Tuesday 5 November 2013

PROMOTION, DREAMCAST & REVIEW - THE FARM SERIES BY EMILY MCKAY

PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT
ON THE FARM SERIES


Title: The Farm Bk#1
Author: Emily McKay
ISBN: 978-0718197421
ASIN: B00ABKZOIM
Series: The Farm
Publisher: Berkley Trade, Penguin
Pages/File Size: 433pages, 609KB
Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

BLURB from Goodreads
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 notice 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...



Title: The Lair Bk#2
Author: Emily McKay
ISBN: 9780425264126
ASIN: N/A
Series: The Farm
Publisher: Berkley Trade, Penguin
Pages/File Size: 432pages/  
Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book
Expected Release Date: 5th November 2013


BLURB from Goodreads
n the battle against the vampiric Ticks, humanity was slowly but certainly headed for extinction. For months, twin sisters Lily and Mel had been quarantined with thousands of other young people being harvested for their blood—food for the Ticks. Finally escaping with a few friends, the twins are separated—and must continue the fight on their own . . . 

After making it to a resistance base camp in Utah, Lily learned to survive at all costs. But when a Tick attack decimates the fighters, Lily and her pregnant friend, McKenna, decide to make the hard trek north to Canada—and safety.

Meanwhile, Mel is being taught how to survive by the very vampire that turned her. Living without her sister is hard, but dealing with the fact that her autism was cured by the vampire bite is an even bigger challenge.

But when a monstrous betrayal places Lily in mortal danger, Mel must set out to find her, save her, and begin to unravel the empire of destruction that the Ticks have built.




MY DREAM CAST FOR 

THE FARM SERIES 

BY EMILY MCKAY


So I loved reading The Farm Series so much, and I feel I can visualise what I think the characters would perhaps look like. I decided to randomly look around on the internet for suitably similar looking actors and actresses that match or come close to my imagery from the book. Below are the people I found that I felt captured the characters for me. I have put the character name and the relevant actor/actress name underneath. I have purposely tried to stay away from really well known (to me) actors/actresses.


CARTER
Luke Benward

LILY
Lily Collins 
     
MEL
Willa Holland

MCKENNA
Melonie Diaz

JOE
Cameron Bright

SEBASTIAN
Ben Barnes

ROBERTO
Chase Wright Vanek


So do you agree with my choices? What/Who would your Dream Cast be?


REVIEW

ISBN: 9780425264126
ASIN: N/A
Series: The Farm
Publisher: Berkley Trade, Penguin
Pages/File Size: 432pages  
Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book
Expected Release Date: 5th November 2013


BLURB from Goodreads
n the battle against the vampiric Ticks, humanity was slowly but certainly headed for extinction. For months, twin sisters Lily and Mel had been quarantined with thousands of other young people being harvested for their blood—food for the Ticks. Finally escaping with a few friends, the twins are separated—and must continue the fight on their own . . . 

After making it to a resistance base camp in Utah, Lily learned to survive at all costs. But when a Tick attack decimates the fighters, Lily and her pregnant friend, McKenna, decide to make the hard trek north to Canada—and safety.

Meanwhile, Mel is being taught how to survive by the very vampire that turned her. Living without her sister is hard, but dealing with the fact that her autism was cured by the vampire bite is an even bigger challenge.

But when a monstrous betrayal places Lily in mortal danger, Mel must set out to find her, save her, and begin to unravel the empire of destruction that the Ticks have built.


INITIAL THOUGHTS
I admit my original plan had been to read this book in late October, just before it is published in November, however the Farm really stayed with me and all the queries I had about "What happens next" eventually niggled me so much I gave in, and decided to go ahead and read this one as it was just sitting there on my kindle waiting for me to give in! Consequently, as I approached reading this book, I was unquestionably eager and looking forward to the experience as I had truly enjoyed Book One and that left one heck of a cliff hanger at the end! I want to find out what exactly took place with Mel as we left book one, as well as catching up with Sebastian's reaction to her, has he nurtured her and aided her to come to terms with being "turned" or as he was reluctant to "turn her", did he abandon Mel? 
I have so many questions about all the characters. How is McKenna as she is heavily pregnant? What about Carter and Lily and their relationship? Will Lily and McKenna push ahead with the original plan to go to Canada? Or will they join the rebellion being valiantly led by Carter? And another uncertainty I still have is: Could Joe have possibly survived, and if so where is he?

MY REVIEW
I received an e-arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
The cover I believe fits well with the first book in the series, The Farm. I'd say the female on the cover could be either Mel or Lily, as the image fits the description of both teens. The byline of "There is no where to hide" is backed up as the truth as we discover the ticks are changing and no longer seem afraid to step on holy ground.
So in this book Mel has been turned although she is having problems coming to terms with what she has become.  Sebastian is still with her but that has to be because it is going to be of some benefit to him in the long run as he is cold and quite cruel at times to Mel.
Carter, Lily and McKenna make it to Base Camp to realise it's not the safe haven they thought it would be and is being attacked more regularly by the Ticks. After Lily ends up hurt and there's another attack on Base Camp Carter and Lily think they would be safer apart so they can both concentrate on surviving rather than their romance, there's also the complication that McKenna has come to a decision that she thinks Joe is lost to her forever and was killed by the Ticks he lured away from them so she would be safer going to Canada in time to give birth to their child. Carter entrust's Lily and McKenna's safety to Ely, whilst he plans a secret attack on a farm in Texas. Lily isn't so keen on trusting Ely and continually compares how Ely reacts to certain situations to how Carter would have handled them. And that's all I can say about the plot really without telling you the whole book! We are introduced to a new family that in the Before had been pretty serious "Preppers". An old character returns somewhat unexpectedly to provide help when it's definitely needed. There's also a new character entering the "virus fight" who may or may not have a possible cure and vaccine against the tick virus. This character being introduced is just one of the magnificent twists in this extraordinary book written by the , in my opinion super talented Author Emily McKay. there is quite a lot of things happening and the plot twists and turns in ways I would never have dreamt of. In this second book we end up learning much more about the feud between Sebastian and Roberto, and get answers questioned about how the tick virus really began. We also meet Sabrina, also a vampire whom I think will perhaps feature more heavily in the next book. I enjoy how the plot unfolds and the pace of the book, it seem's as though there is either always something happening or danger heading towards the characters I have become so fond of in this series so far.
Once again the book ends on an agonising cliff hanger to torture the reader until they can read the next book. I feel a strong compulsion that I want . . . no need to read book three as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.

SUM UP
Did I enjoy the book? Absolutely loved it! Even more than book One! Would I recommend the book? Without a doubt, yes. Will I be reading Book 3 in this series? Positively Yes! Would I consider reading another book written by Emily McKay? Yes I would, perhaps even if it wasn't a genre I regularly read too.



QUOTES FROM THE BOOK


Some of the quotes I enjoyed the most in the book were Mel and how even though she had been turned and could speak without rhymes she continues to use them. Mel also uses them to communicate with Lily and Carter in an ensnared situation. Below are a few of them.
"Sometimes old dogs have new tricks for new dogs" "One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns" "Three blind mice. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. See how they run?" These quotes fit the different scenes where they are placed in the book perfectly and provide humor to the book too.
I'm also partial to certain passages from the individual chapters from the character points of view. Once again by Mel is the one featured next, a very descriptive 
"I am flat on my back and pressed between the pages of the annotated dictionary. Not a pretty posy, but a beastly bella donna."
Then there's one by Lily, again descriptive, informative and lets us learn of Lily's opinion of women and the fact she believes they have a role to play in the fight against the ticks, and the survival of the human race. "As wrong and as horrific and as horrible as this all seemed, it also somehow felt right. Like this was how it was supposed to be. Women helping other women to do the impossible. To do this difficult and dangerous thing."
I'd say some of the things the characters say really give you a deeper insight into their minds and hearts. Here is a quote from one of Carter's chapters that shows how he is feeling at the time and gives us an insight into his ironic type of humor. "I've been shot. I've had my shoulders sliced open with razor blades over and over again to insert and remove chips. I've been in serious pain. You would think having your pulled wouldn't hurt in comparison.
Trust me it does."


1 comment:

  1. Awesome! I loved the first book! I can't wait to read The Lair!!

    ReplyDelete