Jenna Satterthwaite explores the concept of monsters with her prescient debut, “Made for You.” In alternating chapters labeled then and now, synthetic woman Julia Walden’s story unfolds beginning in January 2022.
Her husband, Josh LaSala, is missing after planning a one-day camping trip to a park an hour from their home. Julia reports Josh missing after not hearing from him for two days, which makes Sheriff Hank Mitchell suspicious of her.
The present-day follows Julia as she solves the mystery of her missing husband. Meanwhile, the past chapters document how Julia and Josh got together and when their dream union became a nightmare.
“Made for You” is not your typical thriller!
Character Analysis
Main Characters
Julia Walden
Josh LaSala
Andy Wekstein
Eden Jeliazkova
Sheriff Hank Mitchell
Beautiful redhead Julia Walden is one of three synthetic women in existence. Robotics company WekTech designed and brought to life expressly to win the heart of Josh LaSala. Julia’s purpose is to compete with 23 other eligible ladies for Josh on the reality TV show “The Proposal.”
Despite being a synth, Julia’s programming grants her knowledge, empathy, and a fully functioning body that includes sexual pleasure and child-bearing abilities. Her one major limitation is that she’s unable to fight back against physical assault unless it’s to defend another person.
After Julia completes her mission on “The Proposal,” she and Josh LaSala marry and quickly have a daughter named Annaleigh. Josh, an insurance salesman, quickly returns to his childhood home with Julia to take care of his terminally ill mother.
He changes jobs to work remotely and becomes increasingly angry and frustrated by his married life and with Julia. His negative outlook paired with mounting financial stress leads to friction in his marriage.
Julia’s creator, Andy Wekstein, is a chubby, fast-food-eating technology wizard who’s spent years innovating the synthetic being scene. He began with simple robots before assembling Julia and sharing her with the world.
Andy’s intentions start off kind and self-promotional but are soon revealed to be much more complex. He and Josh have a tense dynamic that escalates and causes Julia distress.
To get a break from motherhood, Julia asks her unemployed 26-year-old neighbor Eden Jeliazkova to babysit Annaleigh. Eden is always available and eager to help, but her motivations for spending time in the LaSala household are not what they seem.
Many people dislike and distrust Julia because she’s not human. Among them is Sheriff Hank Mitchell of Eauverte, Ind., who openly ignores and ridicules Julia throughout the novel. One of his campaign promises was to send Julia back to California where WekTech is based.
Plot Summary
In a dual-timeline style, “Made for You” investigates Julia Walden’s life from coming to life at WekTech in California to 15 months later where she’s a married stay-at-home mother to Annaleigh.
Julia’s status as only one of three synthetic women a.k.a. synths in the U.S. makes her an easy target for harassment from local teenagers and Sheriff Hank Mitchell. When the now chapters start, Julia awakens to hear Annaleigh crying for her and Josh not at home.
In a hungover state, Julia nearly trips over her dog, Captain, and rushes to her infant daughter and begins to breastfeed her. She then has fragmented memories of arguing with Josh and seeing him leave for a solo camping trip in the Belmont Ridge County Park..
Julia knows something is wrong when Josh doesn’t return home after sending her a sweet text message the morning of his trip. She quickly becomes a suspect when Josh’s severed arm is found missing Josh’s finger with a distinctive arrow tattoo. Sheriff Mitchell repeatedly visits her at home and aggressively interrogates her with his subservient deputy in tow.|
Knowing that suspicion is growing, and she needs to investigate Josh’s disappearance and murder herself, Julia takes Annaleigh to her father-in-law in Chicago. She promises to return for the baby in a few days after she’s learned what happened to her husband.
Julia’s sleuthing is intercut with then chapters detailing the choreographed romance on “The Proposal” After being attacked by a random woman, Julia confesses to her competition on the show that she’s a synth with programming that prevents her from defending herself. What Julia and the women on “The Proposal” don’t know is that her defense programming has been updated by Andy and WekTech.
In the months leading up to Josh’s murder, he and Julia fight about his ailing mother and finances. Some of the fights escalate from verbal to physical, which leaves Julia confused because she’s programmed to be a perfect companion for him.
Julia doesn’t share the abuse she suffers with anyone, but babysitter Eden Jeliazkova knows the synth and, by extension, her infant daughter are in danger. Eden goes so far as to create an alibi for Julia that she shares unsolicited.
The connections between Julia’s creator, Andy, and her deceased husband become clear to her after she incentivizes a Netflix executive to research one of Josh’s ex-girlfriends. Laura Pine, Andy’s dead sister, took her own life after she broke up with Josh for abusing her and he harassed her by releasing intimate images.
Realizing Andy’s motives for manufacturing her for Josh, Julia asks Eden for help in confronting Andy about making her to be a victim. Then, Julia learns Andy’s plan was for her to kill Josh the third time he hit her to defend Annaleigh.
Eden erased Julia’s memory of killing her husband after he attacked her for the third time, so she and Eden partnered to frame Andy for murdering her husband as revenge for his manipulation.
Eden removes Julia’s dampers, which allow her to feel pain and act more human, then directs her to Andy’s location. Julia accuses him of killing Andy and being in love with her. He denies it, but part of the conversation is recorded by an earlier-model robot, Lars, who plays it for Sheriff Mitchell and absolves Julia of guilt.
Julia honors the deal she made to appear in a Netflix documentary, “Making Julia,” and uses some of the $4 million to open a domestic violence shelter.
Eden sends her a package with a comic book Andy made for Laura that shows his lifelong plans to avenge the mistreatment she endured and assures the synth she can keep her super strength going forward.
Final Thoughts
“Made for You” is a thoughtful debut novel addressing technology, humanity, pain and exploitation.
Satterthwaite does an excellent job of showing Julia’s conflicted feelings between her “kind” creator, Andy, and her “loving” husband, Josh. Her evolving thoughts about her purpose and programming demonstrate how the third synthetic woman ever made is capable of human emotions.
The alternative future novel will appeal to readers who enjoy domestic suspense, well-developed female characters, and telegraphed twists.
“Made for You” would also make for an appealing book club read.
Rating
My rating is 3.75/5 stars!
Book Details
Title: “Made for You”
Author: Jenna Satterthwaite
Year of Publication: 2024
Number of Pages: 386
See “The September House” review for another story of a woman coping with the loss of a difficult husband.
