Erin’s Review
The Program by Suzanne Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Program is one of those stories that I just couldn’t put down. It is paced well and the story moves fairly quickly. I’m not sure if I can review this without ruining anything about it so I am going to spoiler tag this and you can decide if you want to read it or not.
Suicide is now an international epidemic and teenagers are now constantly monitored to prevent infection. Any sort of reaction or outburst that could be tied to suicide can land someone in The Program. The Program essentially wipes out a person’s memories and they come back as a new person. Depending on who you are in this equation, this could be good or bad. From the very first page we are introduced to the life these teens lead. It grabbed my attention and honestly didn’t let go until I finished the last page. The book is broken into sections – you get the before The Program (Uncomfortably Numb), during The Program (logically enough – The Program), and after Sloane’s release from The Program (Wish You Weren’t Here).
The story revolves around Sloane and James with some other pivotal secondary characters. (view spoiler)
With that reality facing her, Sloane starts displaying some “questionable” behavior and her mom does something that I consider unforgivable. She calls the handlers to come take her into The Program. Now, I get it…she was trying to protect her child from harming herself and didn’t want to lose another one to suicide but the way she did it and her response to Sloane’s fears about The Program just made me angry.
While in The Program herself, Sloane meets a number of people. The main person who she seems to latch onto (not by accident) is Realm. While she is definitely making progress with The Program, whether she wants to or not, he is the person she leans on to protect her as well as get her through the challenges. Now here is where people may disagree with me – I liked Realm. He definitely had an agenda and purpose but it was clear that as time went by, he started to realize he had feelings for Sloane. (view spoiler) He is absolutely looking out for himself and making sure she doesn’t ruin things for him but if/when she realizes what he did she most likely won’t forgive him….ever. During the time Sloane is in treatment, we learn more about what happens there and how it all works. We get background on how it actually works (medication and discussion) which I thought was interesting. There is a pivotal part early on in this section where Sloane interacts with Roger, one of the handlers. He essentially offers her a pill that will help her keep a memory. Desperate for anything, she agrees to the trade – I did find this to be one of those hard to read sections as he is blackmailing her for something she shouldn’t have to fight for. Regardless, she takes the pill and when she talks to Realm about it, he is clearly upset – not just about the trade but also the fact that it could have killed her and/or will have an effect on her once she is home.
Once Sloane is out, she is taken back to her parent’s home. She doesn’t remember anything but is oddly enough drawn to the same people that were in her life before the program. She quickly becomes friends (again) with Lacey and starts to interact with James. James is at first very closed off and can’t understand why he even cares about what happens to Sloane but he does. Once Sloane’s parents hear she is hanging out with James again, things start to unravel. Sloane can’t understand what the problem is and once again, her mom is creating a bad situation. I loved how in the beginning the thought was that if they were meant to be, they would find their way back to each other and when they do, certain people want to stop it. (hide spoiler)]
Surprisingly when I look at the characters I am more interested in James, Realm and Lacey than I am Sloane. I think it may be because we get so much of her throughout the story and I really want to know more about them. They have so many different layers and secrets that I am very interested in getting into their stories more…hopefully that comes in the next book.
I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series. It was a good place to create a break in the story but I honestly wanted a little bit more of the Anna/Realm piece as there were a number of unanswered questions for me based on the ending.
4.5 stars!
From the very beginning Young had me intrigued. The premise of this book was interesting and unique and I loved every second of it! While it may seem like this book is about suicide… it really isn’t. So please don’t let that deter you from reading.
Teen suicide is an epidemic. It’s rare that anyone Sloane’s age doesn’t know someone who’s committed it. Her school has become the launching pad for something called The Program. Anyone who shows signs of depression or sadness is removed and their minds are wiped clean, removing the ‘illness’ that has invaded during a 6 week process. This offers the teen a clean slate and hopefully removes any memories that may have triggered the disease. For some reason this disease seems to be only affecting teens so Sloane and all her friends are under constant watch by the Handlers and the fear of losing their memories is constant, many instead deciding death is the better alternative.
Sloane has watched her brother and best friend succumb to the disease and with the reappearance of her other best friend, Lacey, she struggles with the idea that The Program is beneficial… yes, it’s saving the lives, but at what cost? Isn’t it our memories and our friendships that help make us who we are? And once you lose those, is history bound to repeat itself or not?
James and Sloane’s story is the main focus here… seeing the evolution of their relationship… the dynamic between them so strong and solid in the beginning and then having to wade through what The Program did to them and the confusion and pain that occurred afterwards makes you question The Program and the solution they have come up with.
This is part of a series and I’m excited to see where the next book takes us. I had tons of questions by the end of the story and can’t wait to get more answers. If you’re looking for an intriguing story and plot, with great writing I would definitely recommend this book!
**Thank you to Simon Pulse for the ARC!!
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