Review: The Farm by Emily McKay

The Farm (The Farm, #1) by Emily McKay
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Publication date: December 4th, 2012
Number of pages: 420 pgs
Format: Paperback
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

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...

Have you ever come across something in a particular genre that was very unique? That is what The Farm is for me. While this story involves vampires, but McKay has written it in a very unique and special way, it will blow you apart.

McKay builds such ground-breaking worldbuilding for this story. tragic and courageous characters, with heartbreaking revelations and developments. This is a story which it's impossible not to fall in love with.  The way the author hooks you in, makes you care about these main characters and the world around them is utterly astounding.
Our main characters are twin sisters, Mel and Lily.  They are trapped at a camp they are desperately trying to escape from.  Lily has been looking after her sister for as long as she can remember. Mel has autism and is only able to communicate in specific ways.  When someone new and someone from her past comes crashing back into Lily's life, she needs to decide whether she can trust him. Is he there to help them, or capture them?

Lily will soon discover more about the Ticks, aka Vampires than she ever wanted to know before. It's the choice to stay and die, or leave and survive. There really isn't much choice, is there? Leaving the compound is only just the beginning of their journey. It's what happens after what matters. After things happen, Lily and her new friends have to decide what action needs to be taken, and if they can reach safety.

This is a very different kind of vampires than you have ever seen before. When I saw the word 'tick' I didn't actually realize it meant vampires, I thought they were actual ticks, you know.. those blood sucking insects. I can understand the relation to them though, so it kind of makes sense why they would be called ticks rather than the normal term of vampires.

The story is separated in three POVS.  Lily, Mel and Carter.  Mel's was a little bit getting used to given her thoughts are all jumbled from her disability, but the more you read of it, you soon understand that she is talking, but it's not in the normal words and sentences that we talk.
One final bit of thought, I really loved the relationship between Lily and Carter.  It's something that was taken from their past, and to realize there were those feelings still present... well, it drew me in and I wanted to learn more about them, and himself. Carter was an interesting character. He wasn't a victim. He wasn't afraid nor did he fear the vampires. he was prepared for them and had help. He wanted to make a different and rid the world of them, and get others out of these such camps.

I look forward to the sequel upcoming, to see where these characters take me next in the next installment to this series. To go along with the ride to wherever they go next.

Rating: 4.5/5