Author: Megan McCafferty
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publish Date: April 26, 2011
Source: Library
Why You're Reading This Book:
- You're a dystopian fan.
- You're intrigued by shows like 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom
From Goodreads.com: "When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens.
While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.
Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common."
My Two Cents:
This book has been making its way around the blogosphere for the past several months. I had seen both good and bad reviews of this book but decided to pick it up from the library. This is a strange little book. I can see where the author was trying to go with it; sort of trying to speak to teen pregnancy and the issues surrounding it but I don't really think the execution was all that great.
There were several things that kind of grated on my nerves. First, the slang. It was just weird. "Pregging" is becoming pregnant for the adults that contract the teens out to have babies. It just kind of skeeved me out and didn't become sort of the natural world building that should be present in any good dystopian story.
Harmony as a character just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. She's incredibly evangelical and comes from a community where "pregging" is not permitted. Her upbringing and her trying to profess to the other characters is so in your face that I couldn't really find common ground or see where she was coming from. Overall, the
This book is supposed to be the first in a series but I probably will not be reading the rest of the series.
Bottom line, this book was just a little too unbelievable for me to suspend my disbelief!
My Review:
2 out of 5 stars
Fascinating! What a mind-bendy plot, though. And I had a chuckle reading above that the character's contract was with a family named The Jaydens. Jayden is one of those baby names that has been climbing the charts for the last ten years, and I've always wondered why anyone would name a baby something that sounded so much like "Jaded."
ReplyDeleteI agree, Harmony is totally over the top. And the slang too. I suppose, however, that the author wouldn't have gotten away with calling the book F-ed instead of Bumped! LOL
ReplyDelete@Blurb Is A Verb (Sarah) Haha, I'm not a big fan of the Jayden name. What's that kid going to be like when they grow up?
ReplyDelete@rhapsodyinbooks Bahaha, you have a good point on the F-ed!
ReplyDeleteAs strange as the book sounds, it does very interesting. I am adding it to my reading list.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your review... and I SO wanted to love this book! I just couldn't buy into the world and had a hard time with the "pregging" term as well.
ReplyDeleteI've seen both good and bad reviews too...but you've convinced me - I'm gonna skip this one.
ReplyDelete