Reviews

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

biancam513's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i really liked how this book didn’t have a happy ending. It felt realistic and the last half was really interesting. My only qualm was one weird line about middle eastern ppl that felt so unnecessary???? 

jaw417's review against another edition

4.0

Rounding up from 3.5

ali_jenna's review against another edition

1.0

This book had some major flaws. The most prominent, in my opinion, was the writing itself. It was terrible to a degree that I wonder if this book was professionally edited. Many times a characters name was repeated within the same sentence, for example, "Mae's fair comely mother tried to use Divina's appearance to scare Mae into wearing sunscreen when she was a child ("You have your father's skin, Mae, do you want to end up looking like Divina"), but her fearmongering was ineffectual, at least in those early years, because young Mae didn't find Divina ugly." I understand that sometimes there can be an unclear pronoun, but I don't think this is one of those cases. The dialogue was also clunky and was not like how a normal person would talk. I have never heard anyone who responds "I am good" when asked how are you. Most people just say one word like "Fine" or "Good" or would at least use a contraction: "I'm good" unless they're that kind of person who goes "wElL..." and then launches into a 20 minute explanation of everything. The characters in this book seemingly never used contractions when they spoke, which sounds incredibly unnatural, since most people generally try to say what they want in as few syllables as possible. This book had other flaws though! The ending was completely anticlimactic and a little weird. I get how the author tried to reveal secrets along the way, but it just made things confusing. The ending also seemed somewhat incomplete, for example, what happened to Reagan?? What was the deal with Roy? How about Ate? also why do they call Ate Ate?? I'm assuming that is a cultural thing, but it should have been explained.


However, I can appreciate how difficult it is to actually write a book, and the topic of this one is very relevant today, which is cool.

lialeahlio's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

tine29's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nmdonovan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

aliraye's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

lovella_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lisettemarie's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 rounded up
The lower (3.5) rating surprised me with this book. I listened to it and found myself engrossed in each of the characters stories. Each character (Jane, Mae, Ate and Reagan) felt very real. This book is an ethical clusterfuck but there’s no real enemy here except maybe greed. Each character is a deeply flawed human and just doing what they need to do to survive/find meaning/do what they feel is noble important work. Heavy topics include racism, colorism, classism, immigration, and the agency/autonomy of pregnant women.

jsykverd's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5