Welcome to week two of the #dystopianfeb discussions with Lenore.  Today you get to hear us, gush….er speak about Thumped by Megan McCafferty.  We love it.  We love it HARD.  We love it so much we want MORE! More I tell you more, more, more.  You know what else?  We think you should read it.  Like right now. But first, read up on what Lenore and I have to say but starting with Part 1 on Presenting Lenore and then the rest down below.

Title:  Thumped [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Megan McCafferty [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre:  Dystopian, Satire
Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Format: paperback (ARC
Source: Publisher
Parental Advisory: sex, drugs, alcohol, language
Teachable Moments: abstinence, teenaged sexual activity, teen pregnancy, individuality, peer pressure

Moral of the Story

Michelle:
For a book that covers such strong and polarizing issues as teen pregnancy, birth control, surrogacy, religious freedom and the influence of celebrity, it does so in an amazingly fun and unique way.  This book once again took a look at the morality of young girls getting pregnant for profit.  It even goes as far as taking a stronger stance (through Zen’s big plan) on it all.  I do wish that this part of the story got a bit more focus though.  It was a bit more surface level and felt much more rushed than I would have liked.  This doesn’t, however, diminish the strength of the overall message or the fact that Thumped is a great discussion starter.  Topics galore!

Lenore:
BUMPED was controversial for being so open about teen sexuality, and I think THUMPED does dig deeper into the issues – and especially the issue of being ready to take on the responsibility of sex and motherhood.  In this imagined society, your fertility expiration date is so early, you really have some tough decisions.  I liked the dilemmas presented here:  Are teens really ready to commit to family life? If a teen doesn’t have a child now, will she ever be able to experience being a mother? How important is it to have a child with your own genes?

Michelle: 
You know what would be interesting to explore in a follow-up book (hint! hint!)?  How the different generations deal with parenting.  Meaning, these young girls give birth and give up their children but then when old enough they would take on the children of other young girls.  It’s like a giant game of musical chairs.  What is the emotional impact of that?  Such an interesting and complex relationship to explore.

Lenore:
YES! Megan – are you reading this?!

Romance

Michelle:
Oh how I loved me some Zen in this story.  I so wanted he and Melody to find a way to be together.  I just wish there was more focus on their story than what I got.  The bulk of the romantic focus went to Jondoe pining for Harmony and her conflicted feelings for him.  Interesting in it’s own right, the focus on their relationship made the book feel off-balance in the romance department.  Not necessarily a bad thing because in the end romance was not the primary focus of the book, but I did want to see more of Zen and Melody than we got.

Lenore: 
See, this is why I need 100 more books – because not only do I want more Zen and Melody, I want even more Harmony and Jondoe too.  The romance was definitely not in the forefront here, but there was just enough development in both relationships to make me ridiculously swoony.  Jondoe had to really struggle to get over himself to offer Harmony the kind of support she really needed.  And Zen had to grow 4 inches to get Melody to see him as a viable option.

Michelle:
That sounds a little dirty, lol.  But YES!  I want more romance, more fun, more….more….more.

Lenore:
Oh you naughty girl! Get your head out of the gutter ;)

People, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again you need to be reading this series.  If you haven’t run out and grab Bumped because Thumped will be out in the next few months!