Review: Bumped
Bumped by Megan McCafferty Published by Balzer + Bray on April 26th 2011
Genres: Young Adult- Dystopian
Source: FTC: Exchange for honest opinion, Publisher
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"
I am super sad to say that I did not enjoy this book. I really want to like it but could not. While the synopsis and storyline was good, the plot failed to grab me.
The plot was just not doing it for me. The slang and lingo in this book was too much. I enjoy drama but this drama was just too much to bare. With all of society telling them to get “Bumped” it was just like watching Teen Mom or whatnot. And to be honest, I really dislike that show. I guess that is why I could not get into it. I got bored right away and had a hard time staying into the book.
The characters on the other hand were good. I thought Ms. Mcafferty did a great job capturing the voice of a teenage girl getting Bumped. Both girls were different, unique, but also the same. She also did a great job of capturing all the drama that comes with pregnancy,. The girls talking about birth, giving up the child, etc. All of it was out there for everyone to see.
As far as the lingo goes, well I’m not sure if a young teenager should read this. An older teenager yes, but there are too many things about sex, sleeping with different guys, and whatnot in this book that I feel is not appropriate for a young teenager to read. Then again, it may be good because it can give the feel of what really happens when you get pregnant at a young age.
I give it 3 BITES!
Happy Reading!
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Sounds like an interesting book, Savy! I agree with your point about certain material intended for YA being too explicit and some teens may not be ready to deal with the realities of teen pregnancy while others might. Anywho, it’s been a while since I stopped by chez nous and I thought I would stop in 🙂 Hope your son is doing better, too! 🙂
Darkeva
@Darkeva Thanks!
This is definitely a book that is love or hate:) I thought the whole world was disturbingly fascinating, but I had a hard time with the characters. And I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to a younger YA audience, I was surprised at the content at times!
Great review Savannah. You are making it so much easier for me to filter things for my daughters!
Yeah, I’ve heard the slang is too much and doesn’t make much sense. I think I’ll be passing on this one. Thanks for the review.
I decided to skip this one. I’ve read so many iffy reviews. I read the first chapter the other day, and realised that it’s just not the book for me. Thanks for the great review!
I’ve been wanting to read this one forever. I guess I will….eventually. 😉
Perhaps it is more about having it along with discussion. Maybe that might be a bit more appropriate then. To get the discussion going.
I might read this one at a later date. Hm.. still on the fence about it.
I’ve heard a lot of buzz about this book, but it’s not something that’s high on my TBR list. I like the points you made about what didn’t work for you.
I have heard so much about this book, I even tried to read it but like you I disliked the lingo, it confused the crap out of me lol.