Apr 23, 2011

Review: Bumped by Megan McCafferty


Title: Bumped
Author: Megan McCafferty
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: 4.26.2011
Pages: 336
Genre: Dystopian
Series: Yes; Book #1 (Bumped)

Rating:  D-

Summary (from Goodreads):
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.


Review:
I’m honestly at a loss for what to say in this review, so I’ll keep it short and simple. As you can tell by my rating, I didn’t like this book at all which I found immensely disturbing. Since reading the first Jessica Darling book, I have adored Megan McCafferty. I found her writing style fun and refreshing and honest. That’s why I almost feel like another author wrote this book.

I found the characters of Melody and Harmony to be grating. Melody was so concerning with bumping and pregging and cute maternity clothes that she immediately turned me off. On the flip side you have Harmony who annoyed me to no end with her overly religious ranting and judgments. The book flip-flops perspectives every other chapter as to allow the reader a better insight into the minds of both Melody and Harmony. This only served to make me question which one I disliked more.

The jargon of the book is tedious and confusing, and had the characters evolved into people I could potentially like, that might have saved the story. Instead, I was ready to jump ship by the time Melody was trying on “FunBumps” around page 50. I skipped ahead to see if it got any better, and sadly it did not.

I will say that the plot itself is dynamite. As far as dystopian novels go, this is one idea that truly pushes the boundaries as to what is socially acceptable. A world where teenagers are vying to get pregnant and adults encourage it? Freaking amazing idea. I just feel this book poorly executed it.

I went into this book excited and came out exhausted—and not in the fun kind of way. For fans of McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, this book is most assuredly not that. I recommend reading this one with caution.

***I will say that for every one negative review there are at least 2 good ones. Just because I didn’t like this book doesn’t mean you won’t. I read reviews for this one myself to see if I was the only one not feeling it, and I was surprised by the amount of people who loved it as much as I didn’t love it. I recommend you read more reviews if you’re unsure before buying this book.***

19 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree with you more!

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  2. HeeHeeHee. Loved this review. Sounds like an interesting concept to explore.
    ~kimberlee, www.TheSpunkyDiva.com

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  3. I'm really happy to hear that you liked the author's other books, though. I didn't like this book either but have wanted to read her other series....

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  4. I have read a few reviews like yours where people did not like the book, especially the lingo.

    I actually really liked this book. I love dystopian books. And i found this to be inventive. And the lingo to me reminded me a bit of another series i loved (the Uglies series).

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  5. I'm one of those people who actually loved this book. I think Megan McCafferty is one very brave author and I admire her very very much :)

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  6. Oh dear. I just downloaded this onto my Kindle and I was really looking forward to this - I hope it's not that bad :(

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  7. I LOVE Jessica Darling series :) but I have to agree with you on some parts of this book, even though I loved it :P the words were a bit confusing for me. Great review though, nice to see an honest one ;D

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  8. great review.can't wait to read this one. :)

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  9. This is a book that is on my to-read list. I cannot wait to get it and start!!!!

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  10. I don't give out 1 star reviews often but this one got one from me. I agree, the language was the worst, and all of the characters were extremely unlikeable. I liked what she was trying to do but the execution sucked.

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  11. I definitely thought this book could have been a bit better, but I do think the concept was fascinating.

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  12. This might be controversial, but I have to say I really like the concept. And as it is dystopian, I think controversial topics go well.

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  13. I'm just getting ready to read this one, and I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I should bother. Maybe I'll just skip it :/

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  14. Thanks for writing an honest review. I've seen to many reviews that raved about this book and I was thinking "WHAT?!"

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  15. I actually really enjoyed this book. I'm a dystopian queen though so that's probably why...

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  16. Both Melody and Harmony were quite annoying at times, still, I liked the book well enough. I still haven't read the sequel. Despite the book's flaws, I want to know what happens to characters.

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  17. I didn't mind this book, but I do agree I found the girls to be really annoying

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  18. This book is on my TBR list already, but I haven't any chance to read it. Well, reading your review, I guess I'll read this book later. It sounds not a really good book. But I'll give it a try.

    Thanks for the honest review.

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  19. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like this book. I absolutely adored it. I guess I can see how you didn't relate to characters--they were annoying at times, but I guess I saw that as being part of MacCafferty's social critique, so I thought it fit. Either way, I just got a hold of Thumped, so I'll be reading that soon.

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