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Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Farm by Emily McKay

Very few books have ever freaked me out quite as much as The Farm did. To give you a mental picture – the country has been taken over by vampire-like mutants called Ticks. When things got really bad, the public was tricked into sending their children to secure Farms, where they could be protected until the Ticks were under control. Instead, the Ticks have taken over everything, including the Farms, and now require regular blood donations from each teenager, and often kill those who have aged out of the Farms. The only escape from being fed on is to become a Breeder – to purposefully get pregnant because the Ticks don’t like the taste of pregnancy hormones in the blood. Breeders are looked upon as the lowest of the low – because they are essentially trading a baby for a few months of solace from the Ticks. Who knows what will happen to their babies when they are born? I consider myself fairly used to vampire novels and movies – but the creatures in The Farm seriously gave me the creeps.

The story follows Lily and Mel, twin sisters. Mel is severely autistic, and Lily is the only one left to take care of her. She’s determined to get her sister out and to try to find somewhere that the Ticks have not yet destroyed. The story is told in a few alternating voices, though the vast majority is from Lily’s point of view. We do get a few glimpses into Mel’s thinking, which were some of my absolute favorite parts. The way she viewed herself and everyone around her was absolutely mesmerizing. She often talked about how everyone has music to them, and only she could hear it. It would have been so easy for the author to cast Mel as a one-dimensional autistic girl, but instead she was given such depth and importance in the story.


“Places have music too. Home always sounded like Beethoven’s Ninth. School, like skate punk. Only holy ground is quiet. Completely at peace. I wonder if that’s why the Ticks avoid it. Do they hear its silence, too? Are they drawn to it, like I am, or repelled? If they can hear its silence, then what does that make me?”




Lily’s struggle to find a way to get Mel and herself off the Farm and away from the Ticks was incredible. Along the way she’s told she has immeasurable importance in the battle against the Ticks, and she struggles with whether she can truly believe that about herself. And whether she can truly believe what Carter is telling her about his feelings for her.

Though incredibly dark for the most part, this book also had a few exchanges that had me giggling out loud. There was a great blend of humor as well as tension that kept me going and never quite knowing what to expect next.

“’Roberto?’ I said again.

Carter’s mouth flattened in annoyance. “Yes, Roberto.”

“So there’s an evil vampire trying to take over the world…”

“Yes.”

“And his name is Bob?”


The only flaw with this book was the way that the ‘big twist’ was unveiled at the end. I saw it coming about half-way into the book, but still figured I’d give it a shot in case I was wrong. And though I had guessed right, instead of a great, heart-pumping unveiling, it was more just sort of dropped in the reader’s lap. Which is okay, but not my favorite way to engage with a story. Even at that, The Farm was never short on action or tension, and it kept me glued to every page until the very last one. It ended way too soon in my opinion, and I cannot wait until the second book in this series comes out this fall!
Read an excerpt


 

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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6 People left their mark' :

  1. This is on my shelf and I really want to read it but I have been in such a reading rut I am afraid to pick it up and not be interested right now so I'll give myself sometime. Thank-you for the review it sounds like what I hoped for! Except for the lackluster plot twist but I can live with that I suppose.

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  2. I think my review mirrors yours in a lot of ways. Mel was by far my favourite character. Her chapters were so interesting and in depth, even though they were so short. I loved them.

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  3. This would be a great one to try to pull you out of a rut, it's really unique in my opinion. Luckily, the plot twist I did see coming was followed by another plot twist that I did NOT see coming about 5 pages later, so it's all good, haha :)

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  4. I know! Wasn't it incredible? I think she had one of my favorite inner dialogues. Sort of like from Shatter Me - but then add the autistic element of not being able to communicate what she's really thinking and feeling - it was awesome! It looks like the next book will have a whole lot more Mel in it so I'm really excited!

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  5. I read The Farm back in the winter and really enjoyed it. Mel was also my favorite character and I was quite intrigued with Sebastian. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here and hopefully get a more up close and personal with Bob.

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  6. This ones on my my TBR, I'm glad it was a great read. I don't usually get spooked by books, so I'm excited to see what this does to my psych! Great review Helen

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