I was initially hooked by the synopsis of this story, The Farm, but as I started to read on I did not enjoy it very much unfortunately. I was expecting something big to happen, but it never did. There was so many POV's and it was very hard to keep up with the many perspectives and stories. I absolutely love that this story went into many different topics that all came together such as race, class, immigration, family and friends, relationships, sacrifice, surrogacy, hardships, demands, controlling factors, and so on. There was a lot jam packed into this story of all these women who came to this place known as Golden Oaks and they all had different backgrounds and they all went through different things. They came here to be surrogates and made a lot of money by doing so. I gravitated most to Jane, Reagan and Lisa's POV's the most. They were the most interesting and the other characters I was skimming through at best. I just think this could have been written better, but I still believe that others could enjoy this story and that this is one I would suggest for someone looking for a story about surrogacy and someone looking for something to read in this genre, specifically literary fiction. I rate this book 2 stars out of 5!

The Farm by Joanne Ramos is available May 7, 2019.

What if you could afford to pay someone to carry your baby for you? No need to worry about interrupting your career, infertility, or age restrictions. You would even be able to pick out the "host" that would carry your baby for you and know that they would be in a controlled and healthy environment with good medical care and monitoring. Mae Yu has created Golden Oaks, a beautiful retreat to connect surrogates with wealthy "clients" to make this happen. Not only does this help people wanting to start a family, but it can be financially beneficial for the surrogates as well. This story follows two surrogates, Jane and Reaghan, from two totally different backgrounds and Mae, the founder of "The Farm" as the pregnant women call it. While this situation seems like a win-win for all involved, deception becomes evident and the trust the surrogates had in Golden Oaks quickly deteriorates.

When I initially read the summary of this book, I loved the premise and I knew I wanted to read it. I really loved both Jane and Reaghan's characters in this book. I was invested in their situations, especially Jane and wanted to find out what happens. I did have a hard time relating to her being willing to leave her child behind but understood the need for financial stability long term. I struggled with the character of Ate but felt like it wrapped up well at the end. I found the book to be interesting and unique. I feel there were parts where something more exciting could have been built up and felt it ended somewhat abruptly but overall enjoyed this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jane is a struggling single mother who wants nothing more than to provide a better life for her daughter Amalia.  When she is fired from her job as a nanny, her older cousin Evelyn - known as Ate - suggests applying to be a surrogate (Host) on a farm in the Hudson Valley known as Golden Oaks.  Ate will watch Amalia for the months that Jane is away at the Farm and when she delivers the baby of an anonymous Client, she'll return to her child with a great sum of money to start a better life.

Jane's life is closely monitored at Golden Oaks.  Hosts are unable to leave the grounds without permission, they must wear fitness trackers that monitor their vitals (and their location), and their use of the phone and internet is limited.  Clients are in control of several aspects of their Hosts lives, including if and when they leave the grounds or if they are allowed visitors.
Jane is determined to stay connected with Amalia, who is growing quickly and she fears will forget Jane during her absence.  As the months pass and Ate's calls and texts become less frequent, Jane becomes desperate to find out how well Amalia is being taken care of as she learns that her daughter is often being left with sitters she knows nothing about.

Golden Oaks seems to be using a visit with Amalia as a bargaining chip to keep Jane in line when Hosts begin to ask too many questions and rumors spread about a current uber-wealthy Client and the bonus the lucky Host will receive on delivery of a healthy baby.

The story is told in the alternating narratives of Jane; her cousin Ate; her roommate Reagan; and Mae, the director of Golden Oaks.  Readers are given these shifting perspectives to explain Host motivations, Client expectations, and the extreme lengths Golden Oaks will go to in order to keep Hosts in line and Client money flowing.

"Because in America you only have to know how to make money. Money buys everything else." * 

THE FARM fell short for me.  While I was interested in the plot and there were certainly some creepy undertones, the delivery was flat.  
While the reasoning for each narrator's decisions were explained, I never felt any connection or emotional response to them.  The climax was underwhelming and the resolution was an absolute disappointment given what we've learned about the characters.

THE FARM looks at several provocative themes like motherhood, money, and the lengths we'll go to in order to provide for those that we love. Unfortunately, the overall storytelling was one-dimensional and underwhelming.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  THE FARM is scheduled for release on May 7, 2019.

*Quote included are from a digital advanced reader's copy and are subject to change upon final publication.

When requesting this book, I thought the description and the title both were very interesting. The premise of the book caught my attention. This book was different than expected. The first part of the book is background about one of the main characters. It seemed like a rather abrupt change from Jane's current life to a new job. I did have to go back and re-read and make sure I was paying good attention during this change, both because it was abrupt and I feel like it could've used more development. The part of the book that Jane is living at Golden Oaks was a quick read that kept me very much curious. I could tell the author was wrapping things up, but the ending seemed somewhat random and definitely abrupt. This book was "good," but I was looking for more details, having more questions answered. I also thought that this book would be more dystopian/sci-fiish than it was. Overall an attention grabbing read!

I expected this book to be dystopian or a story leading to a deeper meaning, but in the end it was mediocre, boring writing that plays out the same kind of class story we've seen before: desperate women, especially women of color, do whatever it takes on a rich person's dime in order to find a better future. It's a story that's overtold, and so present in my reality, that to read this book for fun and only find more of the horrors and injustice that surround me in the world and news every day is a pointless endeavor.

My recommendation is to skip it. The ending is no surprise, the writing is dull, and the story is too familiar to not be told better elsewhere.

This book was a rare DNF for me. I can stay with a story for a while, knowing that sometimes it gets better around the 20% mark. THE FARM was 50% finished before I realized that I didn’t care about the characters, there was a great deal of inaction happening despite the drama among the Farm’s residents, and that the “big thing” that set Jane off was not that big to me. When you have to force yourself to keep reading, that is not a good sign. There was not enough detail to keep me invested in the characters, and I was sick of Jane being a doormat. She was possibly one of the most one-dimensional characters I have ever read.

The plot blurb seemed intriguing, but the book just didn’t deliver what I expected.
I’ll not be putting up a blog post about THE FARM since I don’t have anything good to say about it. Thanks for the opportunity, but this just wasn’t for me.

This is a fascinating read and creepy in part because of the plausibility of the story. Golden Oaks (aka "The Farm") doesn't seem that far removed from certain types of services and facilities today, and while I would include the label of dystopia in my description of this book, the not-so-distant-seeming aspects of the book make me wonder what elements of this story are real and occurring today. The current version of the book (uncorrected proof) starts out a bit slow in terms of character development, but the story really picks up once the novel arrives at the "Farm" of the title. This book would easily prompt discussion about class, race, nationality, immigration, and parenting--all really relevant topics today.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4.*

I read a blurb recommending The Farm as an upcoming new release not to miss and purposely went seeking it out as an ARC for review. It is the first book by Joanne Ramos that I've read.

The Farm starts strong and immediately drew my interest. It is a modern story with strong female characters told from varying viewpoints. It opens with Evelyn/Ate, a middle-aged Filipina nanny/baby nurse to the uber-wealthy in New York trying to advise her young cousin Jane as her stand in as a baby nurse. Jane has a newborn herself, whom she leaves with Ate who is starting a catering company. Simultaneously, we meet Mae Yu, a Chinese-American high-performer who is running a center for exclusive surrogacy for the most elite clients imaginable. Enter Reagan, Lisa and a variety of other less-important but colorful characters who are "hosts" (surrogates) living at "The Farm".

Through a combination of mistakes, misunderstanding and bad luck, Jane is fired as a baby nurse and Ate connects her with Mae. She winds up a host, and must leave her infant daughter to live at The Farm for the duration of her gestation. The payoff plus delivery bonus should be enough to allow Jane to live independently and raise her daughter.

But things at The Farm aren't quite as perfect as they look.

I wanted to love this book. I rushed to bed early to have extra reading hours all week but was really disappointed in the ending. It felt both rushed and unnecessarily pessimistic. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for even those with corrupt morals. I'll look for more by Ms. Ramos for sure.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC

I received an Advanced Review Copy of The Farm by Joanne Ramos from the publisher Random House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Golden Oaks Farm is a place where the wealthy can hire high price surrogates. All of the surrogates (or hosts) live together on this beautiful retreat in the Hudson Valley, where there are hiking trails, food options, fitness classes, and a media room. They also get paid unbelievably well. However, while it may all seem great, the hosts have no autonomy for nine months because they are essentially incubators for their wealthy clients. The book follows four characters: Mae, the manager of the farm, Reagan, a wealthy girl who feels the farm will allow her to give back to people less fortunate than her (those who can't carry their own baby), Jane, a young immigrant who is desperate to provide a better life for her daughter and is thrilled with the opportunity to serve as a host, and Ate, Jane's cousin who is looking after her daughter.

What I Loved: Okay, holy moly, this book! I started this book and was kind of vaguely annoyed, I don't like reading cringeworthy situations and the book kind of starts off in an uncomfortable way. Please stick with the book until you get to at least chapter three because as soon as we get introduced to the concept of the farm, this book is unputdownable. This book has it all: drama, suspense, and all the feelings. It will make you think, this book is so smart and you will fly through wanting to know what is really going on.

What I didn’t like so much: I thought the start of the book was a bit unnecessary and it seemed to not tie in with the rest of the book. I didn't necessarily love the way the book wrapped up but I see its merit.

Who Should Read It: People who love books that will challenge them and make them think and ask themselves what would I do in that situation?

General Summary: A story about a surrogacy retreat, where the hosts are paid well but not all is as it seems.

Just not for me. For some reason I thought this was going to be a pregnancy-centric dystopian, but it was not. I was thinking more action and less family drama, maybe?

It wasn’t poorly written and I’d definitely give the author another go, but this one wasn’t what I was expecting

Hearing the description of this book, I was intrigued... it sounded like it could be the next Handmaids Tale. While the premise was good, I didn’t enjoy the book. The writing and character voices fell somewhat flat for me and it just never grabbed my attention. I ended up not finishing this one, which I hate doing but it wasn’t for me. I see that many readers did enjoy it, and I can see how it’d be a good choice for a book club discussion, as there are a lot of topics and themes to unpack here.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a complimentary digital review copy of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of THE FARM in exchange for an honest review.

After hearing that this book was like a modern version of THE HANDMAIDS TALE, I expected this book to be much more dark and twisted. Instead, THE FARM ended up being much more lighthearted, with some less shocking twists and turns. I think that if Joanne Ramos wanted, it could be darker, but I enjoyed the book the way it was. You got to see both sides of the same story, and hear in what ways staying at the Farm helped the women grow.

«The Farm» is the new Literary Fiction novel that most likely will become a bestseller in just a couple of weeks. From the gorgeous cover to the carefully crafted plot, this book immediately stands out from the crowd of newly released adult fiction!

I usually don’t research my books before reading. I love to dive in without knowing much of the plot, genre or sub-genre category. So I was very surprised to see this book classified as Dystopian.

The reasoning behind this was the existence of the Farm - a retreat situated in the Hudson Valley, a beautiful picturesque region at the state of New York. Confined to this modern, luxurious place that provided everything a pregnant woman might need - healthy food, massages, exercise, doctors, constant care - the surrogate mothers, carefully picked out from many candidates, spend the whole period of their pregnancies. Some reviewers called it a reproductive dystopian.

Honestly, I didn’t find this to be too far fetched from reality! In fact, the Farm would provide much better conditions to surrogate mothers than what most of them get at the moment. With constant development and legislation of surrogacy, as one of the methods of assisted reproduction, it’s so frightening to see what actually happens to surrogate mothers in many countries and companies that offer that kind of service.

In «The Farm», Jane - a single mother and Philippine immigrant, and Raegan - an upper class, young white woman who doesn’t really have any financial struggles, choose to become the surrogate mothers. While Jane left her own baby to earn some money and dream of everything she’d be able to give her child once the pregnancy is over, Raegan sees this as her chance to gain some financial independence from her family and also to help some desperate woman or a couple to start their family.

This contrast of opinions was an amazing writing tool to provide depths to the story and make the readers question everything they know or think about these subjects.

This is a tale about modern problems, from immigration and poverty to surrogacy and exploitation!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of THE FARM, in exchange for an honest review.

First off, the synopsis of THE FARM promises much more than the book actually delivers. Second, labeling THE FARM as dystopian, IMO, is wrong. THE FARM isn't dystopian. It is a story of what is occurring, present day, in America.

The "farm" is Golden Oaks, a place where Hosts (surrogates) live while carrying the babies of wealthy clients. It is also a place where manipulation and power are used as weapons. Hosts, the majority being poor immigrants, are vetted and sign contracts to give up their lives outside Golden Oaks for nine months. Payments are made to the Host in incremental amounts throughout their stay, with a bonus paid out once the baby has been born without issue.

Attempting to frame THE FARM as a dystopian story is naive. The premise of THE FARM is alive and well. The wealthy do seek perfect surrogates to carry their babies, whether because they cannot or vanity. Immigrants in America do take jobs which take them away from their own children and families. My problem with the entirety of THE FARM is the feeling I had from page one- the book, to me, reads as a sympathetic voice of the wealthy. 

THE FARM seems to portray immigrants as manipulated pawns who can be tricked into anything if money is waved in front of them. Compared to the character development and details of the wealthy characters, I felt as though the immigrant characters in the book were not fully developed, their lives and stories written with less detail. I will not become a sympathizer of wealth and felt like the wrong characters in THE FARM were glorified. 

I wanted to stop reading THE FARM for a majority of the book but didn't. I finished THE FARM in a really pissed off mood. The author attempts a final push of sympathy for the wealthy on us as if the manipulation of a lower-classed person is actually bettering the life of someone who became a pawn in a vicious circle of greed and power. 

THE FARM would have been a powerful book on class and greed within our society if it lived up to its synopsis and focused on the marginalized community instead of reading as a cloak for the wealthy.

When I read the summary of this book I became so intrigued. This is not something I would usually read but I was drawn into it. I would like to see this as a movie. The author has such an imagination. I will order this for the library and recommend it to the patrons. Good book.

The plot started off interesting here but really nothing new. Oooh women using surrogacy as a commodity oooh so dystopian! So real! It could happen to us! Blah. At first I was really enjoying this book and Jane's story, but once Jane got to Golden Oaks the writing went downhill at a fast pace.

The layout and style of the book was a bit messy for this story, having so many characters with their own chapters yet having those same characters speak in the first person in someone else's chapter was confusing if nothing else.

Ultimately the ending is what made me lower my rating dramatically. Where Jane ended up and the fact that Mae still seemed to not understand that Lisa orchestrated the whole thing (surely this was found out from finding Lisa's boyfriend outside of Jane's building?) just seemed to make no sense. For someone who thinks she is so so very smart Mae surely was as dumb as a box of rocks. And what of Reagan? She is crying and whining at one point to give her bonus and money to poor sad Jane yet when Jane loses her own bonus (facilitated by a plan hatched by Reagan herself) and Reagan gets a 50% higher bonus than originally intended... she gives no money to Jane.

I just felt this book was not well thought out.

This was not a dystopia. This was a thoughtful exploration of the business of surrogacy for the uberwealthy. Sure, there was surveillance, but it wasn't, like, super egregious in terms of our current surveillance state. Like, they were still concerned enough about the legal rights of the Hosts to not add audio monitoring anywhere! That is actually a step up from reality!!!

The Hosts we followed all had contracts with generous monetary compensation for their efforts; they all spoke English well enough to understand what they were signing up for (not reading your contract is a personal problem, Jane); and they were all allowed regular contact with their family and friends outside Golden Oaks. I don't see this situation as being drastically worse than, say, commercial fishing or offshore oil production -- both of which have their own dystopian implications. Not even the restrictions on nutrition and exercise seemed overtly problematic; if you don't believe that Kim Kardashian West didn't have contracts for her gestational carriers that outlined exactly what she expected them to eat and exactly where she expected them to be while carrying her fetus, I don't know what to tell you. I would really have liked to see Delia's story, or Segundina's.

That said, this is why this will be a good choice for book clubs. So many great discussions to be had!

The Farm is a story about women serving as surrogates (hosts) for wealthy clients at Golden Oaks, a private estate in New York. The host selection process is intense and competitive, but offers large financial rewards for those selected who do not breach the strict terms of their contract.

The story predominately focuses on Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, who makes the difficult decision to serve as a host in order to help provide a better life for her young daughter Amalia. Jane’s older cousin Ate, other hosts at the farm, and Mae, Golden Oaks’ Director of Operations, are secondary characters in the story. The book is focused on class and privilege, highlighted by the various decisions different characters make (or have the options to make) depending on their own personal motivations.

The premise of The Farm was interesting, yet the execution was average. The ending was a bit unrealistic. I kept hoping the story would pick up and get better but it just remained an ok read for me.

This book was an incredibly vivid, well-written piece of literature. It wasn't unfortunately up to the standard of other dystopian fiction I am accustomed to reading. It had echoes of 1984 or Animal Farm, it was very subtly Orwellian. There is a lot of symbolism and this book would be great for reading groups and clubs. It is perhaps a novel fitted to the times, when the disparity between the mega-wealthy and the poorest of the poor is growing ever wider. As well as the mistrust.
There were a few pacing issues, but other than that this is a book that is immensely and compulsively readable.

As a woman there are few things scarier than having control of my body and reproductive rights taken away. This is why The Handmaid’s Tale has resonated for more than 20 years and is just as terrifying to me now as it was when I first read it as a young adult. The Farm has similar overtones although the horror is much less overt. The tension builds so slowly that you almost don’t notice it creeping upon you. Things seem slightly off and it feels a bit ominous but it’s not clear if your unease is warranted or just paranoia. When the true extent of the control and manipulation becomes apparent it is even more poignant and horrible for presenting as harmless and even supportive for so long. It almost feels like a dystopia but could actually be happening right now. This is a story that will linger in my mind for a long, long time.

There are so many big issues that are brought up in this book that it would be perfect for book clubs. It would start discussions not just on surrogacy and the definition of motherhood but also on inequality, wealth disparity, privilege, racism, immigration, the autonomy of women’s bodies and so much more. Although the book is told through a small selection of characters and their personal experiences it really is at heart much more of a big picture novel. This was an uncomfortable book but I think it is an important one. With the present political climate chipping away at women’s rights and encouraging racism and inequality The Farm feels especially relevant and timely.

Thank you to Random House for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.