*REVIEW* Thumped

Synopsis:

THE CONCLUSION TO ONE OF THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT NOVELS OF LAST YEAR.

It’s been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. And now their story has become irresistible: twins separated at birth, each due to deliver twins…on the same day!

Married to Ram and living in Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once believed in. But she can’t forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell for under the strangest of circumstances.

To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything: a major contract and a coupling with the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.

The girls’ every move is analyzed by millions of fans eagerly counting down to “Double Double Due Date.” They’re two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and they could do only one thing to make them even more famous: Tell the truth.

Thumped is the conclusion to Megan McCafferty's Bumped and I have to say that it was a VERY satisfying conclusion to the story. While there were still some things that bothered me, much like in Bumped, I very much enjoyed this installment and was pleased and happy with where the characters ended up.

Thumped picks up many months after the ending of Bumped and we quickly learn that Melody and Harmony have become the hottest thing to ever hit the MiNet because both girls are pregnant with twins and should deliver around the same time. It's a story the world is following and both girls are the epitome of celebrity in their own worlds: Melody in Otherside, serving as role model for all teens hoping to hump and bump their way to fame and riches, and Harmony in Goodside, a role model on the power of redemption and coming back from a sinful past. If only everything was as it appeared to be...

Readers realize that Harmony and Melody are both living a lie, though of a very different nature. Will Harmony remain in Goodside, although deep inside, she knows that it's not the place for her or her twins to be? What will become of her and Jondoe if she never returns to Otherside? Will Melody tell the truth to the world, a truth that has the potential to ruin many lives but also may hold the key to radical change? Will she finally be honest with herself about her true feelings for Zen? Does a happily ever after await them all?

EEP! So many questions need to be answered and Thumped will answer them all. I think McCafferty does a good job pacing the story and letting the characters develop even more than they did in Bumped. I was able to discern a real difference between Melody and Harmony this time around, something that was lacking a bit in the first book. I like the direction the characters ended up going in and I'm happy to see growth in all of the characters, not just Melody and Harmony. I was most pleased with the growth in Ram and liked seeing more of him in this installment.

Unfortunately, it's not ALL positive... though I know it's a sign of the times in the book, some of the language of Otherside still plucked my nerves. I know that it's intended to be that way though so I don't truly fault the book for it. It just makes me feel a little neggy, if you know what I mean. My other complaint is something that should have been corrected and that was the number of errors in the text. I know that errors are common in books because authors and editors are human and it happens. But this book seemed to contain a LOT of them and my OCD-ness kept finding them as I scrolled through the pages (Kindle edition). Misspelled words, words being left out of sentences, ARGH. One or two or even three is one thing but I found NUMEROUS errors and that always bothers me.

The negatives of this book are definitely not reason enough to skip it though. Especially if you read Bumped and want to see all that happens. It's undoubtedly a strange world that McCafferty created but it's strange in an interesting way and it really makes you think what life could be like if something like "The Virus" were to become a reality. Enjoy! *XOXO*