Jane, an immigrant from them the Philippines, is looking for ways to support herself and her daughter after her husband left her. Jane is living in a dorm in Queens, sleeping in a bunk bed with her newborn, when her Aunt Evelyn approaches her with an amazing opportunity. All Jane has to do is carry a baby for a woman who cannot and she will be paid well for her services.

Golden Oaks, located in Upstate New York, is deemed a luxury retreat for the women who will carry babies for wealthy women. Set in modern day United States, with a big brother theme, the women at Golden Oaks are monitored at all times, subject to a strict diet, and completely sequestered from the world. What could go wrong for Jane at Golden Oaks?

This book weaved the narrative of Jane, a high school drop out and immigrant without papers. Her options are limited in the US, but are still better than in Philippines. It was sad to read the stories of all these Filipino women who leave home because they can make much more money in the US, which they send back to their families in the Philippines to live well. These women take care of other women's babies, yet theirs are thousand of miles away.

This novel is also an interesting look a the commodification of women's bodies, taking this commodification to the extreme. The biological capability of carrying babies, promises a better future financially for these women, but is it worth it? And how far will it go? All interesting discussion points.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for gifting me with this fabulous ARC. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

The Farm is a gripping heart thumping page turner that is completely believable, relevant and compelling. A contemporary novel examining the lengths women, especially immigrants will go to in order to secure financial independence. The Farm is a mesmerizing debut exploring class, technology, opportunity, altruism, exploitation, family, trust and motherhood.

Golden Oakes is a state of the art facility housing young women who have been selected and vetted to use their wombs as a surrogate for the world’s wealthiest clients. But this is a business and the women are simply products, who’s well being comes after the client & the company. A really good read with plenty of interesting premises to ruminate.

I could not put this book down. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending but that is more personal taste than a criticism of the writer.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was an intriguing read, and definitely surprised me more than not, which perhaps I was not set up for as the plot seemed so familiar (I thought Handmaid's Tale meets The Circle). That was probably the main problem for me -- the plot seemed familiar. With the hype around this book, I think I expected something a little more game-changing. While this story was entertaining, I kept wanting something more from it. I didn't find anyone's end satisfying -- all the characters seemed right back in the same place they started (developmentally) despite having been on this harrowing journey.
I also found the plot to somewhat unravel towards the end -- I didn't feel that there was enough glue to make this world stick together for me. Once they got outside the Farm, I had to suspend my disbelief a little as to how much authority Mae and her "security" had. And yes, although the characters were all in quite sticky situations throughout the novel, I thought their paranoia was a little overworked considering this world isn't a full-blown dystopia, as the author seems to want us to believe. There was just a bit of a disconnect for me.
Although I definitely had a lot of issues with The Farm, I was overall invested in the story and interested throughout. I don't regret reading it at all. I'm just not sure it is as big of a deal as others in the book community have made it out to be.

(Full review will be posted on blog at a later date)

The Farm is a great novel about race, class, friendship, self analysis and more. I really enjoyed The Farm. I made me think more than the average novel does. It is interesting to read a book about immigration with the current political climate.

This is one of the best books I have read all year. Tremendous insight about what it means to be an immigrant in the United States. The plot and the characters were absolutely fabulous. The outcome of the book to me seemed very realistic and satisfying. This is a book that will stay with me for a long long time, as well Jane and Ate. I will recommend this book to all my friends and family. I will be watching for me Joanne ramose's next book.

This was OK. Very readable, didn't lag too much, liked the change in perspectives between the main characters. My issue here is that while much of this book seemed to be aiming to provide food for thought about class, race, and women, it stopped short of imparting an emotional connection to make those issues really come to life for me. Yes, I empathized with Jane, but all of the characters verged on being caricatures to the point that it made them totally unsympathetic and unrelatable. I get that much of the extraneous detail was provided to give each character depth, but it felt like a listing of facts rather than something real and heartfelt. All in all, it was a decent read but it's nothing memorable for me, unfortunately.

“The Farm” is a novel written about a woman named Jane. Jane is an immigrant from the Philippines who is trying to provide for herself and her daughter. In order to make money, she decides to become a Host at Golden Oaks, referred to as “The Farm” by the residents. At the Farm, you are to be a surrogate mother for the richest of the rich. They money is amazing but you have to follow the strict rules set by the Golden Oaks owners. If you become a host, you lose contact with your life outside of this job. So what will Jane do when she discovers that this job probably wasn’t for her?
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I didn’t totally love this book. It wasn’t written in a way that I really felt connected to and I didn’t feel like it delivered what I wanted it to. I would recommend this book to people because it brings up a lot of moral issues but you’ve got to enjoy a certain kind of rhetoric to “get into” the book.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The systems in place - surrogacy for high powered, affluent people as a business model - really don't feel outlandish, as if they couldn't happen, and I think that helps to easily draw you in to the world being created. That said, I think I expected this book to be more of a thriller type read, when in reality, it was more about race relations, power, and how socioeconomic status effects each of the characters.

There are three women perspectives woven throughout the story, which I enjoyed for the story, but wish there had been more character development. I also felt meh on the ending - I think it's great that Jane was able to find something that would be a bit more stable for her and Amalia - but I wanted to see Jane get to really grow and move on.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story that explores race, friendships, traditions, power, womanhood, and motherhood from the perspectives of three women from totally different backgrounds, social economical status, and ethnicities. The plot was very intriguing and I found myself having a hard time putting it down. But the ending was a little bit too good to be true. It feels like the author was trying to wrap it up in a nice little ‘happy ending’ bow.

This was truly a thought provoking novel on the subject of surrogacy. Moral issues are stirred as the reader dives deeper into what looks to be the human version of a puppy farm. Surrogates are recruited for their qualities and characteristics, are closely monitored throughout their pregnancy in the areas of health, diet, and fitness. They are housed in a very restrictive environment, and are unaware of the true identity of the parents whose child they carry.

Oh my gosh...anxiously waited to get this book and then devoured it whole in one sitting. Although it's a Sci-Fi book, it's a book where the plot could actually happen in the not too distant future, which makes the book that much more alluring/scary to read. Think Handmaid's Tale, only times ten. I'm telling all my female friends about this book!

There were parts of this book, okay, just one part, that made me uncomfortable (and dear reader, you will know it!) but I really did enjoy the book. The main idea of a recruitment and center for birth mothers sounds like something that some day would be perfectly plausible to occur as well. This part almost reminded me of The Giver, except they didn't have a choice and the women in this book made money. :)

The writing was good, I just wish we were given more of an ending for poor Jane but she was really trying in spite of the hardships in her life.

Put some time away for this book. It has all the ingredients for a unputdownable book.

Can't say enough great about this. Read it today!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this fabulous book.

Welcome to the future - welcome to The Farm.


Jane is a single mom and a struggling immigrant from the Philippines. She is presented with the opportunity to be a host and live at a luxury retreat of sorts - Golden Oaks.


Massages, gourmet food, expert medical care, and generous pay with one caveat - you are pregnant as a surrogate for a wealthy family or individual and cannot leave the grounds. Oh, and you are continuously monitored. It's a business and you are simply a host with a number instead of a name.


Jane accepts the opportunity and leaves her daughter, Amalia, in the care of Ate, her cousin they are living with. While motivated to provide a better life for her daughter, Jane still struggles with losing contact with her daughter and the outside world.


As a mother myself, my heart broke for Jane, especially when Golden Oaks used contact with her daughter as a means of control. The other hosts were in similar situations - missing family and significant others.


Naturally the hosts bond and one by one you learn their own backgrounds and experiences at The Farm; some in more detail than others.


This was where the book went sideways for me. I was initially captivated by the difficult choices Jane had to make and the big business of surrogacy. But as each host and their individual lives were introduced, the plot became crowded with characters and none of them felt well developed.


When I finished the book I felt like something was missing. There was a lot of potential to examine the ethics of a surrogacy farm, the control of their bodies that the women gave up, race, imbalances of power, and motherhood and the sacrifices mothers make. The author briefly hit on all of these issues but almost seemed hesitant to fully weave them into the plot.


Overall the book was written well and the concept was unique and creative. It was entertaining in parts - it just lacked depth.


Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Admittedly, this book was a little different than what I expected. Originally I had thought that it would be more of a thriller and have me on the edge of my seat. However, that could not be further from the truth. Instead, The Farm focused more on immigration, surrogacy, racial inequality, and wealth. Not to mention the struggle that some women face in regards to having children. Joanne Ramos shared a side of the story that some of us may have never experienced or truly understood which I loved.

The pace was slow and there were times where it was hard for me to get through the chapter. I also had a difficult time relating with most of the characters. Each character did play a very key role in the overall story though. Towards the end of the book, I did start feeling for the characters and I found myself wanting the best end result for each one of them. As for what happened in the book, parts of it were so well thought out while other parts felt like they could have used a little more... something.

Overall, I felt this book is a really good book. The author gives us insight to many situations that we were unaware of or did not fully understand.

The premise and plot of this book are strong, it’s discussions of surrogacy, race, power and what it means to be a mother are poignant and compelling. Once I started this book I struggled to put it down, mostly because I was intrigued to see where this plot was headed.
What prevents this book from being a 5 star read is a common problem I have with these kind of books. When you have an omniscient third person narrator and so many ‘main’ characters (the book tells the story via three women), you often end up falling short of deep character development. I didn’t feel like I fully understood Jane’s motivations for joining Golden Acres, why Reagan was so unsatisfied, or what caused Mae’s shift from seemingly cold business women to a softer, more understanding figure in Jane’s story.

The ending felt a little dissatisfying too. It felt as though Jane as the lead protagonist ended up back in the exact same position as she started.

All that said, I enjoyed the book and would recommend. It’s a well written, thought provoking read, and I can see this making a good movie too.

3 out of 5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jane and her daughter, Amalia, are living with barely any means. She takes a temporary position as a nanny in place of her cousin, Ate, while she is recuperating, but unfortunately loses that opportunity. When Ate suggests becoming a “host,” a surrogate to carry a child for a couple who have outsourced the job, Jane takes it, considering only the benefit it is going to have for her daughter.

However, it is turns out to be a much bigger deal than she could ever have imagined.

I have to admit, this was an interesting novel. A whole community of women carrying babies for couples who either were too busy to deal with a whole nine months of pregnancy or too old to safely go through one or too rich to care. However, it took me half the book to be able to relate to any of the characters. Eventually, I did start to feel for Jane and Raegan and even Mae and Ms. Yu, but the one I felt for the most was Ate.

I feel as though perhaps the author started out writing this book with the intention of making The Farm some dark, terrifying dystopian-type place where women carry babies with an ever-watchful eye and no freedom at all, but then started feeling for the characters who were running the show and changed course. It also felt as though the author started out with only meaning to give true main character voices to just a few main characters, but then went wild with giving almost everyone a voice.

It's not a bad book, it’s fairly decently written, I just feel as though the author has not come into her own yet, or that she lacks the finesse to pull the whole thing tight.

This was a great novel, as it was a great read that covered many different topics, including surrogacy, inequality due to race or economics. I really enjoyed this unique book and will seek out more by this author in the future.

This was a super interesting read. It covers topics that I’m always drawn to, among them race, socioeconomic status, immigration, and feminism. But it does it in the format of a very intriguing, highly readable novel. The book is well written and the plot is tight. The alternating perspectives really worked for me. I appreciated that Ramos does not flinch away from tough issues, and in fact it’s clear that that’s the point of the book, to highlight the inequality and absurdity that we see in this country, both racial and economic. I also appreciated that the characters’ decision points and lines of thinking were so nuanced and complex. They were very human and relatable, sometimes contradictory, sometimes dumb, but always understandable. On the flip side, I never really felt like we got to know the characters very well, particularly Jane. I understood her thought processes but I struggled to understand her personality. The author told and showed us some things, such as her feelings about authority, but who she was as a person kind of stayed a mystery to me throughout the book, which was a bummer. That said, I suspect this was a choice by Ramos because getting to know Jane’s personality wasn’t the point, and perhaps keeping her sort of at arm’s length furthered the actual point of the book. Overall, a fun and thought-provoking read.

The Farm is a terrifying look at the business of gestational surrogacy. What appears relatively benign on the surface is ultimately revealed to be a virtual pyramid scheme for luring poor, unwitting young women into being gestational surrogates, with promises of extraordinary financial rewards.

At the “Farm,” every calorie, every movement, and every conversation, family emails included, are tracked. While the surroundings are luxurious, the punishment for any lapse is harsh.

This is an extremely well-written book and the characters, both good and innocent and conniving and evil, seem real. While I suppose this book might be considered dystopian fiction, I fear that it is, although not at the extremes described in the story, all too real.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.