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.