This was an interesting idea that failed on execution. I was so excited to read this, but ultimately let down by a book that turned in to a chore.

This book will, no doubt, draw comparisons to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, due to the subject matter. However, this novel is less apocalyptic and more realistic and the take is more ambivalent. The farm is a resort like retreat/hospital/prison for women who rent their surrogacy services through an agency catering to families of the extreme wealthy. The world here is just a tick off from our current day, just a subtle shift which could make major changes in what might be tolerated. Its this parallel to the current political culture that makes this novel work so well. And, without giving anything away, the ending was pitch perfect. Would make a great read for book clubs.

The Farm
by Joanna Ramos
due May 2019
Random House

How much would you give up to have a new beginning-a fresh start? Golden Oaks Farm, ran by Ms. Yu can offer you a huge cash incentive towards that new start. Jane believes it could be just what she needs to start over again alone, with her baby Amaila, alone after she found her husband cheating and left. She applies to The Farm and easily passes the entrance exams. Ms Yu invites her to the Farm, Jane leaves Amalia with a cousin. Its only for a short time.
Golden Oaks Farm offers the highest quality and best of everything from food to clothing, and is free to all who become a Host. This farm impregnates you with the embryo of another couple, willing to pay for the service. If is comes full term, there is a bonus. One lucky Host is carrying the child of a billionaire but since the identity of the clients is not revealed to the Hosts, no one is sure who she is......there is an extra large bonus for the Host of this baby......
Everything will be done at no expense to you, as long as you follow the rules.....the rules made by Ms. Yu. Can you-should you trust her? What are her motivations? Is it worth risking that bonus to disobey her rules?
Chilling novel that takes the reader into The Farm. Joanna Ramos has written a novel that makes the story so plausible, so real, vibrant and convincing. Its about sacrifice, the future of pregnancy, immigrants chasing their American dreams and how our circumstances can sometimes play the hand of luck, depending where your cards fall.
Riveting and unforgettable
#netgalley. #TheFarm

This book seemed like it was going to build up to something nefarious happening at The Farm. I was expecting a book a la Robin Cook. Spoiler alert....nothing really happened.

The Farm gives you a glimpse into the surrogacy world, of what could possibly become a popular future option for our changing world.

The Farm is the nickname the "Hosts" (surrogates) call their living situation. The farm is a type of campus where young women go during their surrogacy process. The Farm is monitored 24/7, with a big brother feel. The selling features include healthy food, spa, gym, free classes, etc; but the girls quickly learn that it isn't what they were originally sold on. The novel follows multiples characters from different backgrounds, ethnicities and financial classes. I found it interesting to learn each woman's reasoning for taking on the "host" role.

Overall, a very interesting read!

Jane seems to have been dealt nothing but bad cards for most of her life, but it seems that grim opportunity comes knocking when she decides to puts aside her own needs - after a brutal, failed relationship - and agrees to be a surrogate mother on "The Farm". It seems that the rich and powerful can buy just about anything, including nine months of your life. Jane will never be the same after she agrees to barter her womb for a chance at better prospects. So much self-sacrifice is painful to see. Jane is exploited again and again and is practically imprisoned during her pregnancy, but somehow she manages to put a positive spin on things. Definitely an eye-opening read on the lengths someone will go to in order to survive and make a better life for her daughter.

The Farm is a futuristic novel taking us into a world easily imagined. It is also the story of immigrants leaving their homeland hoping a better future lays ahead for themselves and their loved ones left behind.

We meet Ate a Philippina working as a nanny for New York's elite, Jane her niece soon joins the ranks of nannies recommended by Ate, earning bonuses and travels to exotic places allows Jane some financial comfort, Ate however has even grander ideas for her niece.

Golden Oaks, a place were young women can augment their financial needs in luxury, a spa of sorts.
Ate arranges an interview for Jane with Miss Yu, the organiser of Golden Oaks. Jane readily signs a contract putting her trust in Ate.

Does Jane and the other young women at Golden Oaks fully understand what lies beyond carrying a rich woman's embryo? Will the the financial gain be worth the nine month stay at Golden Oaks? The silence each girl must keep, the monitored surveillance?

What could go wrong? Is Golden Oaks so far in the future....

I enjoyed this novel immensely, highly recommend

Thank you to Random House for this early arc
Thank you to NetGalley

I gave up on this after a few pages. It just didn't hold my attention.



(I have a problem with your 100 characters rule--the entire point of my reviews is that they are short.)

The sign of a good novel is when you are thinking and worrying about the characters long after the book has been finished. Joanne Ramos has let the reader inside a nuanced, fascinating and hidden world. The premise itself pretty much sold me -- a "farm" for carefully selected surrogate mothers for the ultra wealthy -- but this novel is so much more than that. Ramos lets us inside the heads and hearts of her characters: Jane, who moves to the US from the Philippines with her new husband, only to find out that he's cheating on her. She leaves him, but now has to find a way to feed herself and her baby. Ate, Jane's aunt, who helps Jane, or does she? Mae, second generation Philippine-American who bridges aspirations of two cultures. Is Mae helping people like Jane, or is she taking advantage?

An intensely emotional novel that kept me on my toes every step of the way. A nuanced and compassionate page-turner. Brava!

Thank you, netgalley, for the e-review copy of this excellent book!

This book has mixed reviews but I liked it. Jane is from the Philippines with a small child to raise. Her living conditions are cramped and she does cleaning, baby nursing and also takes nanny positions to make ends meet.
Basically it's about the things Jane dies to support her family. Until she becomes a surrogate for the Farm and meets fellow 'Hosts', Reagan and Lisa. Thats when the intrigue picks up and the book becomes suspenseful. The things people do to insure these Hosts please their Clients.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy to review.

The Farm by author Joanne Ramos is a wicked emotional must read book! It is provocative and intense, with developed characters that flow through a thick plot nicely. Releasing in March 2019! The Farm gripped me in from the very beginning and held me there.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Farm in exchange for an honest review.