A gripping, psychological tale of immigration, surrogacy, and corporate America. Jane seems to have fallen into the perfect job as a surrogate at the idyllic Golden Oaks spa, but what lurks in the corners will soon be brought to light. This book does for fertility what Christina Dalcher's Vox did for women 's voices.

#partner Thank you to @randomhouse for this review copy. All opinions are my own.
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Another great release today is "The Farm" by Joanne Ramos. This book is Ramos' debut, and she is coming out of the gate swinging. "The Farm" is the story of a home for surrogate mothers in upstate New York. Touted as serving the elite, rich, and famous, the "hosts" live for roughly 30 weeks of their pregnancy in what appears to be utter luxury. Massages, delicious food, comfortable lodging, comfort and support of fellow "hosts". But sometimes, things aren't always what they seem.
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I was blown away by this book. It felt so different from anything I've read lately. Ramos writes with passion and fire. She creates characters that can feel both relatable and hatable within pages of each other. I appreciated the thoughts this book provoked. I felt like I was thinking of it for days and justifying and defending the actions one day and condemning them the next.
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Are you going to pick up "The Farm"? You should! Let me know what you think!

Golden Oaks is a luxury retreat where highly paid surrogates carry babies for the world’s most powerful people. The Hosts’ every movement is monitored and connection to the outside world is limited. Jane, a Filipina immigrant, discovers her own baby at home may be ill, and must choose between her family and the promised life-changing paycheck.

THE FARM isn’t really a dystopian novel in the traditional sense - virtually everything in this book could take place right now with no changes to our existing world. In fact, I would be shocked if ideas like Golden Oaks weren’t already being pitched to venture capitalists.

And that’s what this book is about, in the end - capitalism. Capitalism and it’s different effects on people based on their race and class. For Jane, an immigrant, woman of color, and single mother, being a Host is a path to a better future for her daughter. For Reagan, a white Host from a wealthy family, it’s a path to finding herself. •
Capitalism affects the older women in this story to. Mae, director of the center, and Ate, Jane’s cousin, will both do anything for a bigger payout, but their different social starting points bring them to drastically different outcomes.

There are a few things I would consider plot holes, but the story can’t move along without them so I don’t want to get bogged down in that here.

All that said, this book doesn’t feel like you’re learning a lesson. It’s a certified page-turner and I couldn’t put it down. I’m definitely looking forward to future books by Joanne Ramos.

I really liked The Farm by Joanne Ramos. As I am pregnant myself, the Farm actually sounds like a paradise. I would love to, as the surrogacy center promises,"come out in better shape than when you went in" because of the tailored fitness classes, organic meals, and spa treatments offered. Jane is a young Philipinno single mother who was earning a great living by being a live-in nanny in New York City, until a slight scandal left her searching for new jobs. Now she has been accepted to be a surrogate for an anonymous wealthy client. While life at the Farm is idyllic, Jane had to leave her daughter in the care of an ailing but business savvy aunt and is caused distress when she can no longer contact them, however the Farm doesn't seem to care, because for 9 months Jane belongs to them.

The thriller lover in me wanted a novel where Golden Oaks, aka ‘The Farm’ was ‘the big bad evil’ with ulterior motive and missing surrogates, etc. The Farm is Joanne Ramos’ debut novel and instead of thriller we get a novel about class and privilege and extreme differences. The differences in race, immigration status, lack of freedom, morality and greed, and many more topics are also explored.

‘The Farm’ seems like a resort for surrogates, and in some ways it is. The surrogates are given most everything they could need, but not want. They are subject to rules and regulations but they are also paid significantly as the pregnancy progresses. There are both positive and negative consequences to ‘The Farm’. In reality, the women are numbered like cattle carrying commodities, and it is all about the health of the fetus and the end result of a healthy baby delivered for ‘the client’. Most of the ‘hosts’ are immigrants who need a job and see a high payout with working at ‘The Farm’ and most of the clients are white. The ‘clients’ of Golden Oaks are not necessarily people who cannot have children: They are the rich who may not want to ruin their ‘perfect bodies’ with pregnancy or don’t want to deal with the time involved with doctor’s appointments and possible complications.

We get four points of view in The Farm:
Jane- an immigrant and our main protagonist
Reagan- another Host/Surrogate
Mae- Golden Oaks’ Director of Operations
Ate- Jane’s cousin

Each character makes decisions based on what works best for them and their given situation. I liked Jane and was on her side the whole novel. When she made bad decisions I just wanted to knock some sense into her! I felt for her when she missed her baby girl that she left with her cousin to ‘work’ at ‘The Farm’ for 9 months. Nine months can be a short amount of time to earn a huge payout, but at what cost? Jane begins to realize this as time passes and she misses her daughter’s milestones.

This is yet another novel that will leave you thinking. How far away is our society from having real life ‘farms’ for the wealthy that are made up of ‘hosts’ who are the poor and want or need that paycheck?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for my copy.

Nestled in the Hudson Valley is a sumptuous retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages—and all of it for free. In fact, you get paid big money—more than you’ve ever dreamed of—to spend a few seasons in this luxurious locale. The catch? For nine months, you belong to the Farm. You cannot leave the grounds; your every move is monitored. Your former life will seem a world away as you dedicate yourself to the all-consuming task of producing the perfect baby for your überwealthy clients.

The Farm by Joanne Ramos is exactly that. Women are chosen for their health and child-bearing abilities. They are impregnated and looked after to ensure they produce healthy babies for rich clients. We outsource everything else, and surrogacy is legal in many parts of the world. The Farm just commercializes childbirth.

I admit my review here is going to be sparse. I love the concept of the novel (and the idea of high-end surrogacy). And, I enjoyed most of the book, but today I can’t work out my thoughts on it. Disclaimer: I just submitted a difficult to write an assessment for grad school, so I admit my head’s not in book review writing at the moment. I think that’s influencing my thoughts on The Farm. Actually, it was probably more the ending of the novel. With such an original premise I was expecting an original ending. Alas, it was commercially acceptable. From the buzz I’m seeing both in the US and in Australia, it was the right decision, even though I’d like a book every now and again that doesn’t have a happy ever after.

Mainstream fiction readers will love The Farm. It is a romantic story (without romance), a touch of mystery, a little corruption, and it all ends well. It has just been released and will probably be made into a movie. Hopefully without the epilogue.

If sleep and work wouldn't have interfered with my reading time, I think I would have read The Farm in one sitting. I had such a hard time putting this one down!

Although it's a little reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale, insofar as young viable women have babies for the very rich, the premise of the book could (and probably is) taking place somewhere in the world right now, in some form.

The Farm is all about the money! The women who are hired treat The Farm as a well paid job. For the ones who run The Farm, it's all about the bottom line. I found this idea fascinating and can easily see this actually happening, if not now, then soon.

The book is written from the POVs of 4 women. Mae, the woman who recruits the Hosts and the Clients and who runs The Farm; Jane, a Host who is a Filipino young woman with an infant daughter who needs the job to support her child; Ate, Jane's elderly cousin, who helped Jane to apply for the job and watches her daughter for her; and Reagan, another Host, who is a highly educated white woman who is trying to find her purpose in life.

I was intrigued about this story from the minute I read the synopsis and it was even better than I expected!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of The Farm!*

In a world where surrogacy is becoming somewhat commonplace among the rich and famous, is it really a stretch to imagine a not-too-distant future where there are Baby Farms? Maybe they already exist! Such is the
believability factor of this book that it feels like it's not impossible - not even improbable.

The writing is well-paced with interesting and sympathetic characters. There are parallels on so many levels. Is Ate and her aggressive need to be successful and amass wealth really any different from Mae? Only the circumstances of their lives are different.

The story is chilling in its offhanded way of treating the surrogates - or hosts as they're called - as mere numbers as they wait to give birth. Jane and Reagan are pretty much opposites as far as their lives before coming to The Farm and their motivations for being there are quite different. The friendship that developed between them, though, felt real and not forced.

This is a thought-provoking book that would be great for book club discussions.

I received a free egalley of this book from Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars for The Farm by Joanne Ramos. I read The Farm as my first pick for #APIHeritageMonth and #APICelebrAsian on Bookstagram. Ramos, born in the Philippines, is able to include the Filipino immigrant story in a unique setting, unlike others I have come across. Simply put, this book was excellent. My absolute favorite part of this book was the variety of female perspectives included in the story. In fact, there are maybe five named, male characters in the book and only three, I think, speak at any point. I loved this overwhelmingly female perspective. Beyond being widely led by female voices, the characters are diverse in ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic status, educational opportunity, immigrant status, among other things.

Ramos has written a mosaic story that allows the reader to learn the varied motivations of each character while maintaining a disconnect between them. The relationship between Evelyn and Jane was particularly resonant to me in that they were so close and still struggle to understand why the other made certain choices.

No spoilers, but my least favorite part of this story was the ending. It felt almost *too* convenient. It felt almost disingenuous for all the characters' lives to be tied up in neat little bows at the end. However, that may just be because I am a cynic. It felt inauthentic to me that after watching how privilege affects people throughout the book, then, in the end, those disparities didn't seem to matter all that much.

Regardless of the end, Ramos told an excellent story that had me captivated from beginning to end. I love-hate the way she deals with almost dystopian ideas from a form of capitalism that is not all that far from the present. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I love any reason to rage against capitalism. This book provided that and so much more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

The promo copy for this positions it in a way that feels more dystopian than this ended up being, and while there are hints of less-than-above-board things happening behind the scene at this clinic, it never fully committed. It was also oddly disappointing for "capitalism" to be the ultimate bad guy in this story.

The book does a good job of setting up its characters, what drives them, and the plotline, but the world of the book is a little too neatly connected to feel real (and it's meant to feel real). The main character's journey feels hopeful until an epilogue that seems to be reaching for some sort of closure on the three main characters but mostly just feels mean-spirited and depressing.

I expected this whole thing to feel more thrilling or sinister, and it was oddly placid. The book does a good job of raising some points about money, haves vs. have-nots, and who gets to get away with being "bad", but sort of squanders all of them over the course of its plot.

This book really put in perspective how lucky we can be. I had knots in my stomach and it really just blew my mind the things that were taking place.

3.5 Stars! Imagine a world where you could outsource pregnancy and childbirth in a boutique designer way and have someone carry the healthiest, best versions of your little one’s for you whilst they basically breath wholesome country air, eat a carefully calibrated menu and drink water from the polar ice caps of Mars??? All it takes is a little money and this could be yours at no inconvenience to you, all-inclusive and limited involvement required. This is the premise of Joanne Ramos’ debut novel, The Farm.

This book reminded me a lot of The Handmaid’s Tale except that it doesn’t start off as dramatically dystopian. The subtle way the author builds the concept of designer boutique motherhood from already acceptable and relatable concepts like nannying and surrogacy, means that the existence of The Farm where you can purchase the services of a machine-like, well-regulated vessel of your choice to carry your precious foetus for 9 months, doesn’t seem all that strange.

The plot follows themes of motherhood, pregnancy and childbirth, exploitation and do-gooding and the blurred lines in the ethics of outsourcing any of these things and the capitalist drive to make life simpler for those who can afford to pay for it, never mind the ethics or even the optics. If you recognize the sacrifices working women make to be mothers, you’ll defined yourself both empathizing with the next generation baby “Farm” even as you’re railing at how unethical it is. I found myself cringing several times as I read but I could also understand the capitalist nature of the services The Farm was providing.

This story is told from 3 main sides or perspectives- the Capitalist view (as told by Mae), the privileged but woke American saviour view (as told by Reagan), and then the immigrant view (as told by (Jane and Ate). There’s also of course Lisa who I suppose is meant to represent the typical American. That said, this is not a book where the author is “making a point,” or moralizing in anyway. Where The Handmaid’s Tale was CLEARLY a cautionary tale, this felt less like one. The author presents the different perspectives and doesn’t seem to be especially on any side, leaving you to decide for yourself what to make of the commoditization of pregnancy and childbirth and to identify your own caution in the tale.

It wasn’t planned but I’m also super excited that I read this during #AsianPacificAmericanHeritageMonth because this novel is also an examination of the culture and motivations for immigration, especially for #filipinx (but really for everyone) and how that sociocultural environment can enable exploitation. I enjoyed this super readable novel. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but if you like ethical questions and lightly dystopian fiction that is also women’s fiction, then you’ll like this novel.

I received an ARC of this novel from Random House through #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was hesitant going into this one because I mostly saw poor reviews or DNFs. The Goodreads rating is low – only 3.5. Somewhere I saw a comparison to The Handmaid’s Tale and dystopian themes so, regardless of the opinions I’d seen, I knew I needed to check it out for myself.

And thank goodness I did! I really enjoyed this one! This is the kind of story I LOVE – realistic but not outlandish, depth that goes beyond the surface level, multiple perspectives and layers, and a story that gets under your skin so well that you can’t stop thinking about after you’ve finished.

This would be a great book club choice as there are themes of wealth and privilege, opportunity, surrogacy, “designer” babies, immigrants and their limited options, and many more to discuss.

Need your next book club pick? May I present to you this thought-provoking novel The Farm. There won’t be enough wine at book club to keep up with the conversations this story will spark. The Farm is an all-inclusive surrogacy center which boasts all the best amenities: organic meals, private fitness trainers, massages, and a big paycheck once you deliver your client’s baby. The only catch? You are monitored 24/7 and can’t leave the premises for 9 months. Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, is trying to set up a better life for herself and her daughter. After getting fired from her nanny job, an opportunity at The Farm seems life-changing. When the deceptive and exploitative practices of the management at the Farm start to reveal themselves Jane becomes frantic to get back to her child. What follows is a look into what happens when the wealth divide in our country is used to capitalize on what people want most, security for themselves and their children. This book REALLY got me thinking like no other book has so far this year. I thought it was so well done and nuanced, I can’t wait to chat about it with those of you who read it!

The way this book is marketed made it seem like a dystopian novel and “the handmaids tale of 2019”. This book is much more subtle than that so keep that in mind going in. Many of the appalling actions are only briefly mentioned or hinted at which I think added to the insidious nature of the story and it’s characters. My thorn is that some people may go in with preconceived notions and not enjoy it as much as I did 😊

Rating: 4 ⭐️ s

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
I liked the premise of the book but unfortunately it did not keep me interested.

The premise of this novel was gripping from the get-go. It certainly mirrors The Handmaid's Tale, and could very well be a precursor to how our society might easily fall into that particular brand of dystopia. The themes are also similar: power struggles between the wealthy and privileged vs the poor and desperate. With a more modern day take, the ethical and moral dilemmas abound, giving the reader a lot to chew on. Ramos' world building of Golden Oaks and all it entails was vivid and thought provoking.
”Because in America you only have to know how to make money. Money buys everything else.”
I also thought that there was a lot of food for thought about feminism, misogyny and racism. Yet it felt like more breadth than depth was given to these themes. Ramos utilizes archetypal characters rather than ones that really stand on their own as a fully fleshed out individuals. There was quite a large cast of characters in the book and I felt as if they could've been pared down significantly so that Jane could have been given a bit more oomph. Though she was somewhat unlikeable, Jane's cousin Ate has the most dynamic and full character arc. Alas, she is not who I wanted to be invested in, to be the hero of the story. I also felt frustrated by the ending, Jane's ending, even though it was probably the most plausible outcome for her and I turned the pages pretty furiously to get to the conclusion.
Overall this was an entertaining read that was driven by plot and juicy 'what if?' scenarios. It would make for an good summer read, and definitely a book club pick - lots of moral choices to dissect.
Many thanks to Random House for the complimentary advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

What would you do if you had a baby and had just left your unfaithful, unkind husband? What would you do if you had little education and no way to earn money?

Jane is young – too young for such a heavy burden. She dropped out of high school to marry and have her first child with a man who cheats on her before Amalia is even born. She is careful and responsible with her daughter, but she is also impulsive in the worst moments and those moments endanger Jane’s ability to provide. Her aunt gives Jane what seems like not only her best option, but a financially lucrative one… if Jane can bear to leave her daughter for nine months. Despite the heartbreak, Jane chooses to go to the Farm, where she will carry another woman’s baby to term. If she is good, she will have enough money for a home of her own. If she breaks the rules, she will lose her bonus and… well… at least it will provide for them as well as her last job did.

I expected the Farm to be insidious in the way of a horror movie , caging the surrogate mothers in and using violent coercion to maintain control. Instead, it is a business and rather pleasant in many regards. True, the women commit to staying at the Farm for the duration (barring special permission), must follow strict rules to ensure the babies’ optimal health, and aren’t allowed to discuss certain subjects with each other, but they are pampered in luxury. The immigrant women are offered more money than they could ever dream of! The white, educated women, a lot more than that. They all lack control of their circumstances unless they find a way to manipulate them, as one repeat mother does too often.

The Farm is pretty low-key, but somehow – I DO NOT understand how – Ramos turns multiple moments of this story into edge-of-your-seat cliff-hangers. Then she leaves you hanging from that cliff for a chapter or more before you finally, FINALLY find out WHAT HAPPENED. Sure, there’s no Marvel comics “is so-n-so gonna die!?!” moments, but baby Amalia is enough. The whole book, I feared something had happened or would happen to Jane’s beloved. Ramos uses silence, both the narrator’s and the characters’, to create this suspense. It’s amazing! Emotional high-stakes that leave you in turns anxious and relieved, worried about the potential consequences of Jane’s actions, and grateful they aren’t worse.

The Farm grows humans. More succinctly, it houses surrogate mothers until they give birth. While surrogacy can be a noble thing to do, here it is a business. The novel walks the line between body autonomy and body control. The reader jumps around between many women and their point of view. We try to understand the motives for everyone involved, including Ms. Yu who is running the show. Most of the women are doing it for the money and have few options. Some have options that they find unacceptable. Reagan and Jane are on opposite sides of this as "Hosts" or surrogates. The entire time I was reading I was weighing their reasons while knowing that in reality I have no right to do so. A very timely book.

The Farm is about a surrogate clearinghouse for the wealthy, and the carefully vetted chosen Hosts who spend their pregnancies in a spa-like though very controlled, monitored and restrictive environment. It examines many topics surrounding surrogacy: those who have a wealth of money and choices and those who do not; those trying to gain from the desperation in others, and those who do it for altruistic reasons; those who choose a surrogate out of need, and those who choose one for convenience; the bonding/or lack thereof between the surrogate and the child she carries. It also covers prejudice, moral ethics, responsibility to family, friendships and betrayals.

The book focuses on surrogates Jane, a young Filipino single mother who leaves her infant daughter in the care of her cousin Ate; Reagan, a rare Caucasian Host, who loses her altruism through her experience; Lisa, the rebel. It also showcases the characters of Ate, Jane's elderly cousin who was a sought after baby nurse in her time, and who suggested Jane apply to Golden Oaks to be a surrogate and Mae Yu, Director of Operation of The Farm, who is always looking for new ways to expand and increase profits.

This book has a good premise, but for whatever reason, didn't live up to my expectations. It ended up being an "ehh" read for me. I give it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I read The Farm by Joanne Ramos which is a story about a poor immigrant woman becoming a surrogate to try to earn a livable income. All the surrogates (known as Hosts) are required to live on the farm while supervisors control every element of their lives to ensure the healthiest possible babies. Their diets, exercise, and exact whereabouts are always tracked. Even their internet usage and phone conversations are monitored to make sure they don't have any extra stress. This definitely read like a dystopian novel but I actually think nearly everything that happened in this book is realistic, though horrifying. The hosts are not allowed to have their children with them, and visits with their children are used as rewards or punishments (withholding the visits). This book starts to examine the huge discrepancy in lives between the rich and poor but it doesn't do enough. Additionally, the ending was incredibly disappointing. I felt the author made these rich characters seem evil but then sends mixed messages about them at the end. I also felt four perspectives was too many resulting in flat characters. All in all, I didn't enjoy this book and do not recommend it. I ended up giving it 2 stars.


The book is out May 7th, 2019. Thank you Random House for an early copy.