Whilst technically not really fitting into the 'horror' category The Farm generated the same feelings of unease when I read it. Well written story about a subject both distasteful but all together very possible in today's world where the wealthy can achieve a family without all the usual pain of actually giving birth. The Farm is quite simply a baby factory run as a corporate enterprise where poor immigrant women are the surrogates for the rich who have no time for being pregnant.

The Farm is a about monetising childbearing and turning it into a premium service industry. Set in the present day US, those with enough money can simply order a baby from a spa-like facility, the babies are ‘hosted’ by women who are hoping to better their lives in one way or another. While surrogacy itself is not new, the idea to turn it into a premium service industry is, raising issues of privilege, class and race. Money drives everything and is a central theme to the novel.

Ramos focuses on four characters: Jane a young woman from the Philippines who decides to become a ‘host’ in order to give her own baby daughter a better life; her older cousin Ate, who is always looking for ways to make more money in order to support her family back in Philippines; Mae, a Harvard Business School graduate of Chinese and white background who heads the facility and Reagan, who becomes a ‘host’ partly for altruistic reasons and partly to find meaning to her life.

So, there are a lot of different elements to The Farm and I thought Ramos did a very good set up, I enjoyed the book until about half way through. And then it went downhill. The plot was pretty basic. Once at the facility, there is only so much you can do with the story, especially if you refrain from having a stance on whether premium surrogate service industry should or shouldn’t exist in the first place. And this is not the only moral issue the novel raises but does not resolve. More than one character lies to and manipulates others but it’s sort of for the greater good and everyone will benefit in the end so it’s OK, right? The ways in which Ramos dealt with the consequences arising from these white lies and manipulation alienated me as a reader. I don’t think she did enough for her characters.

Early in the novel, Ramos exposes hardships immigrants face, working menial jobs for less than minimum wage, living in overcrowded apartments, lack of respect and any meaningful relationships. Later on, however, I found prejudices against the underprivileged and undereducated women being perpetuated. For example, Philippine women are either young and falling for the most inappropriate man to marry (at least three women) or, too old now to marry having held out too long looking for a rich man (two women). On the other side, there is an element of Ayn Randian ethical egoism to some of the privileged characters, especially Mae that I really had problems with.

Overall, I just think that the novel sits on the fence too much about all of the moral issues raised and if anything, it’s even somewhat approving of the attitude that ‘money is everything’ and I personally don’t agree with that. Hence my two star rating.

I found this a really interesting (and utterly believable) scenario as a whole; perhaps it’s already happening.
Some of the characters / storylines got a little more entangled or far fetched as it progresses, and I didn’t feel 100% connected.
But a great premise.

I really enjoyed some aspects of this book but overall it was a bit underwhelming. It was well written and was an interesting character study but nothing really happens, I think it's just a question of personal taste.
I'm interested to see how it's received as I think it could be very popular.

The Farm by Joanne Ramos 🖤
Thanks @netgalley @joanneramosthefarm and @bloomsburypublishing for my ARC
Publication date 7th May 2019
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A very intellectual and interesting read highlighting class divisions. I enjoyed the different Chapters and points of views of the characters. A good unique story xx

Fantastic writing and a pacy plot, but I did find the ending quite abrupt - there felt there could have been more to the story. The Farm was pitched as a dystopian novel, but this felt a little too close to reality to fall into that category. It’s not exactly 1984 and perhaps there is already a Golden Oaks just outside of New York?

A fascinating concept of baby farming, not in a dystopian setting, like The Handmaid's Tale, but in modern-day USA.

Surrogacy and having babies for others for financial gain is not uncommon, but a setting like the Golden Oaks is above and beyond...

Apart from choosing the actual genes that form their babies, the uber-wealthy have a chance to choose the 'hosts' for their eggs, happy in the knowledge that the woman will be cared for over the nine months of their child's development, with access to everything they might need, in order to produce a healthy offspring - without the need to actually experience pregnancy. Or there are those too old to have a good chance of carrying a baby to term.

But what about these 'hosts' emotional needs, or their own physical ones?

A glamorous maternity home or simply a baby farm?

We start the story meeting Ate, a Philippino woman who has spent a long time in the USA, leaving her own family, to become a much-revered baby nurse, and are introduced to her cousin Jane, who is a new mother herself, then encouraged to become a Host to secure her own child's financial security by her cousin

The story hops from the point of view of both these characters, and Mae, the woman who heads the operations at The Farm, with her own financial gain in her mind, and Reagan, considered a Premium Host, as she is white, young, and a college graduate from a wealthy family.

There were twists in the tale, things happened that I hadn't imagined would, keeping me reading though.

It was an interesting concept, but a little slow at the beginning, and sometimes the hopping from one point of view to another, with not enough clarity, was a little confusing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A modern, topical novel. I've never read anything quite like this before.
Thank you for the advance copy.

I slogged through this book hoping that things would pick up at some point, but they just didn't. The Farm itself doesn't appear for the first ten percent of the book, the jumping POVs make it hard to get attached to anyone, and there are too many threads left dangling at the end. There's no real through plot and characterisation keeps jumping around.

This had the potential to be a fantastic read, and I think it still could if it was retooled, but as it is it's just not a good read. Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for letting me read.

I absolutely loved this book and will strongly recommend it. I couldn't quite decide whether it was a dystopia or just an allegory of how things already are. Either way, it was heartbreaking and unputdownable.

This book wasn't what I expected. I think I was expecting a more dystopian story about a reproduction centre where fertile women are impregnated over and over for the benefit of the wealthy. I mean, that's kind of what it's about, but it's more about the relationships between the women carrying the rich children (the Hosts), and also a lot about class. It's a very contemporary novel; the setting is a clean, modern centre called Golden Oaks but it doesn't feel futuristic and all the tech mentioned is available now. Golden Oaks is marketed as a great opportunity for both host and mother-if you're a wealthy woman with no time to have kids, you can hire a woman to bear your child for you and compensate her for her trouble.
The book presents many ethical questions about surrogacy. I am no expert on the topic, but I this book really gets you thinking about the set-up. If a wealthy woman has worked her whole life and is now past child bearing age, why shouldn't she be able to implant an embryo into a younger, less well-off women? If the woman is willing, what's the problem? Well The Farm shows us how a centre like this might work and, at times, it does feel a little stifling and intense. Things are kept from the Hosts and they are manipulated in various ways.
The book is told from the POV of several of the women involved with Golden Oaks, and it's interesting to get the action from all sides. Golden Oaks isn't trying to be authoritarian or overly-secretive but there are certain things they keep from the Hosts. Jane is sort of the main character and she is a very realistic creation; the reader can empathise with her but also become annoyed with some of her mannerism and traits.
Race and class are both big themes in this book. There is a lot of discussion early on about how many of the wealthy mothers would love to hire a White or Asian Host to carry their child. It's also mentioned about certain women being from cultures of obedience and servitude and how they are prime for Host selection too. We get a look into Jane's life at the start of the book and we see her family and friends struggle to get by on menial job wages while living in a dorm together. These women struggle to provide for their children so Golden Oaks is a perfect opportunity. Right? This book certainly makes you think about privilege, both race-based and class-based.
The Farm took me a while to get into. I think because it was a different type of story than I expected, I was a bit resistant to it. However, I eventually got into it and became invested in the women involved.

I was really looking forward to this, it seemed like it would be a really interesting read, maybe dystopian, about people leveraging surrogacy for money and comfort. But 15% in we still haven't reached the actual Farm, we're just hanging out with baby nurses in Manhattan instead. Maybe it's all essential set up, but a novel that needs this much setup before actually getting to the plot is not for me, I'm afraid. I hope it does well and I'm very grateful to Bloomsbury and netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Fram is about people who have everything in life apart from children and people who just lack money and have to leave their own children to bear other peoples children. And so much more. The Farm tells about asian immigrant in America, the world richest people and the people with ideas to make money. I find the different aspects of peoples lifes, told here, hugely enlightening and enjoying.

I absolutely loved this book! The Farm, is the story of a young woman who will do anything to provide for her baby girl. She ends up at Golden Oaks, which is a 'farm' for wealthy people to have babies through surrogates.

I thought this book was beautifully written, and very thought provoking. Although, the subject was an uncomfortable one, I don't think the writer executed it in a way that will make you cringe.
I think it's a very accomplished, impressive debut and can't wait to see the writer's future works.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this ARC in exchange fot an honest review.

Golden Oaks, nestled as it is in the lush countryside of the Hudson Valley, New York, looks just like an exclusive luxury retreat, away from the hustle and bustle of the City.
However, you need a certain set of credentials to be a resident at this haven, with its organic meals, personal trainers and daily massages. For Golden Oaks is no ordinary health spa - it is a baby farm, where surrogates incubate the young of the wealthy, under the watchful eye of the ambitious Mae Yu.

To join its select number of residents, you must sign over your life to Golden Oaks for the duration of your time as a Host. After all, you cannot expect to do as you wish when you are carrying the progeny of the elite.
You cannot leave the grounds; your every move is recorded carefully; and your only means of communication with the outside world is closely monitored and controlled, via the Media Room provided by The Farm.

Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, has been providing for herself and her baby daughter, by working as a carer and baby nurse, but she is faced with the prospect of being without an income, after an unfortunate incident at the home of one of her employers.
Jane's elderly cousin, Evelyn, suggest that she should become a Host at Golden Oaks, as the money she can make will be beyond her imagination. The Host selection process is highly competitive, as the Clients are very picky, but Jane makes it through and begins her residency at Golden Oaks.
Despite the luxurious surroundings, Jane finds it hard to settle into life as The Farm, and she finds she has little in common with Reagan, her white, privileged room-mate. Jane desperately misses her daughter, Amalia, who she has had to leave behind in the care of Evelyn.

Jane and Reagan discover that Golden Oaks is a place of secrets and lies. But how can they escape without losing the rewards they have been promised? Is being a Host worth the cost?

This is an intriguing and unsettling book.
Part dystopian nightmare and part examination of the issues surrounding surrogacy.

The methods used by Golden Oaks to control their Hosts are horribly reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale - the constant manipulation of their lives; the close monitoring; and the assumption that the bodies of the Hosts are just vessels, without feeling. This is just a money making exercise, for Mae Yu and her boss, despite the promotion of surrogacy as kindness to those who are unable to have children of their own. Mae takes the manipulation of her Hosts to extremes in the pursuit of business success, although she does start to question some of her methods later in the book, when surrogacy becomes personal.

And yet, there is another side to this story, that gives it unexpected depth.
Although the idea of a business relationship, where babies are bought and paid for as products is abhorrent to me, there is a discussion to be had about general thinking on motherhood, money and the trade-offs some women make to compete in a man's world. If the Host is willing and fully informed, and the Client is honest, is this exploitation? Who is exploiting who here? Why should a woman who is more than capable of carrying her own child, find it necessary to abdicate this role to another? Some big questions, without easy answers.

I've read a lot of reviews that have said this book takes a while to get into and that's exactly what happened to me. However, I did just feel as though I was pushing my way through it. The subject, when described, is interesting, but the story fails to be compelling in the way that something like The Handmaid's Tale or even Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill is. It's getting a lot of publicity for being 'out-there' and interesting, but it feel pretty short for me.

A story that exposes the ways that women from immigrant communities working in the service industry suffer in order that middle class wealthy women can have careers, nice homes and raise children, without making any real sacrifices. This book didn’t go in the direction I expected and had some brutally honest moments.

This was an ok read, but could have been even better.

The Farm is a place where young women are recruited to become surrogate mothers for wealthy clients. The recruits are watched at all times, even their mails are monitored, they have a prescribed diet and an exercise plan they have to adhere to. Motivated by the hefty cash bonus paid upon the baby delivery, Jane, a single mother from Philippines, signs up. Jane doesn't mind being at the Farm at first but soon starts missing her little daughter who is less than a year old and was left behind to be looked after by Jane's cousin.

What the book does well is highlighting the economic disparity between rich and poor, the struggles of immigrants and ethnic minorities and their financial motivation to join the Farm. I also appreciated the insight into the lives of Filipino women living in the US. However, one of the problems I had with this book was that there were too many side stories and characters thrown in that were totally unnecessary as they did not add anything to the overall story. The story is told from a number of POV, following stories of a couple of girls at the Farm, the Farm director and Jane's cousin. I did care about Jane and her story and I wished there was more focus on her as the main character.

The ending of the story surprised me, but not in a good way. It felt as if the author wanted a happy ending for every character at all costs, when clearly, things happened between certain characters that they would struggle to put behind them in real life.

Overall, I think the premise of the book is unique and thought-provoking but in my opinion, the author did not push the envelop far enough. What could have been to a jaw-dropping dystopia ended up being just an average novel.

A book that makes you think about your own moral code and just when you might be tempted to farm out a body! Yes, a body - perhaps your own body, or perhaps you might farm someone else's?
And what would you be cultivating? Why a baby?
So The Handmaid's Tale with a twist and actually something that is all too likely to be inexistence, and as it would be very secret, we would never know.
We all know that people use surrogate mothers when they can't have babies for themselves - male couples for instance, or perhaps when they can't carry a child themselves due to illness or...
But the premise in this book is that the uber-rich may want to use surrogates for other reasons. Perhaps they are too old have a child, perhaps they are too busy, or perhaps they just don't want to 'spoil' their figures? Or just go through the grind of pregnancy?
And how to choose your surrogate? What would motivate them? There are good reasons why in the UK you cannot pay the surrogate expect for reasonable expenses, and also, even with a contract, the child is still the 'property' of the person who carries it through pregnancy. In Australia the law prevents commercial surrogacy, and this is the case in most countries. In some even altruistic surrogacy is banned, eg France and Germany; but in the US it is decided by the State. States generally considered to be surrogacy friendly include California, Illinois, Arkansas, Maryland, Washington D.C., Oregon and New Hampshire among others. Both New Hampshire and Washington State have laws permitting commercial surrogacy from 1/1/2019.
So a very timely book on a subject that is very controversial still. Well written and one that I couldn't put down - I wanted to know what happened to the young women who contracted out their bodies for pregnancy and still think that Jane was badly treated despite what she thought!

Fascinating in concept, “The Farm” is a surrogacy farm offering rich (and white) the opportunity for surrogates picked from poor (and predominantly black) women.. It’s a novel of big concepts - race, fertility, class, wealth, the exploitation of the lower classes - but low on narrative tension. I think i may be out of step with majority thinking on this debut novel - it just didnt grab me in the way i hoped it to. Interesting, rather than compelling.