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zoemcswainjackson 's review for:
The Farm
by Joanne Ramos
Book 12: A Medical Thriller
While the concept for this book was really interesting, the execution left a lot to be desired. This book is about a "retreat" type setting where surrogate mothers live for 9 months while they carry the fetuses of very rich people. They get paid a monthly stipend and a bonus at the end for a successful delivery. However, they must stay on site for the entire duration of the pregnancy, they can't use phones or other devices connecting them to the outside world, they very rarely have visitors, must engage in specific workouts and dieting plans, etc.
It's interesting because I could totally see this happening in real life. Unfortunately, the plot + some of Ramos' writing techniques made this a very "meh" book for me. I don't feel that the thriller aspect of this was necessary at all and to me it kind of cheapened the plot. Also, Ramos' writing is confusing in that she goes back and forth in time a lot and oftentimes it is not clear whether we're in the present or past (not saying that it always has to be spelled out plainly, but something about the way she did it just didn't work). This is a debut novel so I do feel that she has a lot of opportunities to grow as a writer.
Overall just okay- at 321 pages it took me over 2 weeks to finish so take that for what it's worth.
While the concept for this book was really interesting, the execution left a lot to be desired. This book is about a "retreat" type setting where surrogate mothers live for 9 months while they carry the fetuses of very rich people. They get paid a monthly stipend and a bonus at the end for a successful delivery. However, they must stay on site for the entire duration of the pregnancy, they can't use phones or other devices connecting them to the outside world, they very rarely have visitors, must engage in specific workouts and dieting plans, etc.
It's interesting because I could totally see this happening in real life. Unfortunately, the plot + some of Ramos' writing techniques made this a very "meh" book for me. I don't feel that the thriller aspect of this was necessary at all and to me it kind of cheapened the plot. Also, Ramos' writing is confusing in that she goes back and forth in time a lot and oftentimes it is not clear whether we're in the present or past (not saying that it always has to be spelled out plainly, but something about the way she did it just didn't work). This is a debut novel so I do feel that she has a lot of opportunities to grow as a writer.
Overall just okay- at 321 pages it took me over 2 weeks to finish so take that for what it's worth.