Originally from New York, Suzanne Young moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She currently resides in Tempe, where she teaches high school English. When not writing obsessively, Suzanne can be found searching her own tragic memories for inspiration. 
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Treatment is book two in The Program series by Suzanne Young. This story picks up shortly after The Program left off and Young takes the reader on an action packed ride that includes some great characters, an interesting story, and non-stop action.
Sloane and James are running from The Program and looking for the rebels. At the same time, they have talked about the pill (The Treatment) that Realm left for Sloane and the fact that it could bring back all the memories of whoever takes it. Sloane doesn’t want to take it because she knows she will never be that person again and while James struggles to figure out who he is, he also knows he would never take it without her because he will always want to give her that choice.
When Sloane and James meet Dallas and Cas, the welcome wagon for the rebels, they are definitely unimpressed. I’ll admit it, at first I didn’t like Dallas and I couldn’t really figure her out. She would act friendly but interject comments or innuendo toward James that if I were Sloane, I probably would have decked her. As her story unfolds, I see why she was the way she was and when Realm joins the group, she only gets worse toward Sloane.
While Lacey escaped with Sloane and James, she hasn’t been the same since she found out Kevin didn’t make it to the meeting location. Since getting to the safe house, she has been depressed and acting in a way that has caused Sloane and James to worry. When they return from the Suicide Club to find Lacey gone, they know she is back with The Program and they are compromised.
As the group travels to stay ahead of The Program, Realm finally joins them. Sloane and Realm have an interesting relationship and it causes some problems for Sloane and James. She absolutely loves James but Realm is the person she found while in The Program and developed a friendship/relationship with him prior to finding James again. While she cares about Realm, she knows he is hiding something…she just doesn’t know what and he won’t tell her. (view spoiler)
A lot happens in the book and I don’t want to give anything away but I think it is safe to say that things definitely come to a head. Sloane eventually finds out more about the people around her and really doesn’t know who she can trust outside of James. Because of some things that happen, she also finds out what is the final step for those people in The Program that are considered the problems. Clearly The Program can’t eliminate them, but they have other ways of “treating” them and as Sloane realizes what is really at stake for her and Dallas, she is determined to fight and do whatever she can to save them.
As if that isn’t enough, while evading The Program, we learn more about what The Treatment really is as well as how The Program evolved over time. Sloane and James are definitely enemy number one (and two?) for The Program because if their stories get out and the background around The Program, it will definitely create problems. With that in mind, one of the key new characters is Kellan; a reporter who has been trying to break the story and find out more. To do that, he has infiltrated the Suicide Clubs and eventually runs into Sloane which changes everything.
I thought Young did a wonderful job of wrapping up this series and keeping me engaged in the story. There are definitely some interesting new characters and some great returning characters. While it may seem there is a love triangle…it fades quickly as the story progresses. If you enjoyed The Program, definitely check this book out when you can. It continues with its unique plot and Young does a great job integrating some new characters into the continuation of the original story.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon Pulse for the review copy.
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