The Farm (edition 2012)

Read from April 01 to 06, 2013

Read for BookClub (Paperback)
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.00
Character Rating: 4.00

First Thought When Finished: Holy crap y'all there was no Love Triangle and very little angst! That scores an auto 4 from me in the YA world! I reward good behavior.

Story Thoughts: I have to admit that parts of The Farm reminded me of The Hunt. However, that was just in tone not really in the story. I think The Farm succeeded in pulling me into the story with the really unique characters. I did wonder why all the parents would just give up all their kids. Even if the government was saying too, I have to imagine that some would fight back? They might have but we didn't really see it. I am hoping that this is addressed in book 2! That was really the only YA cliche I saw in The Farm.

Character Thoughts: I love that there were a wide array of characters/character types in The Farm. Each was different and yet they all worked together quit well. The end left me wondering where one of the characters was going to go personality wise but I will be picking up book 2 for this reason. I love when there are unusual character types and they aren't relegated to secondary roles. Well done Emily, well done!

Final Thoughts: I am not a huge YA reader but this series will stay on my Radar! I am curious to see where it goes from here! ( )

Originally reviewed on A Reader of Fictions.

Like its cover, Emily McKay's The Farm is exceedingly dark and creepy, filled with the kinds of vampires that are never going to make swoon-inducing heroes. The Farm reminded me somewhat of The Passage and of The Immortal Rules, both in tone and vampire-ness.

In The Farm, the world has been overrun by Ticks. No, not the bugs. Humans-turned-monsters that feed on human blood. As is the case in roughly 37% of post-apocalyptic fiction, scientific research intended to help humanity accidentally got loose and turned some of the population into man-eating monsters. Oops! The road to hors d'oeuvres is paved with good intentions, right?

Like in The Passage, the humans have consolidated into walled communities, carefully defended from the monsters roaming the majority of the world. Thankfully, the Ticks are not as clever as the creatures in The Passage. The difference, though, is that the humans are not behind the walls united to fight against the monsters. The people under eighteen were rounded up and stuck into these Farms, ostensibly because young, hormonal people are the most delicious and thus the most endangered. They are fed up, fattened up, and required to go for regular blood draws, this and the crazy, out-of-control vamps outside the city reminded me heavily of The Immortal Rules.

Lily and her twin sister Mel are about to turn eighteen. Unconvinced that what will happen on their birthday will be at all pleasant (nobody knows what becomes of the people who 'graduate' from the Farms), Lily determines that they will escape. She prepares to trade for the final items necessary to complete their withdrawal from the camp. Everything's planned; she can keep Mel safe.

Lily lives her life for Mel, her mother's last words having been an invocation to protect her sister. Mel has autism, which has not been improved by the collapse of the world as it once was. In high school, Mel was relatively high-functioning, but, now, she can no longer speak in anything but nursery rhymes, something she did as a child. Lily's love and care for Mel is powerful and touching, definitely the most powerful aspect of the book for me.

Just when they're about ready to escape, enter the love interest, Carter, the only crush Lily has ever had. He was the typical bad boy and Lily's lab partner. He now seems like he could be their deliverance, if only she could trust him, which she can't do, since he obviously wants something. Though this won't make sense if you haven't read it, I have to state that I'm really not a fan of the abductura angle of the story, especially if this book is a standalone.

McKay uses three perspectives to tell the story: Lily, Carter and Mel. The bulk of the narration is Lily's in first person. She has a powerful voice, and is one of those heroines that manages to be likable but not all that nice. Her sections really worked. Mel's sections, also in first person, were perhaps my favorites and I really wish that they had been longer. Mel has a unique way of perceiving the world that I found utterly beautiful. Unfortunately, she receives only about ten pages. None of her sections are above two pages.

Where things go wonky are Carter's bits. For some reason I cannot even begin to fathom, Carter's sections are told in third person. This threw me out of the story every single time, because everything else was in first person and I expect that to continue. Choose one! As a result, I also didn't have as strong of a sense of Carter's character. Actually, I don't really think it was entirely necessary to have him as a POV. I think The Farm would have worked better as all Lily's narration or a more-balanced narration with just the two sisters.

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic horror novels, The Farm will not disappoint. From what I can tell (aka Goodreads), The Farm is a standalone, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that more books are coming. It could really go either way, I think, but there are subjects that have scarcely been touched on, such as the folks orchestrating the Farms (and what precisely happens there) or where all the adults are. I personally hope there's more. ( )

A fresh take on vampires which I *really* appreciated. The author's voice was strong and the book was easy to read. I had a couple of minor issues with the worldbuilding and how it was set up, but I enjoyed the characters & storyline. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It pretty much had me from page one. I thought the characters were well developed and that the author managed to put a new spin on vampires and post apocalyptic themes that seem to be so popular right now. ( )

Very interesting book. Very interesting indeed.

Initially, going into this book I thought I had it all figured out. Boy was I wrong. Instead, I got a more in depth, complicate story that turn out to be quite beautiful. The plot of the book is nothing like the synopsis cause it go farther and deeper that what the reader is told. Which I really liked. I liked that the story kept me on my toes as well as entertained. I loved reading more into the characters as well as learning more about their history.

Now the main characters, Lily and Mel as phenomenal. I love their relationship as well as the survival tactics. Their both immensely smart and protective of one another. Like Mel, my son also has ASD and well, I think the author did a great job in her research about Autism. The point of view does switch quite a bit between the two but I didn't mind it. I like seeing the sides from both girls and seeing what they are thinking/feeling.

The love interest is what I expected with well a lot of betrayal. At the beginning, I admit that I hated the guy. He has been lying about his motives from the start and I quickly caught on. Towards the ends, I'm not sure how to feel. I want to trust the guy but it just that, he lied so much I can't. I guess I have to read the next and see if he is able to re-gained my heart.

The Farm is fresh yet complex. It offers a new world, new rules that you must learn to play in order to survive. It's one of those books that you can read and think about afterwards. The history to the story and where it's going it whats keep me hooked. Innovative and different, The Farm is wonderful! ( )