. Just one man.

Andy has pulled out a blue pen while I’ve been messing with the phone, and is nervously gnawing on the clicker end. Weirdly, I want to reassure him, It’ll be okay. You’ll see.

“Julia!” the producer calls out. “Could you introduce your-self? For our viewers?”

I look at the camera’s cold eye across the distance and imagine that I’m looking into the face of a friend who can’t wait to see me. I smile.

“Sure! I’m a Synth. My name is Julia. And I’m here to find love.”

MADE FOR YOU
Author: Jenna Satterthwaite
ISBN: 9780778310426
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: MIRA Books

Book Description:
Hi. My name is Julia. I’m a Synth. And I’m here to find love…

Synthetic woman Julia Walden was designed for one reason: to compete on The Proposal and claim the heart of bachelor Josh LaSala. Her casting is controversial, but Julia seems to get her fairy-tale ending when Josh gets down on one knee.

Fast-forward fifteen months, and Julia and Josh are married and raising their baby in small-town Indiana. But with haters around every corner, Julia’s life is a far cry from the domestic bliss she imagined. Then her splintering world shatters: Josh goes missing, and she becomes the prime suspect in his murder.

With no one left she can trust, Julia takes the investigation into her own hands. But the explosive truths she uncovers will drive her to her breaking point—and isn’t that where a person’s true nature is revealed? That is…if Julia truly is a person.

Told via dual timelines, Jenna Satterthwaite’s twist-filled debut deftly explores the exhilarating point where artificial intelligence, reality TV, and bone-chilling murder mystery meet.

Author Bio:
Born in the Midwest, Jenna Satterthwaite grew up in Spain, lived briefly in France, and is now happily settled in Chicago with her husband and three kids. Jenna studied classical guitar, English Lit and French, and once upon a time was a singer-songwriter in folk band Thornfield. She loves sushi, reading in her natural habitat (aka her bed), and women taking back their power. Made For You is her debut novel.