And on this farm he holds teens. The government has
gathered up teenagers to keep them safe after a potential
cure for cancer went all wrong and created vampire-like
creatures called Ticks. The Ticks are overtaking major
cities and moving across the country, but how much safer
are the kids in THE FARM? They have to donate blood and
those who misbehave are left out as food for the Ticks. In
addition to Ticks, there are other, more traditional,
vampires in THE FARM that makes the plot more confusing
and less believable.
Twin sisters Lily and Mel have found a way to escape. Lily
is overprotective of her autistic sister, who speaks mostly
in nursery rhymes and short sentences. Then Lily's crush
from the Before, Carter, turns up and offers to help. Like
everyone else, he has his own agenda.
I enjoyed Mel's character the most as author Emily McKay does a nice job
describing how she thinks as an autistic person. What I
don't know is if her portrayal is accurate. Lily and Carter
are more cliché and between the two, there is more angst
than I've seen in a book in a while.
McKay's version of vampires is a bit different than most,
but the post-apocalyptical world is similar to many others
I've read. I think I would have enjoyed the action more if
I was not so distracted by characters' overthinking every
move. Also, while I don't have an issue with romance in
post-apocalyptical novels, I have issues with romance that
feels forced. Lily and Carter felt forced to me and
therefore were not enjoyable.
McKay's writing is solid, but much of the plot appears
contrived and overdramatic. I'm writing this review after
reading the whole trilogy, and while most of the questions
raised in the first book are answered by the end, a few
remain. With all the post-apocalyptic young adult novels on
the shelves today, THE FARM sits among the pack rather than
standing out as a diamond in the rough.
Life was different in the Before: before vampires began
devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the
surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined.
These days, we know what those quarantines are — holding
pens where human blood is turned into more food for the
undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical
fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on
each other…
And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly
impossible.
Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can
barely communicate, her autism helps her notices things no
one else notices — like the portion of electrical fence
that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be
easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a
familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…
Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing
to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of
the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter
has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is
an even more dangerous threat to the human race...
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