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rkork's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Started off slow, but the last 1/3 of the book flew by.
Content Warnings
Minor: Miscarriage
badvision's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Infertility, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abortion, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
danidellandrea's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Classism, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
kelly_e's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Title: The Farm
Author: Joanne Ramos
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.5
Pub Date: May 7, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Provocative • Underwhelming • Measured
📖 S Y N O P S I S
"The Farm" is a high end facility offering amazing amenities and top notch care to women they've recruited to be surrogates for wealthy wannabe parents. The "hosts" offer their bodies in return for a big payout when they deliver the babies, a payout that promises to change their lives. Meet June, a single mother from the Philippines, who strongly encourage by her Aunt, decides to apply to be a 'host' in order to offer her daughter a better future in America.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The premise for The Farm, Joanne Ramos' debut novel, sounded so intriguing I couldn't stop myself from picking up a copy. The concept was amazing, and the themes of motherhood, capitalism, immigration and reproductive right were thought-provoking, however, the execution was unsatisfying. This supposed dystopian world seemed way too plausible, and although the characters felt real, I took very little interest in any of the perspectives.
What really irked me was that the whole way through there was this underlying sense building of something awful happening at the farm, but that turned out to be nothing and I was left feeling very underwhelmed. The one thing this book did do well was raise lively discussion around a variety of topics.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"She always said that worst thing you can do to a child is raise it with too much softness, because the world is hard. But Jane is not sure. There are people who move through the world like they own it, and the world seems to bend to their demands."
Author: Joanne Ramos
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.5
Pub Date: May 7, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Provocative • Underwhelming • Measured
📖 S Y N O P S I S
"The Farm" is a high end facility offering amazing amenities and top notch care to women they've recruited to be surrogates for wealthy wannabe parents. The "hosts" offer their bodies in return for a big payout when they deliver the babies, a payout that promises to change their lives. Meet June, a single mother from the Philippines, who strongly encourage by her Aunt, decides to apply to be a 'host' in order to offer her daughter a better future in America.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The premise for The Farm, Joanne Ramos' debut novel, sounded so intriguing I couldn't stop myself from picking up a copy. The concept was amazing, and the themes of motherhood, capitalism, immigration and reproductive right were thought-provoking, however, the execution was unsatisfying. This supposed dystopian world seemed way too plausible, and although the characters felt real, I took very little interest in any of the perspectives.
What really irked me was that the whole way through there was this underlying sense building of something awful happening at the farm, but that turned out to be nothing and I was left feeling very underwhelmed. The one thing this book did do well was raise lively discussion around a variety of topics.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"She always said that worst thing you can do to a child is raise it with too much softness, because the world is hard. But Jane is not sure. There are people who move through the world like they own it, and the world seems to bend to their demands."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Child death
nicolearmstrong's review
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
An interesting reflection on what it means to be a mother, a caregiver, and a worker in the modern era. The "Farm" is a terrific premise and the female characters are memorable and vivid. Once Jane, the protagonist, finally gets to the Farm, this book becomes a page-turner. I loved the cultural miscommunications among the cliques of women at the Farm, and I loved how the book captured the energy, excitement, and lethargy of pregnancy all at once. This author really pushes her characters to the limit, asking what they will do for money, what they will do with money, and what they will do for others. I read this book for a book club and am glad to have stumbled across it!
Content Warnings
Minor: Miscarriage
vivboyd98's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Miscarriage
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
zombiezami's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a fascinating book that I could hardly put down. The descriptive writing, themes, and characters were wonderful. The premise and execution reminded me a lot of The Stepford Wives. The author didn't quite stick the landing at the end, though, in my opinion. It's not just that it wasn't a happy ending. The ending just felt a little anti-climactic. Maybe that was the point, but in the realm of sci fi, I feel like the author could have pushed the envelope a little more.I also feel that the time skips made the book feel rushed at times, rather than helping the narrative. Even, so, I was legitimately stunned when we found out that Regan met an actor and not the real client. That was truly sinister.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Gaslighting, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Racism, Xenophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Blood, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, Animal cruelty, and Slavery
Eugenics, Colorismthebooklooks's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion
nanobooks's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Despite a good premise, the plot of this book was largely pointless. All the characters are bad and show no development. Jane is and continues to be naive, Reagan is and continues to be naive but in a different way, Mae is and continues to be a bitch for no good reason. Minority characters are painted in a weird, unchanging way that is not understood by even the other minority characters. A lot of plot holes and leaps.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage
theknitterwithabook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It was an interesting read. I was expecting more mystery or a more dystopian-like setting. I got neither.
This is a contemporary fiction that tackles the problems of capitalism, elitism and morality.
We follow Jane, an Philippines immigrant, who tries to find work in America while caring for her baby girl. She is offered an opportunity to earn a considerable amount of money in exchange to being a surrogate mother. The only issue is that she will be separated from her baby for the duration of the pregnancy. It is hard for Jane to be away from her daughter whom she left in the care of her cousin.
The Golden Oaks accommodates the "hosts", the surrogate mothers. We soon realize that they are all immigrant, sometimes paperless, and all of color, and the owners are wealthy rich people mostly caucasians. The place doesn't feel that safe and is never acting in the best interest of the Hosts but of the buyer of the baby.
This was a challenging read. You carry a feeling of uneasiness all through this book. The women are almost considered as cattle and it feels so wrong.
This is a contemporary fiction that tackles the problems of capitalism, elitism and morality.
We follow Jane, an Philippines immigrant, who tries to find work in America while caring for her baby girl. She is offered an opportunity to earn a considerable amount of money in exchange to being a surrogate mother. The only issue is that she will be separated from her baby for the duration of the pregnancy. It is hard for Jane to be away from her daughter whom she left in the care of her cousin.
The Golden Oaks accommodates the "hosts", the surrogate mothers. We soon realize that they are all immigrant, sometimes paperless, and all of color, and the owners are wealthy rich people mostly caucasians. The place doesn't feel that safe and is never acting in the best interest of the Hosts but of the buyer of the baby.
This was a challenging read. You carry a feeling of uneasiness all through this book. The women are almost considered as cattle and it feels so wrong.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage