Baby Bump Bacchanal

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

* Read via NetGalley.com
* Book will be released April 26, 2011

This book gets a fertilicious 4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes for having a concept that really makes you think and two main characters that are surprising to read about.

In this world because of a disease, anyone over the age of 18 isn't able to have children.  This leaves teenagers in a very interesting position.  Let's just say that if the TV show Sixteen and Pregnant existed in this world it would be even more popular and seen as an informational aid.  In the Bumped world sex parties are popular and there’s even a drug that is commonly used to encourage people to have sex.  Seeing as teenagers are the only ones that can have children a lot more options open up.  You can be a professional or amateur and if you make the right deal a lot of money could be offered to you in exchange for your baby.  On the other side some guys are paid to professionally get girls pregnant.

With the two main characters being sisters and twins the reader gets to see two intriguing very different views on the world.  

Melody has been raised by two parents that are right at the forefront of this new form of economy where having babies can be very lucrative to teenage girls.  She was one of the first to sign a contract saying that she would have a baby with whoever the sponsoring parents want her to.

Harmony was raised as Melody would say, a churchie.  She was raised in the community of Goodside.  The church community is regulated to the extreme and they don't have as many instances of the virus that prevents fertility.  Harmony is much more excited about Melody than Melody is about Harmony.  Seeing the contrasts between these identical twins is indeed entertaining.

There are or course love interests and plenty of surprises.  Zen, Melody's friend, is a great guy who's just not considered up to the desirable breeding standards of the world.  Harmony too has some love interests that make you wonder who she'll end up with in the long run.  

This book has many twists and turns.  I was expecting not to understand or sympathize with either main character but as you read the situations start to seem pretty plausible.  You'll think the story is heading in a certain direction and then it flips around.  I was rooting for one sister and then I found myself seeing events from the other's perspective.  If you're like me you may find yourself going back and forth between wondering which sister has the right idea about the world.

The ending of the story was so good, it really makes you want to know what happens next.  The brilliant thing is that both characters have an ending that leaves the story wide open to the many changes that seem to be coming to the characters and maybe even the world.