Balzer + Bray
April 26, 2011
336 pages
Goodreads/Amazon
/Book Depository
Both girls have a lot to learn, though.
Megan McCafferty has written a dystopian that's not as serious and scary (or frightening?) as most other dystopians. In fact, it's rather funny, too.
I really enjoyed the the premise of McCafferty's first YA novel but the novel itself didn't really work for me. (Part of why this review is late is I had to work through my thoughts on this book first.)
The way that the Church was portrayed in Bumped just hit me wrong. Through the characters they were given so few redeeming qualities, but their actions made them seem much less worse than that perception. It's hard to explain why that storyline struck a wrong chord with me the way it did . . .
I also wished there would have been more with Melody's friend whose trouble was constantly referenced, almost teasingly. I really wanted to know what had happened but felt almost let down when it was finally revealed because I still wanted more.
I liked the characters alright--and the relationship between Zen and Melody but I didn't feel the characters had enough motivation for their actions or change in beliefs/actions.
/Book DepositoryMelody lives in a future where a virus has made everyone over the age of 18 infertile. Couples pay teenage girls to get pregnant and give them the baby. Teen pregnancies are now all the rage--instead of something generally looked down on.
Fake 'bumps' are sold in stores, pregnancy (and the contracts that pay for them) are to be envied, and the school even serves food for optimal pregnancies.
Not quite everyone thinks teen pregnancies are the best thing ever. the Church finds it wrong.
And Harmony, Melody's lost, unknown twin sister has been raised in a Church compound her whole life.
But now she's shown up on Melody's doorstep, sure she can 'save' her sister.
Fake 'bumps' are sold in stores, pregnancy (and the contracts that pay for them) are to be envied, and the school even serves food for optimal pregnancies.
Not quite everyone thinks teen pregnancies are the best thing ever. the Church finds it wrong.
And Harmony, Melody's lost, unknown twin sister has been raised in a Church compound her whole life.
But now she's shown up on Melody's doorstep, sure she can 'save' her sister.
Both girls have a lot to learn, though.
Megan McCafferty has written a dystopian that's not as serious and scary (or frightening?) as most other dystopians. In fact, it's rather funny, too.
I really enjoyed the the premise of McCafferty's first YA novel but the novel itself didn't really work for me. (Part of why this review is late is I had to work through my thoughts on this book first.)
The way that the Church was portrayed in Bumped just hit me wrong. Through the characters they were given so few redeeming qualities, but their actions made them seem much less worse than that perception. It's hard to explain why that storyline struck a wrong chord with me the way it did . . .
I also wished there would have been more with Melody's friend whose trouble was constantly referenced, almost teasingly. I really wanted to know what had happened but felt almost let down when it was finally revealed because I still wanted more.
I liked the characters alright--and the relationship between Zen and Melody but I didn't feel the characters had enough motivation for their actions or change in beliefs/actions.
The premise is interesting enough, though, and the ending open enough that I think I will look at the future books in this series in hopes that the characters are more developed.
5/10
read via NetGalley, with thanks to the publisher
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