This book was super unique and enjoyable. I loved the slight sci-fi twist to the tried and true "bachelor" style novel. The alternating timelines kept me guessing and it definitely surprised me.

I liked learning about how much the robotics industry changed over the years and how Julia was ultimately developed. I honestly could have used more of this as I was so intrigued with the concept of AI evolving and becoming autonomous. Julia was a fascinating character and I also loved the references to the other two Synths in the world - how they were lauded, ostracized, feared, and worshipped.

This is such an interesting look at humanity, love, revenge, and the intersection of it all with technology. While it feels far off in some senses, in others, a Synth of our own may not really be too far off.

This novel is perfect for the romantic suspense lover who wants to just barely tiptoe into another genre. This really didn't read or feel like a sci-fi to me, though there were certainly elements of that. In fact, I had so many questions that part of me really was wanting to get more into the sci-fi aspects of the novel!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that kept me guessing. There are definitely some suspension of belief elements but that was fine by me! I definitely recommend.

Thank you to HTP and NetGalley for the copy.

Made For You by Jenna Satterthwaite is so good!! If you like books about sci-if, thriller, murder mystery, romance, and reality TV then you will love this book!! This is the first book I’ve read about a “synth” main character.

Josh LaSala is on a reality tv show similar to the Bachelor called “The Proposal.” Julia Walden a “synth” or synthetic was made by Andy specifically for Josh. She was created to be chosen as his wife. Nothing and no one is what it seems. This murder mystery was full of twists and turns. Julia was written so well and for most of the book I forgot she wasn’t a real woman. Everyone single character has something they are trying to hide. The book goes back and forth from what happened on the TV show to present day. This book deals with some real life issues I.e., trust issues, discrimination especially bc she is a synth, and domestic violence. Even though Julia is a synth she starts to feel real human feelings that she doesn’t know how to deal with because she wasn’t programmed to. She was constantly reminded that she’s not a real human even by someone who has promised to love and protect. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions. A great read for sure!!

She is a Synth and a mom. She is an influencer too.
I am a huge Fallout 4 fan. The whole storyline with the synths had me in a chokehold. I am one of those people who think trees are sentient and I talk to my car. I am always like "omg would synths be like people or not!?"
In our girl's case- she is a person. She is also over the top obsessed with her husband due to her programming. It is so odd to me. He is just some guy.
We live in a world now where people do not always see women as people. We are losing our rights every day.
Anyway so our girl "won" the man on their proposal show and has a baby. He goes missing and she wants to find him. She can't kill so we know she didn't kill him.
The stuff with the dog food was gold!
I just loved every single twist in this one. I especially loved the ending.

I loved the concept of this book, but for some reason, struggled with getting through it.

Julia is a Synth (synthetic woman) and the first of her kind to appear on a Bachelor style TV show. She was made specifically for the leading man, Josh.

Not a spoiler (it is in the synopsis) but fast-forward 15 months when Julia and Josh are married with a baby, and Josh goes missing. The world is not ready to accept Julia's kind and she is the prime suspect in Josh's disappearance.

The book flipped between the past when Julia was competing on the show, and the present when Josh is missing. I really loved the chapters in the past and watching the show play out and the other girls being eliminated. For me, I didn't love that we know from the very beginning that Josh and Julia end up together because it kind of made the past chapters seem pointless.

The present timeline moved too slowly for me, and it felt a little repetitive with Julia continuing to go out on her own to look for Josh and solve the mystery on her own and put her life in danger.

I really liked the symbolism of all the prejudice Julia faced for being different, and how a lot of it was rooted in fear. It was very thought provoking.

By the time I got to the end though, I just wasn't as into the book as I was at the beginning.

Overall, I would recommend people give it a shot. It was definitely an interesting concept, and I think others may enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy!

Julia Walden is a synthetic woman - synth for short that is made for the next Proposal reality show Male Star - Josh. She awakens just in time to arrive for the first show and she finds herself enamored with him. She was especially made to be kind and immediately becomes friends with all the other contestants and her kindness is what really attracts Josh. She eventually tells him that she is a synth - she has real feelings and can also have children and shows her through the filming of the show through her words and actions. Fast forward to their marriage and birth of their daughter and Josh has disappeared and she is desperate to find out where he is and what happened to him and prove she is innocent as the sheriff and others in town who hate "synths" are determined that she is responsible and should go to jail. This is a unique and fascinating Bot suspense that I read in one sitting because I had to find out what happened! Highly recommend!

Julia is a synth, made exactly for Josh, the newest bachelor on The Proposal. Julia’s competing with a group of human women to win the heart of Josh. She’s the first of her kind —made specifically to love with the ability to procreate, she’s also the third synth in existence.

Julia wins Josh over but do they live happily ever after like she’s dreamed?

One day, Josh doesn’t come home from an impromptu overnight hiking trip. Julia immediately files a missing person’s report with the local Sheriff, a synth hater. As Julie races to figure out what happened to Josh and to prove her innocence, she uncovers terrible truths.

The book moves from past to present.

My thoughts:
☁️☁️☁️
Woah! This book was incredible and I was not expecting such an exciting, suspenseful read! I loved Julia and how the book delved deep into their marriage and slowly revealed its flaws.
I also loved learning about Julia’s experience on the reality show and the development of her relationship with Josh and Cam. This read took me on a thrilling ride and left me surprised! A brilliant debut novel!

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.

This was OUTSTANDING! Perfect for fans of Annie Bot or Gone Girl. Julia is a synth, created by WekTech to be the first synth on a reality dating show. As she settles into life with her new husband and baby, we just between the current day where Josh is missing and their time on "The Proposal." This book is simultaneously a creepy, can't put down thriller, and asks questions about women's rights, bodily autonomy, and the future of technology.

This was such a good read. Thank you to NetGalley and Harelquin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Starting off, this sounds like a romance with an AI twist. Julia Walden is Josh LaSala’s perfect woman. Why? She was created that way. She’s a Synth, one of three in the world. Her designer, Andy, made her specifically to win Josh’s heart on The Proposal, a reality TV show where women compete for a man’s affection. What Julia isn’t expecting is how hard she’ll fall for Josh. So when he proposes to her, she’s overjoyed.

But it doesn’t take long before the bloom is off the rose, and the story takes a turn. They’ve moved to Josh’s small hometown in Indiana, and the reception Julia receives as a Synth is…well, not always neighborly. They now have an infant daughter (Julia is the first Synth with the ability to have children), and some cracks are starting to show in the marriage. Then Josh disappears, and Julia’s world is turned upside down. Things get even worse when she becomes the number one suspect in his murder. She doesn’t know who she can trust. Andy, her designer? Eve, the wonderful babysitter who lives nearby? Her creepy neighbor Bob? When the small-minded sheriff turns his focus on her, Julia goes on the run.

This book starts out as the reality TV romance and then turns into a murder mystery, and it’s a lot of fun! Julia is a fascinating character. Sure, she was knit together in a lab rather than her mother’s womb. But she has so many distinctly human characteristics. She may have been designed as Josh’s perfect woman, but like many of us, she has a lot of days where she feels less than perfect. Like so many women, she finds herself apologizing to Josh for things that aren’t her fault. She doubts herself. She questions what her purpose in life will be if she’s no longer married. She loves her daughter with every fiber of her being.

And so many characters in this story are not what they seem to be. Everyone has secrets – Andy, Eve, the lady in town who really, really does NOT like Synths, even creepy neighbor Bob. As the story unfolds, alternating between events on the TV show and events in the present day, each new revelation brought a shift in perspective and made Julia rethink things she thought she knew.

The final reveal of the killer’s identity wasn’t a big surprise, but how everything played out was fascinating and made for really compelling reading. The book has a little bit of everything – sci-fi, romance, mystery, thriller, all in one big, happy mash-up. And it hits on some pretty heavy topics – what makes a person a person, domestic violence, trust, discrimination. Makes you think.

If you’re looking for something that’s a cut above your average summer read, pick up Made for You.

I loved this book! It was the perfect pace, lots of twists, and I thought the Bachelor aspect was fun. I plan on reviewing this for FBC.

3.75 stars

How did I end up reading two books inspired by the Bachelor back to back when I don't even watch the show? No idea. I was worried this one would be at a disadvantage being the one I read second, but the tones were so different it didn't feel too repetitive. This is more of a thriller, and follows Julia, a Synth, who's been created by engineers to be the perfect match for Josh, this season's lead on "The Proposal" (aka the Bachelor). 
The story is told in two timelines: one when Julia is competing on the show, and the other one year later, when she and Josh have since married and had a baby, but now he's gone missing. And the local sheriff thinks Julia might have murdered him.

I loved the premise for this, and it touched on a lot of really interesting topics: the concept of autonomy and personhood, feminism, fame, and relationships. However, I felt like there could have been more depth brought to all of these topics than there was, and I was left wanting more from several of the relevant plotlines as a result. It was still an enjoyable read, and I liked the twist and resulting ending, but it wasn't as much of a whammy as it could have been. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 ⭐

Made for You has an interesting premise - a synthetic woman joins a reality TV show similar to Bachelor while being "made for" the male star of the season. Of course, she gets the final rose. The "real life," however, is not as fun as traveling to beautiful locations with a filming crew and twenty other women vying for the attention of one man.

The book was a bit hard for me to get into - things finally started to pick up at about 70%.

What I liked:

- Exploration of themes of body autonomy and feminism from the point of view of AI and synthetic bodies.
- Drama in the last chapters - I did not expect the twists to be quite that twisty, and the book was easy to finish.
- I enjoyed that many characters were not who they appeared to be initially. We got a bit of suspense about who the real bad guys are.

What I did not care for:

- I am not a fan of the Bachelor-like shows (give me Are You The One in a pinch, where everyone can get with everyone, not a single person - male or female - awkwardly dating 24 people at once.) To me, descriptions of the show moments were a bit excessive and did not always add to the narrative/character building. The fans of the show may enjoy those parts.

- From the title to the first pages, we hear Julia is "made for" Josh. Yet besides a vague "we had a great group of psychologists work on it" that Andy gives Julia as an explanation and the fact that Josh likes redheads, we don't really learn how she was created to be most compatible with him. What was Plan B if he did not choose her?

- If we start creating synthetic people, why not make them better than humans, stronger, more capable, etc.? There is a lot of talk about the "dampers," the programmed weaknesses that Julia has, like the ability to get a sunburn or feel the pain of childbirth, but we don't get an explanation as to why she had to be so close to a human. Of course, we get the superhero moment when Julia's dampers are removed. This begs the question again - if you can create a super-human who will still follow the ethical codes you instill, why make them weaker? Yes, I get that Julia was supposed to be as human as possible to "pass" and be accepted. We clearly see in the end that being human is overrated. The dating show moments could also be much more fun if Julia had unusual abilities or strengths. (Or if her being "made for Josh" was flashed out more in contests and certain situations.)

- Which brings me to the next point - Julia kills and considers killing again (8 people at once), thinking, "Maybe I will even enjoy it." Basically, everything that people around her were scared of is true - Synths ARE dangerous, they can't always be controlled, and they can kill people. When Sheriff Mitchell, one of the most unlikable characters, comes out as correct and acting on merit in the end, it is a bit troubling.

- Why do we get the fiery character of Camila if she plays no real role in anything? Could she have had an affair with Josh? Could she have been Julia's sidekick in the investigation so we don't have to listen to her inner turmoil alone? Could she have been a secret Synth placed on the show by the competing bot company? Could she have been a killer all along? So many possibilities, so much squandered potential.

- Josh and Julia's interactions are infuriating - both on the show and after. Could Julia be a bit smarter/more confident? Could Josh be a tiny bit less of an insufferable prick? We go from vanilla skies and sickly sweet romance to the gloomy forest in Indiana and domestic violence. (On the other hand, that's probably realistic for these shows' contestants.)

- Maybe I am a bit sensitive, but in the first few chapters, the baby seems almost an afterthought for Julia.

- The fact that she is not telling people that her husband is missing while having text exchanges/phone calls was weird to me. That whole beginning of "I filed a missing person report," yet her life sort of goes on, was strange. Then she runs/drives around like a crazy person, interfering with police work. And police are acting weird as well - what mother of a nursing baby is expected to search the forest for her husband and be seen as guilty of his murder if she declines? (Yes, that's all a point about discrimination - I found it a bit too much.)

- Deborah's story was a bit of a waste as well. Did she kill her babies? Was she living in a domestic violence situation? Why the obsession with Josh? Also, how is she living without a car and a cell phone, yet she was able to storm the show's grounds and attack Julia? Yet later, she can't possibly be the killer because she doesn't drive, and her Netflix history shows her watching a show the night of the murder. Solid sleuthing.

Overall, it is an interesting read that many people will enjoy.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

"Made for You" by Jenna Satterthwaite is a thrilling and thought-provoking ride that blends reality TV, artificial intelligence, and murder mystery into a compelling debut novel. Julia Walden, a synthetic woman designed to find love on "The Proposal," is a fascinating and complex character whose journey from a scripted fairy tale to a harrowing fight for survival is both gripping and emotional. Satterthwaite’s dual timelines add depth to the story, offering a stark contrast between Julia’s seemingly perfect life and the chilling reality she faces when her husband goes missing, and she becomes the prime suspect. What I loved most about this book is its exploration of identity and humanity through Julia’s eyes. The way Satterthwaite weaves together themes of love, trust, and self-discovery against a backdrop of suspense and intrigue is masterful. Julia’s quest for the truth and her struggle to define herself in the face of overwhelming odds make for a powerful and engaging read. If you’re a fan of feminist fiction with a dark twist and intricate mysteries, "Made for You" is a must-read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

4.5⭐️ rounded up.

I really enjoyed this book! I love reality tv so this had the entertainment value of a reality tv show, a thriller, and sci fi all wrapped into one!

The pacing of this book was perfect in my opinion. It wasn’t incredibly fast paced but I was on the hook from the moment I cracked it. There was just enough going on to create mystery without becoming convoluted and overly complicated. I was kept guessing the entire way through!

Julia was a really captivating protagonist for me, and her arc was incredibly interesting to follow. I would have liked more elaboration on the science behind her creation, but that’s not really what this plot was about, so I understood why that component of the story stayed at a surface level.

Overall, this is a really great debut thriller and I highly recommend!

Thank you so much to the author, HTP books, and Netgalley for my physical and digital copies of this book!

I did not know what to expect when I started this book but I truly enjoyed it. I loved Julia! She wasn’t your average AI. She seemed so real with feelings and strong character development. This was a unique spin on AI’s, how they can become human like, and that morally grey area of AI programming. It gave The Bachelor vibes. I loved how the author blended the past with the present so effortlessly. It was a beautiful blend of romance, mystery, and suspense. This is one that will have you hooked from the beginning and you won’t be able to put down.

If you enjoyed Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, then I highly recommend this one.

𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕂𝕟𝕠𝕨
🤖 Single POV
🤖 Dual Timeline
🤖 AI Synth
🤖 Murder Mystery/Suspense
🤖 Reality TV

This was a fun, fast-paced debut thriller. It reads like a debut, which isn’t necessarily a negative thing, just a thing that is. It was okay! I thought the premise was intriguing (the first synthetic woman able to bear children is created for a Bachelor type show), the writing fine. I got a little bored in the middle, but that was just me. Overall a solid debut.!

✨ 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

Made For You
Jenna Satterthwaite
Pub Day: July 2, 2024 - TODAY!

Thank you so much @htp_hive for my #gifted copy!

This story follows Julia, who is the third ever created synthetic person. She was made for a reality tv show called The Proposal. Andy, her creator made her specifically for the male contestant on the show, Josh. Will Josh choose her even though he knows she’s synthetically made?

This was such an interesting read to go into blind. The premise was so unique. I mean this book pretty much has it all, romance, thriller and sci-fi elements as well. This story is told in both Then and Now timelines. I liked hopping back and forth to piece the full story together.

While the middle was a little slow for me I can see how all the information was important for the ending. I’m still thinking about that the ending! 😳😅 I had so many different guesses as to what would happen but would never have been able to fully predict it.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows a synthetic woman who was on a Bachelor type reality show. Now in the future, she is married to the guy and they have a baby. Things are not all bliss though. They are having marital problems and the husband is now missing. Julia has to figure out the truth because the police think she is responsible.

This book was not for me. I thought the premise was interesting and the cover drew me in.

However, I think this book had too much. It was trying to be sci fi but also murder mystery but also a reality show. I think without one of those elements, it would've been better. I didn't like the flashbacks for the reality show. I don't think they were necessary.

There was just too much going on for me to understand or get.

I hope others love this one.

Made for You is a twisty little tale told from the viewpoint of “synth” (synthetic human or android) created to win the heart of the main character on a Batchelor type show.

I love the concept of this book. It is nice to see AI portrayed in a good light for once. However, the dating show portion was overlong and not very believable. Of course, I feel that way about the real television series it is mirroring so that may just be me. In addition, most of the twists were obvious for this compulsive thriller reader. For both of these reasons, Made for You is best for women’s fiction fans who are looking for a more serious look into an abusive relationship rather than mystery/thriller readers. 3 stars.

Thanks to MIRA and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! I had so much fun with it. I don’t usually lean towards sci-fi, but this was the perfect blend of sci-fi, mystery, and reality tv drama that I truly wasn’t expecting. And with our main character being a relatable new mom and the lead Synth of the story, this was hard to put down. Such an anticipated read for me this summer, and this debut really nailed it for me.

Working on the photo edit for my bookstagram. Will be up soon.