The Farm takes us to a creepy and big brotherish world of surrogate pregnancy, where rich women not wanting to carry their own child for a variety of reasons pay handsome fees to others to perform the task. The surrogates, lost or desparate, sign up not realizing all the consequences of their legal obligations to the agency arranging everything, inevitably leading to rash actions putting everyone in danger.

For most of this novel I was pleasantly surprised. Ramos was touching upon a variety of issues that fell timely, be it economic insecurities or struggles of migrant communities. While most of the plot felt well put together the epilogue truly ruined the experience. Without giving up too much, Ramis makes a decision that feels more aimed at assuaging her wealthy liberal guilt than providing us readers with a realistic conclusion. An infuriating deus machina that really had no place in literature.

A really great book, I’m always on the lookout for page-turners with thought-provoking depth and this one nailed it.

This book took place at Golden Oaks, a “farm” that has surrogates giving birth to babies for millionaire and billionaire clients. It felt like the book was trying to make a point about how paid surrogacy can take advantage of lower-income women, but it kept playing devil’s advocate with itself with the character of Mae, who runs the farm. By the end, I felt like the book didn’t actually have anything to say. The story itself was still intriguing and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a fast, light read, but don’t pick it up expecting much social and economic commentary.

Somewhat twisted story about the lies we tell and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love. Kept me intrigued from the very start, and I loved how it unfolded, especially finding out how the characters were connected in one way or another. The epilogue was a bit long though; it could have been another chapter. The only other aspect that bothered me was the complete drop-off of Lisa's character. She went off with her Clients and we never heard from her again, not even in the epilogue. 4.5 stars.

Jane is a recent immigrant from the Philippines who is desperate for a job in order to take care of her baby daughter. She is offered a job as a surrogate, to carry the embryo of a rich and powerful mystery “client”. She is one of many women kept at a facility in the country in order that their pregnancies can be closely monitored and tightly controlled. They are not allowed to leave until their babies are delivered, at which time they should receive a generous “bonus” that will supposedly change their lives for the better. It seems like a good deal for Jane, who wants to create a good life for her daughter.

This facility is run by a large corporation that has been doing this on a small scale but plans to expand in the near future. The women, to them, are just receptacles, but treated well because they hold the product, a baby that the rich and powerful are willing to pay incredible amounts of money to obtain.

This would make an excellent choice for book club discussions. There are numerous threads to pull for discussion. Is this “farm” a good idea, to help the poor to raise themselves out of poverty? Or is this going too far, treating desperate people like animals utilized for profit? There are intriguing questions to explore related to how the rich treat the poor. When is charity just disguised exploitation? It is also an eye-opening view into the ways that some poor immigrants survive, their living conditions, the sacrifices they make to try to create a better life for their offspring.

I enjoyed reading this well written story very much and recommend it highly.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am so torn on my feelings for The Farm. This is a unique story about a grand location, where women are chosen to be surrogates for the extremely wealthy. This book brings up a lot of issues of class and race. However, I think this book tries to be too much. It is billed as suspenseful, though I did not understand why there even had to be this kind of suspense. In the real world that could never happen, and I do realize this fiction, but it felt very contrived.


The writing is excellent, and it was a page turner, but I did feel a little let down at the end of this story. This is hard book to stay too much as it starts to get into spoilers.


This is an interesting read, and I think this might a great one for book clubs as it will definitely serve for a good discussion. I think it worth the read, just to make you think. I believe I will be thinking about this for quite awhile, as it is memorable.


Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book, for an honest review

Raised some interesting questions about the business of surrogacy and how a woman can essentially become property. While I powered through, I did not feel particularly engaged at any point.

The Farm is an upscale resort where super wealthy people can hire surrogates to carry their child for them. The women who work for the Farm are essentially well paid prisoners until they give birth.
It had so much potential. I wanted to like it. I tried many times to finish this story, but the characters were dull, the plot line less than ideal, and honestly there are so many books in the world that I didn't want to have to force myself to read a book I wasn't invested in.

I enjoyed reading this book. I have seen this book everywhere and was looking forward to reading it The book did keep my attention throughout the whole story. I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was expecting a little more.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book to read for my opinions.

*Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

📖WHAT I LOVED/THOUGHT: The Farm has been getting so much buzz, and I was excited to read it this year! I really loved the character driven parts of this story, and found myself really rooted to Jane. A mom, just wanting the best for her family and doing what she could with a chance at making a large impact financially, in exchange for being a “host” to deliver someone else’s baby.

Reading the blurb of this book, I thought it might have some sci fi aspects to it, like all these women at a “farm”, working to carry babies until term and working for a government or something. However it was much different than I anticipated, and it brought light onto racial diversity, the concept of surrogacy, and socioeconomic aspects that really had me thinking.

Needless to say I did enjoy it, it was just very different than what I expected.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Farm takes a hard look at how much we are willing to give up to change our lives, and how much of our lives we are willing to sell. At Golden Oaks, a luxury resort, women spend their time with the best of everything, meals, fitness classes and accommodations, with a windfall financial reward at the end. Their jobs as "hosts" (surrogates) are to look after themselves and to produce healthy babies. The story took a hard look as class, the manipulation of the poor by the wealthy, and the particular (and timely!) struggle of immigrant women. This was an incredibly compelling read until the ending. At that point, the tale suddenly jumps ahead 3 years and this left me feeling both disappointed and disconnected. Overall, a good and worthwhile read. I just wish the ending had been handled differently.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the complimentary e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This dystopian tale raises questions about motherhood, money, and the ethics of the concessions and trade-offs we sometimes make for those we love. I thought the premise and world-building were fantastic but found the execution unsatisfying.

I'm giving The Farm by Joanne Ramos a 3/5 stars. When I first heard about this book, I was very intrigued by the premise. There is a place where women can serve as surrogates for other, wealthier people. I thought that this book was going to have a much deeper and darker aspect to it. I also expected more intrigue and discussions about what was really going on. There were interesting points made about race and class divisions and how that affects what is going on in the story. For example, hosts who are educated and white are more sought after than any other kind of host. They are paid significantly more. I found this part of the book very interesting because in this kind of situation, neither of those things really matter. Other than that, I didn't find much of the book to be particularly interesting. The kind of "twist" at the end was okay, but I saw it coming from the beginning of the book. Not much happened in this book other than that our main character is struggling, becomes a host, gives birth, and moves on. The writing was also relatively dry, and I found several of the characters to be very annoying. I am sure that there are people out there that will love this book, but it was just okay for me. I'm definitely interested in this kind of book, and I will be interested to see what book this author releases next.

I enjoyed this book. The story was original and well-developed. With statements made on immigration, parenthood, gender roles, and class, this is an intriguing debut. It kept my interest and I was eager to see how it ended.

I’m not sure what I expected from this book. I think in my mind it was going to be a dystopian book similar to The Handmaid’s Tale. Instead, it’s about surrogates and paying women to have stranger’s babies. Honestly, I liked the book a lot. I loved Reagan and Jane. I worried about Amalia while Jane was away. I was disappointed that the bad things about Golden Oaks that were alluded to never materialized, but overall enjoyed the book.

I enjoyed this book than I actually thought I would. It was a bit dark and sad, but makes you think about the choices we make as a society, and how important every decision can be.

Chilling and yet deftly written to feel more real than any reader ought to feel comfortable with allowing.

I loved every bit of this book. The writing is well done, the characters are believable and relatable, and it's shocking ending has lingered with me. Highly recommend.

For some reason, I thought this would be a dystopian novel so I was a little thrown off when it was not. However it was a very good character study. I found the main characters to be very complex and three dimensional.

Thanks NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ramos has crafted a well written, complex book. I am able to say that even while the style and content weren't to my personal taste as a reader, I can see the quality of it and know a good number of library patrons wanting this kind of thought-provoking story!