by Megan McCafferty
Release Date: April 26th 2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780061962745
Source: ARC
Where to Buy:
B&N | Amazon | HarperTeen
When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until 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 religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her 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 Review:
With Teen Pregnancy being all the rage on TV at the moment, I’m not surprised at all to see the subject turning up in books as well. And honestly, I don’t see how sensationalizing it is helping the matter, but that’s another story all together.
Bumped was a really… different read for me. The language was really hard to get into at first, but most of it is pretty repetitive, so I got used to it after a while. Still, I had to stop reading and think about what a word was supposed to mean before I went on.
The plot was really interesting, and totally something that could happen in the future. Although, I’m hoping that if it did happen, kids would be given more of a choice, than being “born to bump”. I had a really hard time connecting with any of the characters in the book. Melody and Harmony were somewhat likeable, but I barely felt any connection towards either one, unfortunately. I also didn’t care that Christian’s were portrayed as being freaks.
I can see Bumped having many interesting discussions given the subject matter. It’s a book that definitely makes you wonder, ‘what if’. I know a lot of people have and will liked this book. It was just an ok read for me.
Happy Reading!
Have you read this book?? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it! I'd love to discuss.
Oh, that's too bad you didn't love it .. This book has been in my "dying to read" wishlist or a long time and I look forward to read it. I hope it'll be more than a ok read for me. Thanks for the honnest review =)
ReplyDeleteHappy reading
I started reading this book via NetGalley several weeks ago. I had to stop. I just could not get into it. I will try again in the future though, because sometimes I just have to put a book down and come back to it.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... I'm HOPING born to bump is your phrase and not something from the book. Coming from you it's clever playing off the book, if it's the book, it seems sort of crude! I hate when I can't get that connection with any of the people from the book! *sad face*
ReplyDeleteIt was just an OK book for me as well. I did not love it.
ReplyDeleteNC
Truly Bookish
I think that it was a very intersting dystopia, and just took it for what it was. Great points though. :)
ReplyDeleteBrandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
Hmmm, I seem to be in the minority here. This book for me was very thought provoking. I didn't have any problems with the terminology, because much of it was medical.
ReplyDeleteThings I liked: how the girls ended up going against what they were both raised to believe in but knew in their hearts was wrong.
Zen, the voice of reason
The way the book made me think about so many serious different topics.
Things I didn't like:
The strong sexual innuendos and catch phrases
The way religion was portrayed as "freakish"
The way teenagers were either being used as surrogates to earn money for their pregs or the way they were getting married so early and having children as children themselves.
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One last thought - wouldn't ya think the better answer here would be to harvest sperm from the teens free it and save it for later? That technology is available right now. I guess it would ruin the whole point of the story though, huh?
I'm on the fence with this book. The sisters really annoyed me and I found myself wanting to shake them most of the time. The world is crazy. I have to give the author credit for creating something so fantastically futuristic, but I just didn't love the book as much as I thought I would.
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing a lot of "It was just ok" in terms of this book for the last little while now. I am curious to read it to see what I think of it, but I am someone who loves books because of the characters and it sounds like it's hard to get into any of them. Thanks for the great (and honest) review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I've heard so many mixed reviews for this book. I'm pretty sure I won't love it, but I still want to read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm still unsure whether to read it or not. It definitely sounds like an interesting read, but I'm not sure that it will be something I like.
ReplyDeleteBut thanks a lot for your review! :)
Carina
Yeah, I thought I wanted to read this when I first heard about, but now I'm not so sure. Sorry it was only OK and not great.
ReplyDeleteThis was just an okay book for me. The slang was over the top and I couldn't really get behind either of the girls. But I would like to read the second one, just to see where she takes it.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for leaving your comments!
ReplyDeletePlease don't let my review turn you off from reading it. I know a lot of people that really enjoyed the book, it just wasn't really for me.
@Gina- It really surprised me too about the girls switching teams. And that's a very good point about harvesting and saving it for later. I was thinking the same thing!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys!
hmmm now I'm REALLY curious to read Bump. I've been seeing some mixed reviews and so far I'm not sure what to think about it but I'll give it a shot.
ReplyDeletei wanted to read this book because of the very interesting premise but with the mixed reviews popping up, i'm holding off getting it. thanks for the review christy!
ReplyDeleteHaven't read this one, but I've got the netgalley. Many bloggers say that Bumped is a different read... I need to find out why!!!
ReplyDelete