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Matthew's Reviews > The Farm
The Farm
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As I begin writing this review, I feel like it might be an unpopular opinion. However, as of this time, the average rating is 3.51 stars and most of my Goodreads friends seem to be giving it 3 stars. So, while my rating is lower than most, overall the opinions of this book seem to trend downwards.
With my 1 star rating, I feel like doing a bullet point review that is introduced by one of my favorite gifs. This was me throughout this book:
- I am not sure I have ever read a book that was trying so hard to manufacture suspense . . . without success
- This book had the potential to address some serious social issues, but, the way the story was told, refer to Tommy Lee Jones above.
- The characters were not interesting and their personalities were so forced and unbelievable.
- The story was all over the place. I could not tell exactly what it was trying to do or where it was going. The lack of coherent continuity was annoying.
- With all that is mentioned above, I spent most of my time rolling my eyes and praying for it to end.
- When it finally ended and went into a fairly excessive epilogue, nothing had really happened. Everything was over and everything looked like it was going to be fine. As a reader, I went through a whole lot of nothing to end up with a whole lot of nothing.
I hate to start of 2020 with a 1 star book before my first 5 star, but my time with this book was too frustrating to rate it any higher. I think that a few tweaks here and there and some better editing would have done it a lot of good. Also, I go back to the lack of urgency and suspense that made me not care about anything that was going on. If the author could have more organically developed a thrilling and more smoothly flowing storyline, I would have enjoyed this a great deal more.
With my 1 star rating, I feel like doing a bullet point review that is introduced by one of my favorite gifs. This was me throughout this book:
- I am not sure I have ever read a book that was trying so hard to manufacture suspense . . . without success
- This book had the potential to address some serious social issues, but, the way the story was told, refer to Tommy Lee Jones above.
- The characters were not interesting and their personalities were so forced and unbelievable.
- The story was all over the place. I could not tell exactly what it was trying to do or where it was going. The lack of coherent continuity was annoying.
- With all that is mentioned above, I spent most of my time rolling my eyes and praying for it to end.
- When it finally ended and went into a fairly excessive epilogue, nothing had really happened. Everything was over and everything looked like it was going to be fine. As a reader, I went through a whole lot of nothing to end up with a whole lot of nothing.
I hate to start of 2020 with a 1 star book before my first 5 star, but my time with this book was too frustrating to rate it any higher. I think that a few tweaks here and there and some better editing would have done it a lot of good. Also, I go back to the lack of urgency and suspense that made me not care about anything that was going on. If the author could have more organically developed a thrilling and more smoothly flowing storyline, I would have enjoyed this a great deal more.
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Reading Progress
January 6, 2020
–
Started Reading
January 6, 2020
– Shelved
January 6, 2020
– Shelved as:
2020
January 6, 2020
– Shelved as:
audio
January 8, 2020
–
55.0%
"Those who have this marked at 3 or less "Meh" stars . . . So far I am right there with you."
January 11, 2020
–
86.0%
"Now I am just trying to make it through to the end. Winner of the "I should probably DNF" award."
January 12, 2020
– Shelved as:
least-favorite
January 12, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-44 of 44 (44 new)
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[deleted user]
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Jan 12, 2020 01:44PM
You know what? Never worry about a 1 star review. Every book isn't going to be a hit for every reader.
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I checked this book out from the library last week. I hadn't started it and after reading your review I think it's going back without even opening it.
Jen wrote: "You know what? Never worry about a 1 star review. Every book isn't going to be a hit for every reader."Ha! Totally agree! That first bit is more of a disclaimer for those who are not as understanding as you. 😃😃😃
You're right Matthew, not a good start to the year for you - hope it improves!
Michelle wrote: "I checked this book out from the library last week. I hadn't started it and after reading your review I think it's going back without even opening it."You could be one of the ones who enjoys it . . . but you definitely wouldn't get an endorsement to proceed from me! 😉
Matthew wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I checked this book out from the library last week. I hadn't started it and after reading your review I think it's going back without even opening it."You could be one of the one..."
Hahaha - I'm tempted, but might leave it alone for the moment
To quote Brian Regan, "Wow. You started with nothing and ended with LESS."
Mark wrote: "You're right Matthew, not a good start to the year for you - hope it improves!"Thanks, Mark! 😃
Audrey wrote: "To quote Brian Regan, "Wow. You started with nothing and ended with LESS.""Oh, that's perfect! And I even pictured him in my mind when I read your post!
Huh, I saw this and remembering thinking that the premise might be interesting, but then decided that it just wasn't for me. After reading your review, I'm glad I decided against it!
Very fair review, Matthew! I think the premise had a lot of potential but the execution could’ve been better - The epilogue IMO was unrealistic and too neat. Hope you love your next book - can only go up from here! ;)
Eileen wrote: "Huh, I saw this and remembering thinking that the premise might be interesting, but then decided that it just wasn't for me. After reading your review, I'm glad I decided against it!"Agree - could have been very interesting - lots of potential. Just didn't make it there. Probably a good choice on your part!
Always appreciate an honest review!!
Brandice wrote: "Very fair review, Matthew! I think the premise had a lot of potential but the execution could’ve been better - The epilogue IMO was unrealistic and too neat. Hope you love your next book - can onl..."
Thanks, Brandice! I wrote about the epilogue before I saw what other people thought and I am interested to see lots of comments about it - a relief that it isn't just me! :)
I love honest reviews and appreciate the time and effort that goes into writing one. I haven't read this book and wasn't really planning on it, but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.
Jayme wrote: "Always appreciate an honest review!!"Thanks, Jayme! :D
Michelle wrote: "I love honest reviews and appreciate the time and effort that goes into writing one. I haven't read this book and wasn't really planning on it, but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it."Thanks, Michelle! Good planning on your part! ;)
L. wrote: "I have a favorite “I don’t care” gif too!"
Hahahahaha!🤣🤣🤣
I just remembered one of my "favorite" moments in the book - a character has a tumor and the doctor says something along the lines of "well, it's either benign or malignant" yes, indeed, those are the two options . . .
It was terrible. You'd think a book about the evil of elitist America would, well, punish elitist America. Instead she became its nanny!
Brandy wrote: "It was terrible. You'd think a book about the evil of elitist America would, well, punish elitist America. Instead she became its nanny!"HA! Very well said - the stakes and resolution needed to be much higher!
Christen wrote: "I disagree. While I think the writing could have been a bit more elaborate- “poverty doesn’t give you the strength to teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be po..."I am glad that you liked the book more than I did! 😁
And, when commenting on books like this I always fear that it might come across that my opinion is skewed by gender or privilege, but I like to think that I do my best to just review the book based on my experience with it. If I had rated it any higher just to avoid that sort of "judgement", I would have been lying to protect myself. I think lying is the worst thing I could do here, so I left my experience as is in my review.
That being said, I am always glad when people have a better experience with a book than I do!
Well done for even finishing it Matthew! I probably would have chucked it in the bin well before the end! *:)
Kimberly wrote: "I hope the rest of the books you read this year are better. I like the gif."Thanks, Kimberly! I used that gif twice this past week in other posts, too!
Hmmm. I never did finish this one. I cared about the character but I was thinking .., why is she listening to this female mob boss lady!! I think I got to 40-something percent. Eh-..
Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "Well done for even finishing it Matthew! I probably would have chucked it in the bin well before the end! *:)"Thanks, Sandy! I try to persist through all books now to give them all a fair shot. Maybe I am a masochist!? 🤔🤔🤔
Shaina wrote: "Hmmm. I never did finish this one. I cared about the character but I was thinking .., why is she listening to this female mob boss lady!! I think I got to 40-something percent. Eh-.."Yes, very "Eh" . . . I don't think you need to go back and finish it! 😉
Matthew wrote: "Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "Well done for even finishing it Matthew! I probably would have chucked it in the bin well before the end! *:)"Than..."
Just more reason for you to read Sunstone, at least that way you get it with a book that’s good! 😉
I feel your pain. I'm not sure why this was so highly reviewed in the first place. Meh.
Carol wrote: "I feel your pain. I'm not sure why this was so highly reviewed in the first place. Meh."Sorry it was meh for you, too! Onward to better books! 😃
Well thought out review. Screw what anyone else thinks about how you read the book wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think you are very fair. We all (although I haven't fact checked this) give the odd one star reviews.
Pat wrote: "Well thought out review. Screw what anyone else thinks about how you read the book wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think you are very fair. We all (although I haven't fact checked t..."Ha! Thanks, Pat!
At least I always hope I don't have to give out the occasional 1-star review . . . but it happens!
I just started this book today and have gotten through maybe 65 pages and I already want to pluck out my eyeballs. Does anything ever happen?Great review.
Dianne wrote: "I just started this book today and have gotten through maybe 65 pages and I already want to pluck out my eyeballs. Does anything ever happen?Great review."
Thanks, Dianne!
You are asking the wrong person if you are hoping for a positive response! 😉🤣
Yes, my feelings exactly! Read this for my book club, interested for next weeks meeting to see how others felt. Your review summed up my opinion perfectly!
Kathy wrote: "Yes, my feelings exactly! Read this for my book club, interested for next weeks meeting to see how others felt. Your review summed up my opinion perfectly!"Great minds think alike! 😃
If your club liked it, don't back down! Tell it like it is! 🙂
I will definitely hold my ground, healthy debate and discussion is what makes for a great book club! I think I have much expectations than many people though!😂
Kathy wrote: "I will definitely hold my ground, healthy debate and discussion is what makes for a great book club! I think I have much expectations than many people though!😂"So, Kathy . . . how did the discussion go?
It went ok. The bummer of it was that only 4 out of 10 finished the whole book because many "couldn't get into it". That bothers me a lot because I think it's rude to the person that selected the book. Of those that read it, one liked it. Many people didn't like the abrupt ending. This month we're reading Necessarl Lies by Diane Chamberlain which was excellent!! Takes place in the south during the 1960's and deals with poverty and the eugenics program. Highly recommend!
Kathy wrote: "It went ok. The bummer of it was that only 4 out of 10 finished the whole book because many "couldn't get into it". That bothers me a lot because I think it's rude to the person that selected the b..."Awww - that is too bad for your book club. I don't mind people not joining in on the big Goodreads clubs, but if you have a more intimate offline club, it seems like if you are gonna be a part of it, you should commit! :)
The other one you mention sounds good - I might have to check it out!
I agree with this review 100%. No character development, no emotion, and just boring!
Nicole wrote: "I agree with this review 100%. No character development, no emotion, and just boring!"Thanks for the support, Nicole! :) Sorry it was related to us agreeing on a poor book experience! :D ;)
I cannot agree more with you, although I am only 50% into the book, and I am feeling all the time I want to abandon it. I am listening (not actually reading) to it while I do housework, I think it is the only reason that justifies I am still with it. I am sure if I was actually reading it in paper it would have been long time gone.The gif cannot be more appropriate. :)
Perhaps it is my first time to do a review of a non finished book.
