Golden Oaks Farm, or the titular "Farm," is a blissful paradise where women live during pregnancy to ensure they they deliver the healthiest baby in the safest environment. Except, these women are "hosts" and the babies aren't their own. Hosts are chosen by super-wealthy patrons who can't or won't have babies naturally. For the hosts -- mostly immigrants, becoming a surrogate opens up a world of possibility. But it's not always as an easy choice.

If you’re expecting a feminist dystopia when you pick this novel up you will be disappointed. I was sort of expecting something Handsmaid's Tale-esque myself, but when I quickly realized that wasn’t the case I switched gears and absolutely fell into this amazing book. It plays a bit with science fiction, but I'm fairly certain the world Ramos imagines could happen right now.

In the end, it’s a thought-provoking story about capitalism and the various roles of women (as professionals, mothers, providers…), about inequality, wealth, class, race and immigration. I thought it was well-paced, super readable, and despite it's content, not what I would consider to be a "heavy" read.

I would absolutely recommend this book to my friends and think it would make a great book club discussion.

Not a dystopian, instead this is the very conceivable concept that pregnancy for profit can be an excellent business model.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joanne Ramos and Random House for my ARC of The Farm by Joanne Ramos

This book was even more then I could have ever imagined. Ramos swept me into the story and I felt like I was right there with Jane and Reagan at Golden Oaks.

The premise of this novel is about the intersection of the lives of women like Jane, Reagan, Lisa, Seguldina when they all end up taking on the role of surrogates for the rich business folks of the world and end up at the sought after facility : Golden Oaks. These women all end up here for different reasons from different backgrounds and their stories unravel throughout the plot.

There are so many other characters that are done so well- I fell in love with Ate and loved and hated Mae throughout.

This novel has underlying tones of class, race, wealth, inequality, friendship, love, and a real coming of age feel.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a novel with well written characters.

Hello. I am so sorry. I did not really know what this book was about. I think the description was a bit different or at least I interpreted it differently than it actually is. I don't want to give a book a bad review, but honestly, I don't wan this book at all. It is not something I am interested in. I see many people like it and I hope the author is successful.

I was so anticipating this book this year. I must just give a mention to the cover art - It is dramatic and it sucked me in right from the beginning. I love books that dive into the issues of disparity with a little dystopian flare thrown in. So right away, this book made it to my "to be read" list. This is my first book from this author, and her writing style definitely captured me. Everything was so well developed - which can be difficult to achieve when examining a new concept. I felt like she hit the right notes in every aspect, from the characters, to political timing, to exploring the issues such as infertility and disparity, to employing an eeriness to the story that was necessary and real. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

First of all, let me say that I ADORE Joanne Ramos' writing- engaging, smart, and intriguing. I liked the premise of the book a lot- wealthy people flock to Golden Oaks, some to live a pampered life where the one caveat is they need to serve as hosts, being implanted via IVF and act as surrogates for the uber-wealthy who desire a baby. This book explored class, race, the immigrant experience, as well as the flawed characters involved in this whole buy-a-baby-serve-as-host-for-rich-people really well and kept me interested until the very end.

Through the perspectives of four very different women, Ramos explores society’s views on class, race, the immigrant experience, and the choices women must make for their families. From the premise, readers may expect a dystopian thriller like The Handmaid’s Tale, but that’s not what this is. It’s a thought-provoking and addictive literary fiction read.

Chapters alternate between Jane, her older cousin Ate, a young white Host named Reagan, and the Golden Oaks coordinator, Mae. As a Filipino-American I could relate to and empathize with all of the characters, but I can see how that may be difficult for some, or how the alternating chapters might disrupt the flow of the story. The pacing was a little slow in the beginning, and I think the climax could have begun a bit earlier in the book to add more tension. But overall, an intriguing and provocative debut novel from Joanne Ramos.

Jane is a young single mother from the Philippines, barely making her way in New York City. Golden Oaks is an upscale retreat center for surrogate mothers incubating the embryos of the mega-rich. When Jane is offered the chance to make big money as an elite "Host" for a wealthy client at Golden Oaks, she leaves her own infant daughter behind to bring another family's child into the world. Through the lives of the other Hosts, domestic workers, and a top executive at Golden Oaks, debut author Joanne Ramos explores class, race, and the sacrifices women make for family and for their futures. With many characters to love or hate and many issues to debate, The Farm is an excellent choice for book clubs.

received an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very well-written and has a very well-crafted narrative. I had trouble putting it down! The focus was more on the women's relationships with each other and concerns regarding race, gender and class than on the dystopian Handmaid-y concept, which was a good thing as it kept it fresh in this plethora of birth-y books, I was sad to say good bye to these characters, 4.5 rounded up

This book has relevance to current times, but the story telling was flat and left me confused. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen and it never did.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is a well written and fascinating take on inequality. The eponymous Farm is Golden Oaks, a facility where women, many of them poor and with limited other options, have been recruited to serve as Hosts. Hosts serve as surrogates for Clients who are either unable, or in some cases unwilling, to carry their own children and who can afford to pay the Farm to find and take care of the woman who will do so. The Farm, at it's core, is a money making venture and the lengths to which it's owners will go to keep it profitable are proven time and again through out the novel. Employing multiple view points to tell the story, Ramos weaves a detailed narrative focused primarily on Jane, a Filipina women with a small child of her own who is recruited to the Farm after being fired from several jobs. Desperate to support her daughter and constrained in multiple ways by the values and traditions with which she was raised Jane struggles to fit in with the other Hosts, especially her room mate Reagan, an American girl, college educated and vastly different from Jane. Also set up in counter point to Jane is Mae, who Jane knows at first as Ms. Yu, the successful Asian American woman who runs the Farm for Golden Oaks and has plans for expanding the program into an empire.

Ultimately this novel is a thought provoking read about motherhood and money, the dichotomy between rich and poor and what must be done to "make it". What sacrifices are you willing to make for those you love, to provide for them? What is success to you?

Four stars because of occasional hints of something more sinister happening at the Farm that don't ever materialize which seemed unnecessarily dark and a storyline that I wish had been further developed involving a character threatening to "expose" the organization that runs Golden Oaks.

This book had an interesting premise, but did not live up to expectations. In theory this book should have been great, but it got off to a slow start. The farm mentioned in the description is not even introduced within the first seventy pages of the book. This dystopian “farm” concept was the whole reason I chose to apply to read this book. The first hundred pages were difficult to get through, I think if the author had spent less time introducing the characters and more time at the farm, it would’ve been a better book.

In a world where just about everything is for sale, would you carry a baby if you could afford to have someone carry it for you? The Farm is a lovely estate where young women act as surrogates for wealthy clients. Clients that either cannot or choose not to bear their own children. It is almost dystopian in its approach to surrogacy, but considering I know so little about surrogacy, it wouldn’t surprise me to know places such as this exist.

Golden Oaks is a beautiful estate in New York that exists solely as an incubator for babies. IVF babies that are carried by “hosts”, young women specifically selected by Mae, the Farm’s master, based on selective criteria. Most come from impoverished backgrounds, but there are VIP hosts. These VIP hosts come from better quality backgrounds and higher level educations and cost more if you choose one of them to carry your fetus. Golden Oaks looks really pretty from the outside, just as the cashmere loungewear the hosts are given upon arrival. However, dark secrets and practices lurk at The Farm.

In the novel, we meet Jane, a young Filipino woman who is estranged from her husband and living in a dorm in New York City. Jane has a daughter from this husband, and works in a retirement home to support herself. Her cousin, Ate, is a well known and well respected baby nurse in New York City. Ate gets Jane a job as a baby nurse to try to help her make more money. When Jane is fired from that job, Ate suggests Golden Oaks as an option. Reagan comes from a wealthy family and is a college graduate. Reagan chooses Golden Oaks as a way to get out from under her father’s thumb and wallet. She’s considered a VIP due to her genetics, background, and education.

The story follows Jane and Reagan through the nine months that they carry these babies. As different as these two could be, they are thrown together as roommates. Neither has any idea whose baby they are carrying, but there are rumors of a billionaire baby whose host will get a huge bonus upon successful delivery. Speculation is that it might be Jane or Reagan based on when they conceived. Golden Oaks is a fantasy prenatal center as long as you follow the rules. But no one can follow all the rules all the time. Can they?

Not only is the subject matter interesting, but the two female hosts, as well as other prominent characters in the book, are fascinating. How they ended up at Golden Oaks, what their experiences will be, how they’ll feel when it comes time to give birth and give up these golden children. It is both a unique and fascinating story. For me, it was a “can’t put down experience” into a world I’d never imagined existed. Definitely gets high marks from me and would be a book I would likely recommend to friends.

This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com closer to publication date.

Golden Oaks. A luxury resort where all your needs are met and they pay you to stay. With one little caveat. You have to agree to serve as a surrogate for wealthy, powerful, and often anonymous women. Oh and you also have to give up your autonomy completely and act solely in the interest of the baby and its non-gestating mother. All that said, it's a pretty good gig to land as a person barely surviving hand to mouth. Or at least that's what Jane thinks...

This is a book that definitely kept me engaged throughout. The premise was fantastic and the characters were deeply flawed and still extremely sympathetic. They make you want to know more than you get about their backstories.

The only complaint for me was that the end felt a bit trite. Otherwise definitely a worthwhile read.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. The uber wealthy have long been able to outsource most of their personal tasks, including pregnancy through using a surrogate, Golden Oaks has only taken this idea a step further by commodifying surrogacy - finding hosts, implanting them and then lodging them in a seemingly idyllic setting until they give birth. Of course, the book brings to the fore the ethical dilemmas that come into play as it tells the story of Jane, a rule-abiding host on hard times drawn to Golden Oaks by its promises of bonuses for delivering the child of a millionaire. Overall, I wanted the book to push harder.

This is absolutely the best book I have read this year! I loved the character development and thought the plot was mesmerizing!

This book starts off slowww. The first chapter or so made me think I might have made a mistake in my selection and that it likely would never be finished. I'm glad to have to stuck it out, though, because the story really does pick up.

Golden Oaks is a dystopian-esque surrogate facility, where carefully selected "hosts" carry and deliver babies for well-paying clients. The facility aims to create a perfect environment for the surrogates to be pregnant, with all of their food, relaxation, and activities carefully controlled. The book raises some interesting ideas about how race plays into this industry (with some hosts considered more desirable than others), wealth, and how science could play into procreation.

I enjoyed the plot and the characters, but was disappointed with the ending. The epilogue felt like a bit of a cop-out and a way to wrap up the story quickly without finding a natural end. While I felt the first and last chapters of this book were the weakest, the bulk of the book was intriguing and kept me interested.

Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy of The Farm in exchange for an honest review!

On the surface The Farm is about a place called Golden Oaks, where young women desperately in need of money are paid to carry babies for the very wealthy. Many of the women are immigrants trying to make a living in America any way they can. So the story is also about the life of poor immigrants in New York City. And there is a scary peek into large corporations and how they view the business of making money.
The real story of The Farm is about women and hard choices. It raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.

I really enjoyed this book! The concept of a "farm" for pregnancies 20 years ago may have seemed futuristic, however the reality of today is that I do think it's in the near future. The characters were very relatable and the challenges that each women on the farm experienced were interesting based on their own personal and economic backgrounds. I look forward to more books by Ms. Ramos.

I received an ARC of The Farm in exchange for an honest review.
I love this book. It is The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) meets Swing Time (Zadie Smith) meets Nine Perfect Strangers (Lianne Moriarty). The Farm is a wonderful debut novel by Joanne Ramos that examines poverty & extreme wealth, immigration, class divisions, the politics of child care, and (most of all) surrogate mothers in a for-profit environment (America). I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.