In Bumped, by Megan McCafferty, teenage pregnancy is a career and can propel you to celebrity status. After a virus renders everyone over eighteen infertile, teenage girls become babymaking machines and the government commercializes and glamorizes teen pregnancy in order to get girls to compete to bump the most and become pros at it. Two twins, separated at birth, Melody and Harmony have lived two totally separate lives and view bumping and life in a completely different way — Melody is on the track to be paired to bump with the McDreamy of all pro bumper guys and Harmony lives in a religious community called Goodside. Will they be able to reconcile their two separate lives to form some semblance of sisterhood or are their paths too far apart?
Among the ranks of dystopian YA books, Bumped certainly stands out in its delivery and unique storyline. I’ll be honest, when I first started it I was like, “WTF is this?!” Bumped is written using the slang and the vernacular of this world. It’s like a futuristic valley girl sound with lots of twisted pregnancy lingo. At first it grated my nerves and I thought it was serious..everything was so outlandish and crazy and over the top….and the LINGO..oh man. I almost put it down. BUT THEN…it dawned on me that it was satire of sorts. This was later confirmed after I finished it when I went to the Megan McCafferty launch party for this book and heard her read aloud from it (which was hilarious) and then talk about it. The one thing about the way it is is written that I enjoyed was that you were immersed pretty quickly into the world through the use of the vernacular and the obvious instances of glorification and commercialization of teen pregnancy. It made it all quite hilarious.
If you are looking for a dystopian novel like The Hunger Games or something along those lines, this isn’t like that. On the surface it is much lighter and there isn’t any violence or major uprisings or any of that. It’s a completely ridiculous society that will make you laugh at the ridiculousness and the slang. It’s a world that is just unimaginable to me because it is so absurd…in an unusual way. While it is a bit lighter, there are still some interesting thoughts that arise from reading this. It wasn’t an “issues” book or an agenda to talk about teen pregnancy. I appreciated that it wasn’t trying to be that although it was inspired from many teen pregnancies in the news and the lack of a clear “answer” as to how to deal with it from all sides.
My Final Thought: Once I got past the prego Valley Girl slang, I was good to go and found it to be HILARIOUS. I can see how this one might not be for everyone so if you don’t enjoy futuristic satire type books, this might not be for you. It’s unlike any dystopian novel I’ve read and I really enjoyed the uniqueness of it all and the fact that it wasn’t like every other dystopian I read. It was fresh and wholly a different experience and McCafferty easily created this future society by showing us the world rather than telling us the backstory and explaining what it was like. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to find out what happens to Melody and Harmony! Both characters changed so much! It’s much different than her Jessica Darling series but she infuses her humor and wit in this one as well!
Lissa says
I got this book this week! I am SO looking forward to it, I've wanted it ever since I found out it was a satire.
As the Crowe Flies and Reads says
I read Bumped a couple of months ago. I was expecting an interesting satire of empowerment and full of brilliant social commentary, but for me the book was not at all successful. It came across more as a dangerously subversive anti-feminist novel a la Twilight.
wereadtoknow says
Ooh, this one looks exciting! I LOVE the Jessica Darling books (although I haven't read them in ages) and another one of my favorites (Feed by M.T. Anderson) is also done in a kind of futuristic teenage lingo, so I doubt that would really be a problem. Sounds like we have a winner!
Jess (Gone with the Words) says
I liked this book! I think it was because I didn't go into it with any expectations. I laughed A LOT! And I enjoyed the satire aplenty. 🙂 Great review! I think you may get people who were iffy about it to pick it up!
SweetestLittleBookworm says
I've been wanting to read this for such a long time, but I had no idea that it was satire and supposed to be taken this way. I'm glad you explained it. Otherwise I'd probably be chunking it across the room, and I'd much rather be nice to books. 🙂
Seriously, thanks for clarifying. I am intrigued and I do still want to read it, maybe even a little more now.
~Asheley
April says
I have read a few reviews for this.. and they haven't been that great. Yours is the first that makes me think I might actually like this one. I love a book that can make me laugh out loud.
Kate says
I enjoyed Bumped and all the crazy lingo. For me, it made the world that McCafferty created that much more real. I also am addicted to watching 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom so I loved the satire that made fun of those shows.
Annette says
I've read so many mixed reviews of this book. It seems like the few that realize that this book is satire, love the book. Otherwise, not so much. So, hey, everyone! It's satire! (I haven't read it yet, but it is on my list.) Great review.
Kyle says
I wanted to read this, I tried to read this…I couldn't. I could not get past the valley girl slang, as much as I wanted to. Good to know you did 🙂
Kayla + Cyna says
I liked Bumped, but you're right, the teenspeak can be a bit much, especially in the beginning. My problem was that she went a bit overboard with the satire, and the plot was left to hinge on coincidences and stupid misunderstandings.
Loved the message though 🙂 Melody's WE MADE LOVE WITH A CONDOM outburst made me laugh hard.
LBC says
I like what you said about this being a lighter dystopia. It is definitely funny. I wanted to like this book more than I did though because I am such a fan of McCafferty's Jessica Darling series.
Michelle says
I think I horrified poor Ms. McCafferty when I saw her at Books of Wonder before BEA this year. I was so fangirling over the awesomeness of this book. Serioulsy….mortifying.
Brandyn says
Yeah this one didn’t work for me. I realized it was satire, but I was also aware while reading it that not everyone would and it’s kind of a serious topic.
And yeah the valley girl, futuristic slang made me want to hurl the book across the room. Ugh.
Jenni says
Reading this makes me want to go back to this book and give it another shot. I just really didn’t like it. Maybe I’ll put it on my list to go back to one day