Review: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Hardcover, 336 pages

Released: April 26, 2011

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

ISBN: 9780061962745

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.

My Rating: 4 / 5

My Thoughts:
This a book for those days when you need to laugh at the world. I would have given this 5 stars but found the start awkward as I went in only remembering the basic premise of the story before diving in. The story beings in the thick of things so it took me about 40-50 pages for I really got hooked, understood the world and felt anything for the characters. Why were the girls together, what the heck is Babies R U, why the veil? These are things that left me confused at the start. So what kept me going you ask? The humor! Once the world & characters fell into place, the book was on fire. I was in their mindset which at first is hard to grasp (teens being approached to have babies, how they view sex etc.) To give you an idea of how much I loved it, I came home & locked myself in the bathroom to escape from disruptions so I could finish the book! I must also say that the music the kids listen too was catchy and way to funny, I could totally picture the teens singing along!

A quirky dystopian, Bumped is a unique take on what would happen if adults became infertile. Full of humor, lots of twists and turns, characters trying to find themselves (they are teens after all), McCafferty's story is a refreshing take on what is normally a serious dystopian genre.

Here's a sneak peak at what silliness you can find inside:

I watched them swap MyTurnTees, share tubes of You Glow Girl! stretch mark remover, and share bag after bag of Big Belly Jellies. I watched them bond with each other because they were forbidden to bond with their bumps.(from ARC page 118)

I have to say, when an author can make you chuckle then gasp (in that order) at the passing of a mucus plug, she is mega talented in my books. Give me the next book, this was such a fun ride.