Author: Megan McCaffertySo I liked Bumped. I didn't love it, but I thought it was a funny take on teen pregnancy.
Release Date: April 19, 2011
Pages: 244 (E-ARC)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Most Appropriate For Ages: 14+
Where I Got It: For review from Netgalley
Challenges: Debut Author 2011
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.
The first 80 pages of Bumped were really confusing. McCafferty immediately throws you into her futuristic society, full of it's own unique slang and terms and stores and challenges you to keep up. Well it took me a while to keep up. Though this wasn't my biggest problem with Bumped. I think it was the fact that this disease that leaves people infertile after a certain age isn't explained at all. It's only mentioned once or twice. Hopefully it will be further explored in the sequel.
As for the characters, both Melody and Harmony are easy to like. The sisters don't have much in common except for one thing: they're each being over-controlled by someone and are starting to question it. I didn't dislike them, but I really love them either. My favorite character ended up being Zen, Melody's unfortunately vertically challenged best friend who wants nothing more than to be loved by everyone.
So I don't really know how I feel about Bumped as a whole. I had some issues with it, but it kept my attention well enough. What I do know is that I'll be reading the sequel, and that I recommend you read it to see how you feel about it.
Book Report:
Plot: Intriguing and funny.
Characters: Not bad, especially liked Zen.
Writing: I would've liked more description.
Ending: It just kinda ended.
Kid friendly? Obviously, there's a lot of sex. But I'm pretty sure that's it.
Should I read it? Yeah, I think some people will love this book.
Overall:
I totally agree with your review. I wasn't over-the-moon about it but it was good. I thought the book felt a bit like half of a whole book and the publisher decided to split it in two. Like you, my favorite character was Zen. I actually really didn't like Harmony at first but liked her story progression. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued enough to check it out. It's hard when a book can leave you so ambivalent but you did a great job with the review!
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