Less Than Perfect (Entangled Ever After)

by Kelly Jensen

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Less Than Perfect is just that, less than perfect. I really liked it, but then again, I also had this nagging feeling while reading it. The plot was exciting and interesting, but by the end, I realized that it didn't make that much sense. This novella is narrated by Mikayla, who is apparently the world's biggest book lover, since she puts her life at risk for a box of classics and Sci-Fi novels. Aliens, know as The People, have invaded Earth and are kidnapping humans. A group of them stop by the farmhouse where Mikayla and three other survivors are holed up and kicked them out after taking some food. Mikayla insists that they let her keep her books, which she can barely carry. I have no idea why any of this went down, or why the aliens were there in the first place, but I kept reading because I loved the survivalist angle.

The People are a strange sort of extraterrestrial. They look human, but perfect. They have no visible flaws whatsoever, and apparently they've been taking humans and perfecting them, too. From the way Mikayla and the others spoke about it, it seemed like their loved ones weren't just changed on the outside, but somehow became aliens also. I wasn't quite sure what this meant. Were The People turning humans into other People or just making them look like them? I also didn't understand the point of this at all. There were also rumors that the aliens were leaving and taking the changed humans with them, but not before hunting down all of the stragglers and changing them, too. It's this rumor that had me questioning the purpose of Less Than Perfect, which was Mikayla, Reg and some other survivors they meet fighting back and trying to get rid of the aliens. But they're already leaving, so why not just stay in hiding like before?

Of course, there was also a nice romance developing, since Mikayla and Reg are traveling together for survival and are eventually overcome with passion. I did like how they didn't just start making out in the middle of all of the action like Mikayla often felt the urge to do, since that would just get them killed. They wait until they're safe to take things beyond longing glances and sweet pecks.

So, I liked Less Than Perfect. The alien invasion plot was fun and interesting, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the why of it all, and that bothered me. I wished there had been a little bit more world building to take care of that, since this was on the long side for a novella.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.