Source: received an ARC from HarperCollins Canada for an honest review.
Publisher: Balzar and Bray
Release Date: Already Released.
(Goodreads Link.)
Before I read Bumped, I had seen many mixed reviews, so I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but once I started reading, I was completely hooked. While the slang that Megan created for the world of Bumped was a bit hard to follow at times, the story still completely enthralled me. I was fascinated in that way where you see something kind of horrific and can't look away. The world of Bumped isn't horrific in the way that a nasty car crash is, it's horrific in the way that something that should be seen as wrong and corrupt is seen as normal and as a way to garner your status. Just to be clear, I don't mean that Megan's writing is horrific, I'm merely talking about the subject matter. The fact that adults in their world pay teenage boys and girls to make babies, and that their fertility is basically a product was the horrifying part. I actually thought that Megan's writing was fabulous. It had an amazing flow, and it kept me wanting more.
The biggest criticisms I've seen for Bumped have been about the slang and the subject matter in general. The slang was a bit much at times, but I thought that Megan did a great job making her world close to ours, but slightly different...as if a couple of decades had passed, which is exactly what it was supposed to be like. It made me feel as if I was in the generation suffering from the virus that prevented them from having kids, and I even thought, "What would I do in that situation?" and honestly, I'm not really sure what I would do. As far as the subject matter goes, well it's all a matter of opinion. For me, I didn't find it too graphic, but I can understand how Bumped might not be appropriate reading for someone younger. The whole pregnancy aspect of Bumped is heavily romanticized and it's seen as more of a norm, so someone young and impressionable might not be the best audience for this book.
As far as being in the adults' place in Bumped, I don't think I'd do the same things, but until you're in a situation like that it's hard to actually know what you would be capable of doing, and I absolutely loved that Megan brought that to my attention while reading. I love to read as an escape into a fun fantasy world, but I also love when you read something and it makes you think. It makes you examine life around you, and put yourself in various positions and perspectives. In Bumped, I was able to do that. I imagined what it would be like to be Melody and Harmony, the main two characters, I imagined what it would be like to be the adults of their world, and I imagined what it would be like if I were in there world at the age I would be.
Bumped made me think. It forced me to examine the way that we live, and because of that, I thought it was an amazing story. It made me think of how our society views pregnancy nowadays. With celebrity pregnancies seeming like a trend at times, and I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I know a handful of people around my age or younger who've gotten pregnant recently. I thought about how we view pregnancy and how it was viewed in Bumped, and it made me think..."Could that be where we're headed?" Who knows, there could end up being a virus that makes all adults sterile, but then again, there might not be. With shows like 16 and Pregnant though, it also made me think that honestly, pregnancy already is a bit romanticized, but part of that romanticized view could just be us girls going all goo-goo eyed over babies...which I am most definitely guilty of as well. ;) Anyways, along with making me think, Bumped kept me glued to its pages. I flew through it, and when I got to the last page, I wasn't even close to being sated...I wanted more.
What do you guys think about pregnancy nowadays?
Is it viewed more romantically than it used to be? Or do you think it's still the same?
And have you read Bumped? Did it make you think too?
Happy Reading!!!
♪♫ Ambur
Before I read Bumped, I had seen many mixed reviews, so I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but once I started reading, I was completely hooked. While the slang that Megan created for the world of Bumped was a bit hard to follow at times, the story still completely enthralled me. I was fascinated in that way where you see something kind of horrific and can't look away. The world of Bumped isn't horrific in the way that a nasty car crash is, it's horrific in the way that something that should be seen as wrong and corrupt is seen as normal and as a way to garner your status. Just to be clear, I don't mean that Megan's writing is horrific, I'm merely talking about the subject matter. The fact that adults in their world pay teenage boys and girls to make babies, and that their fertility is basically a product was the horrifying part. I actually thought that Megan's writing was fabulous. It had an amazing flow, and it kept me wanting more.
The biggest criticisms I've seen for Bumped have been about the slang and the subject matter in general. The slang was a bit much at times, but I thought that Megan did a great job making her world close to ours, but slightly different...as if a couple of decades had passed, which is exactly what it was supposed to be like. It made me feel as if I was in the generation suffering from the virus that prevented them from having kids, and I even thought, "What would I do in that situation?" and honestly, I'm not really sure what I would do. As far as the subject matter goes, well it's all a matter of opinion. For me, I didn't find it too graphic, but I can understand how Bumped might not be appropriate reading for someone younger. The whole pregnancy aspect of Bumped is heavily romanticized and it's seen as more of a norm, so someone young and impressionable might not be the best audience for this book.
As far as being in the adults' place in Bumped, I don't think I'd do the same things, but until you're in a situation like that it's hard to actually know what you would be capable of doing, and I absolutely loved that Megan brought that to my attention while reading. I love to read as an escape into a fun fantasy world, but I also love when you read something and it makes you think. It makes you examine life around you, and put yourself in various positions and perspectives. In Bumped, I was able to do that. I imagined what it would be like to be Melody and Harmony, the main two characters, I imagined what it would be like to be the adults of their world, and I imagined what it would be like if I were in there world at the age I would be.
Bumped made me think. It forced me to examine the way that we live, and because of that, I thought it was an amazing story. It made me think of how our society views pregnancy nowadays. With celebrity pregnancies seeming like a trend at times, and I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I know a handful of people around my age or younger who've gotten pregnant recently. I thought about how we view pregnancy and how it was viewed in Bumped, and it made me think..."Could that be where we're headed?" Who knows, there could end up being a virus that makes all adults sterile, but then again, there might not be. With shows like 16 and Pregnant though, it also made me think that honestly, pregnancy already is a bit romanticized, but part of that romanticized view could just be us girls going all goo-goo eyed over babies...which I am most definitely guilty of as well. ;) Anyways, along with making me think, Bumped kept me glued to its pages. I flew through it, and when I got to the last page, I wasn't even close to being sated...I wanted more.
What do you guys think about pregnancy nowadays?
Is it viewed more romantically than it used to be? Or do you think it's still the same?
And have you read Bumped? Did it make you think too?
Happy Reading!!!
♪♫ Ambur
I love this review, because I think the whole purpose of the book was to make people think and look at these issues, which is why I enjoyed it so much. The slang was a bit much, and the characters were kind of 'meh' at times, but the whole satire aspect? Genius. I loved how it was so horrific and foreign, and yet... somehow under the surface I could see those glimpses that made me think that our world isn't that far off.
ReplyDelete@Ashley: Thanks Ashley :D Ya, I couldn't agree more, I think that the book's main point was to make you think. Ya, with the slang I even thought at one point that for some of them it would've been nice to have a dictionary. haha Ya I felt the same way! That at times it seemed so impossible, but when I really thought about it, it really wasn't impossible at all.
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