The Farm - Review

Title: The Farm
Author: Emily McKay
Series: The Farm #1

Synopsis: “Life was different in the before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are – holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…
      “And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible. “Lily and her twin sister, Mel, have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else does – like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears of out nowhere, offering to help…
      “Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race…”

Review:   The Farm was wonderful. I read it in one afternoon, in one sitting. Seriously, I didn't even get up to eat or pee. Mel and Lily are great characters faced with a tough decision. Lily doesn't always make the right decisions but everything that she does is because of her love and concern for her sister. I love books with strong female characters. Women don’t always need to be rescued by a man. It’s nice to have another person to lean on occasionally, no one can be strong alone forever, but having a man swoop in to save the day is just insulting. Author Emily McKay allows Lily to be strong. She leans on the people around her when she needs to, but she doesn't have to.
      In my opinion there is an obvious flaw in The Farm. I was a bit turned off by the “head hopping”. If you have read my other reviews then you know that I do not like first person narratives that jump around between more than one character. If you’re going to write in first person then pick a character and stick with them. If you can’t tell your story that way then first person is not the correct point of view for your story! That said, I was able to overlook that flaw and enjoy The Farm. I look forward to reading more in this series.

Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 978-0425257807

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan








 The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle see BookGirlR’s review here.