Review: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Title: Bumped

Author: Megan McCafferty

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: 4.26.2011

Pages: 336

Genre: Dystopian

Series: Yes; Book #1 (Bumped)

Rating:  D-

Summary (from Goodreads):

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Review:

I’m honestly at a loss for what to say in this review, so I’ll keep it short and simple. As you can tell by my rating, I didn’t like this book at all which I found immensely disturbing. Since reading the first Jessica Darling book, I have adored Megan McCafferty. I found her writing style fun and refreshing and honest. That’s why I almost feel like another author wrote this book.

I found the characters of Melody and Harmony to be grating. Melody was so concerning with bumping and pregging and cute maternity clothes that she immediately turned me off. On the flip side you have Harmony who annoyed me to no end with her overly religious ranting and judgments. The book flip-flops perspectives every other chapter as to allow the reader a better insight into the minds of both Melody and Harmony. This only served to make me question which one I disliked more.

The jargon of the book is tedious and confusing, and had the characters evolved into people I could potentially like, that might have saved the story. Instead, I was ready to jump ship by the time Melody was trying on “FunBumps” around page 50. I skipped ahead to see if it got any better, and sadly it did not.

I will say that the plot itself is dynamite. As far as dystopian novels go, this is one idea that truly pushes the boundaries as to what is socially acceptable. A world where teenagers are vying to get pregnant and adults encourage it? Freaking amazing idea. I just feel this book poorly executed it.

I went into this book excited and came out exhausted—and not in the fun kind of way. For fans of McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series, this book is most assuredly not that. I recommend reading this one with caution.

***I will say that for every one negative review there are at least 2 good ones. Just because I didn’t like this book doesn’t mean you won’t. I read reviews for this one myself to see if I was the only one not feeling it, and I was surprised by the amount of people who loved it as much as I didn’t love it. I recommend you read more reviews if you’re unsure before buying this book.***