The Remedy was wilting like a lettuce leaf in the 3-star range for me — and then HELLO TO THAT EPILOGUE. How can three final pages change everything so suddenly and horrendously?! I can’t…I…NO. Basically this book is incredible. I have a few twitchy comments, but mostly? Woah.
But before we dive in: YES. This is a prequel to The Program. It’s also a full-sized novel, and is about completely different characters and is set in a world BEFORE the Program begins. I read The Program (1) and The Treatment (2) before The Remedy (0.5) but I think you could read The Remedy as a standalone. It’s BRILLIANT.
Did I say that already? BAH. It bears saying again.
So let’s talk about the mega-weird premise. It wins ALL THE AWARDS for uniqueness…and then oh, gosh, what even is this madness. Basically there is a company that allows you to hire people who will go take the place of a dead-loved-one in your life and coach a family through the grief processes. It’s “therapy”. It’s designed so the family will be able to “say their goodbyes”. The families hire these “closers” to come and pose as the deceased. ISN’T THAT KINDA CREEPY?! (It is. Don’t deny it.) And the book definitely acknoweldges that feeling because Closers get abused a lot by people who think their job is sick. But, ultimately, they do help the families get closure and move on with their lives. Sometimes saying that final “goodbye” or “I’m sorry” or “I love you” is what they needed to move on. Obviously everything goes completely haywire in The Remedy.
There’s mystery and secrets because noooo one is telling the truth or giving all the details. And the dead-girl the main character, Quin, is there to impersonate died by “unknown causes”. DUM DUM DAAAAAA. MYSTERY IS ON THE HORIZON!
Okay but I do have a twitchy glare for The Remedy for just ONE reason. The characters are EXACTLY THE SAME as in The Program. Oh yes, they’re not The Program’s Sloane and James. Meet Quinlan and Deacon. Adorable, angsty, hot-and-cold relationship, she’s nice, he’s moody…so any of this sounding familiar?!
Their personalities were identical! Their voices were the same! It was a 380-page DEJA VU moment. Not okay. New characters needs to equal new personalities.
It’s totally an emotional read, but not exactly satisfying. I still have a bucketload of questions about the world. Like: this book is the prelude to the suicide epidemic, but I still don’t know WHY the epidemic started. The ending raised MORE questions instead of answering them. The company had huge holes in their reasoning. And then, the biggest question: WOULD HAVING A FAKE-DAUGHTER TO REPLACE YOUR DEAD-DAUGHTER ACTUALLY HELP?! Quin is supposedly helping with closure, but when we see her at work she a) doesn’t give any grief counselling, b) spends her time acting as the dead-daughter when isn’t she supposed to be helping them come to grips with the daughter being dead? and c) the book says everyone is quite emotionally cold to be able to survive the job, but Quin sure ain’t.
I spent the whole book feeling hot and cold towards it. I LOVED it one minute, and then had too many questions the next.
Ohhhh but the ENDING IS TERRIFIC. It ties into The Program in this incredibly sickening twist that just made me scream. The epilogue HURTS. It just kind of stabs the entire book in the face. I WAS SO IMPRESSED. And the plot twist?! The plot twist is INCREDIBLE. And mean. And awful. And how could this book do this to me???!
I’ve read 3 Suzanne Young books now and I’d read more in a heartbeat. Because, you know, paaaaain. LOVE IT.
Thank you Simon & Schuster AU for the review-copy! The Remedy by Suzanne Young was published April 21st, 2015.
In a world before The Program…
Quinlan McKee is a closer. Since the age of seven, Quinn has held the responsibility of providing closure to grieving families with a special skill—she can “become” anyone.
Recommended by grief counselors, Quinn is hired by families to take on the short-term role of a deceased loved one between the ages of fifteen and twenty. She’s not an exact copy, of course, but she wears their clothes and changes her hair, studies them through pictures and videos, and soon, Quinn can act like them, smell like them, and be them for all intents and purposes. But to do her job successfully, she can’t get attached.
Now seventeen, Quinn is deft at recreating herself, sometimes confusing her own past with those of the people she’s portrayed. When she’s given her longest assignment, playing the role of Catalina Barnes, Quinn begins to bond with the deceased girl’s boyfriend. But that’s only the beginning of the complications, especially when Quinn finds out the truth about Catalina’s death. And the epidemic it could start.
Goodreads Bookworld AU Book Depository Simon & Schuster AU
so we have to talk about the mega-weird premise. does it sound viable to you? and how do you feel when you read different books by one author and…everyone sounds the same?? (have you ever had that happen?) also: are you going to read The Remedy?! I RECOMMEND IT.
So strange: I just tried clicking on your post that’s sent to my email and it came up with a security message saying that there seemed to be something wrong with the server; that it wasn’t Paper Fury (said something like that).
This sounds like such a strange idea for a book, but interesting. Why would anyone want to replace their loved one? They must realise it isn’t really them, so what’s the point? I wonder if it would really provide closure? Everyone’s different, I suppose…
It’s difficult when a book is hit-an’-miss, and then the ending’s really good because it makes it even more difficult to rate.
ERK. It did that for me too. *panics* I'll google how to fix that. It's a bit odd. I guess this idea really would NOT work for really black-and-white people?! I mean I do get that need to want to cling to someone who's faking your deceased-love-one, because of denial and everything. Buuut, YES. Books like this are so so hard to rate. >_<
I think the premise is fantastic. It’s not necessarily something I would read, because speculative thrillers are not quite my thing, but it raises beautiful questions about life. One book that was totally made 10000x better by the ending was Gone Girl — everyone was raving about it, I slogged my way through the first half, picked up a little in the second, and OH MY GOD THE ENDING WAS TERRIBLE BUT BEAUTIFUL ALL AT ONCE.
… to be honest I think we read mainly for pain …
I'M TOO SCARED TO TRY GONE GIRL. I thought it was about a court case and went to see the movie. HA HA AHA HAHHA. No, Cait.I was terrified.
I read one book which Suzanne Young cowrote…and it was rather a disappointment. I think I read a chapter of the Program when my friend had it… and it didn’t really strike me as anything special…. If it hit you in the feels though… I might have to rethink Suzanne young. Bland voices are the worst though.
Some megaweird premises are hilarious (mother ship: pregnant teenage girls take on the aliens who are their babies fathers) and some don’t work at all
The Program tooootally got me. TOTALLY. I wasn't even expecting it but I loveloveloved it. AHHH. But yes, downsides to the style of writing, but, awk. The ending of The Remedy made me shout quite irrationally. :')
ooOoOoOOOOO I’m intrigued now. I wasn’t going to read it, but I mean come on, it’s you. I DID read The Program but didn’t like it sadly (me and dystopians are not a good fit). But it does sound verrry interesting.
This one is definitely more contemporary-ish than The Program. BUT THE ENDING COMPLIMENTS THE PROGRAM PERFECTLY. Also it's pretty. Come on, Emily, join me being shallow. Reeeead it. (But, haha, just kidding. If you didn't like The Program, I'm not sure you'd like this. xD)
I neeeeeeeeed this book. So much. I keep hearing so many things about that ending that I am VERY intrigued, haha. I also seem to like putting myself through the pain of cliffhanger endings, haha! (Wow. That sounded terrible. But still. A meh book with a great ending can do wonders for me.) Anyway, I enjoyed The Program (still haven’t read The Treatment, though) so I can’t wait for this one. ^_^
YESSSS. READ IT ASAP AND THEN FLAIL WITH ME ABOUT THE ENDING THAT HURTS MY BRAINCELLS AND MAKES ME CRY. And laugh. I mean, basically laugh/cry/giggle/die. It's a thing, it totally is.
Is that a How To Train Your Dragon quote I spy? *High-fives you* Awesome! XD
Hmm… I think it could be viable if how the job actually worked was explained. I don’t understand how having someone sit in front of you dressed as your lost loved one would make you feel any better since you would know that that person was dead…
Josh and Zach. Nick and Hale. Noah and Alexei. Every Ally Carter girl seems to end up with one sweet, funny guy and one mysterious, slightly possessive one. Just saying. Have you ever been guilty of this in your own writing? I don’t think I have. I mean, I’ve had characters who are delibrately slightly altered versions of characters from scrapped ideas before, but I’ve never had characters who act EXACTLY like others. I’d get bored.
*grins conspiratorially* YOU WIN THE COOKIE, THAT'S FOR SURE. Ah, yes, I can totally see that pattern in Ally Carter too. *nods* And am I guilty? I THINK SO. I mean, I try awfully hard, obviously, because this is definitely a thing I'm super aware of. But I often freak that my characters sound too similar. Although once I had a little fun with this and I have two characters in one book who basically have the same mentality/personality…and each are on either side of the battles (good vs less good) soooo it's an interesting contrast.
i need to add this series to my list! i have heard of the program but did not mind at all and this the remedy is pushing me to read the series. great review as always! 🙂
Omg, I love your blog name!! AHEM. But yes, totally check it out if you get the chance!
Ooh, that premise does sound weird! But kinda cool. Hm, I might have try that in the future…what’s the language/romance like?
I read Second Chance Summer, and the main character Taylor reminded me slightly of Emily from Since You’ve Been Gone. I guess technically Morgan Matson wrote SCS before SYBG, but still…but Second Chance Summer is very good. The romance wasn’t amazingly adorable, but I loved how the book was about family. The ending was so perfect; i don’t read cancer books normally, but this–EEP. SO GOOD!!!
Ohh, um, I can't honestly remember in detail, but the romance was definitely low-key (there's lots of ex vs her and then the fake boyfriend) so it's THERE, but it doesn't get wild, if you know what I mean? I don't think there was excess of swearing, but there'll be some there. x)I NEED to read Second Chance Summer. GAH. I keep getting reminded of all these books I have to try, haha. But yes, eh, it's kind of weird when this happens right?
Awesome review!
I have The Program, but still have yet to actually read it. *sigh*
BUT The Remedy sounds amazing and the premise is like “What?? Are you kidding??”. Kind of creepy, yet very intriguing.
AND PLOT TWISTS. I do love a good plot twist. I’ll definitely have to pick this one up. The question here is: do I read it before or after The Program?
WE JUST NEED TO STEAL A BUCKET OF TIME SO WE GET A CHANCE TO READ ALL THESE BOOKS. Excellent plan actually…ohhh gawsh. What I would do if I had time to read ALL THE BOOKS. heh.I would probably say after The Program, because the Remedy ending will mean SO MUCH MORE.
This sounds super interesting! Do you think it would be okay to read this before the series? Or should I read the series before this?
I tend to like to read the prequels first, then the actual series, but with this I don’t know if I should.
You could totally do it either way. Imho, I think reading The Program first would make ALL the difference. (I actually am not a fan of The Treatment. haha. It feels like filler? So read The Program and then The Remedy. xD)
Mega-weird is RIGHT up my alley. And yay for eleventh-hour plot twists!
Mega-weird is aaaawesome if it's done well. AND IT'S DONE WELL HERE. Eleventh-hour?! I haven't heard of that before. That is awesome.
Usually, when I read more than one book by an author, they’re part of a series, so the characters are the same, anyway. In most of the other cases I can think of, like with standalones by the same author, the characters are different enough that I don’t notice similarities. I guess that’s a good thing!
I haven’t read all that much about this particular series. I’m not sure if I want to read it or not. Although, I am intrigued by an epilogue that “stabs the entire book in the face”. LOL… That’s got me curious!
Ha! Yes! When it's one series it's not an issue. But all these standalones. *gulps* I've noticed John Green's characters tend to sound similar? Same with Ally Carters. 😐
WOULD HAVING A FAKE-DAUGHTER TO REPLACE YOUR DEAD-DAUGHTER ACTUALLY HELP?
LOL! Having not read these books and knowing nothing about the plot, this was a VERY WEIRD SENTENCE TO ME.
MY REVIEWS ARE FULL OF WEIRD SENTENCES THOUGH. Omg, I say the most random things. WHAT EVEN IS MY BRAIN.
It sounds extremely weird. And so suits me perfectly. I’ll take it! *grabby hands* BUT. I think I may start with The Program first. I just like reading a series and then going to back to read its prequel.
DUDE. YES. Start with The Program, because The Remedy finale will mean soooo much more.
I’m one of those people who is pretty easily swayed by the quality of a book’s ending. There have been a couple of books that got rated way too high just because I enjoyed the ending so much. However, I’ve never had a case like this when the book was average at best, but then the last few pages were incredible. Generally it just happens that I think a book is enjoyable enough, but not great, but then the last 40/50 pages really ramps it up. However, when I think of epilogues that changed everything plot-wise, the last twenty or so pages of A Dance With Dragons, which I just finished, definitely fits there. The implications of it are staggering when you think about them. I know I’m being really cryptic but I don’t want to spoil anything for you!
I actually haven’t heard of this book and I’m not sure if I’ll give it a go. Your review was very comprehensive and I don’t think I’d be able to stomach a book that inconsistent and imbalanced. Generally, I like my books to either be constant action or a slow build towards a huge climax (whether that climax is an emotional one or action I don’t care). I don’t like books that are lazily written the whole way through but suddenly a couple of pages at the end are great. That seems to me like the author didn’t put enough effort in. Anyway, really interesting review and you had some great points.
AHHH YOU ARE MAKING ME SO CURIOUS FOR DANCE OF DRAGONS!!! *flails* I thought I'd start Clash of Kings now, buuut, I think I'm going to wait for the audio. Idek, I just like the narrator. ^-^ So I may be a loooong long time before I'm up to ADWD. Gah. SO CURIOUS. x)Aw, I'm glad my review made sense, though. SCORE FOR ME. eheh. Sometimes I get a bit too weird with the way I throw words together. haha.
I’ve read The Program and loved it! The Treatment was a little more meh for me, but still really enjoyed it despite the glaring lack of conclusion. I mean, I had questions and they weren’t answered. So when I heard this one coming out, of course I clapped like a deranged seal. But… But… You were left with questions, and it’s not as though this is a little novella either, it’s a huge hunk of a book. New characters need their own voices, not to echo those of previous characters. I’m so torn now, but need to know what it is about that ending. I have an ARC on my Kindle, so going to move it up and read it soon. Lovely review smushy and sorry you couldn’t have enjoyed this one a little more <3
I was a bit ambivalent about The Program a while back, but I think that’s because when I read it it was in the middle of that huge dystopian craze we had a few years back and I was probably just sick of dystopians whilst reading. 😉 I’m curious what I’d think if I reread it, and your review for this really has me convinced. I’m glad this was an engrossing prequel – even if the premise seemed a bit weird to you. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! ♥
Did you ever read The Treatment?? I…did NOT like that one. Eh. It was just running around being angsty after the emotional turmoil of The Program. *cries* So #0.5 and #1 are definitely superior. Ohhh, but mood does make a difference right?! AND FADS.
My first thought was, “That sounds like a strange book”. My second thought: “It’s brilliant.” Definitely something I would enjoy reading. Part of me wishes I had come up with an idea like this book because it’s soooo intriguing. Oh well. I might just have to get this book next time I visit the bookstore…
I know right?!! The author is INSANELY talented to think up stuff like this! It would never ever occur to me. LOVE THAT.
I initially thought it was a lone prequel but then today, I got a pulse it email and apparently it’s another duology and I’m like YES.
For me, I was able to connect with Quinn a lot and maybe it’s because i was able to connect with Sloane too. I didn’t actually find them to be the same. Quinn has a problem where she almost goes crazy in thinking that she’s someone she isn’t while Sloane seemed… stronger to me. Plus, James was a lot more genuine than I felt Deacon was.
I LOVED the ending even though there were holes and I’m expecting the next one soon!
OMG REALLY?!! YAAAAAY. I can rest easy now. ^-^ Because I totally thought that it left itself WIDE OPEN with that epilogue for more books, but I thought this'd be it. So, my day = officially made. I definitely loved James more than Deacon. But, see, that's super interesting that my interpretation was the two couples was similar and yours is that they're not. XD I FIND THAT SO INTERESTING. Aka…everyone needs to ignore my review and read the book. 😉
What an intriguing concept — this isn’t the kind of book I’d normally read, but it certainly sounds VERY unique. And now I’m really curious. Thanks for sharing!
It's one of the weirdest (most original!) books I've read this year, that is for SURE.
Um, that is messed up! But delightfully so, and I want to read it! I think I have The Program and The Treatment, but haven’t read either. I will though! And then The Remedy, or maybe not even in that order, I have no idea! What is the best order to read them in? I mean, I should probably start with the ones I have.
As for different books where everyone sounds the same… hmm. I don’t THINK I have, but I also haven’t read a LOT of multiple books/series by the same author (which, saying it, strikes me as weird). Anyway, I will definitely read The Remedy, if only for the amazing ending!
Read The Program first, then The Remedy….and MEH TO THE TREATMENT. hehe. I'm horrible, but yeah, I thought The Treatment was a complete waste of space.
I have not read this series, but I think I need to. That is impressive that an epilogue changed your entire feelings about the book. I have never read an epilogue like that before. That may change though. 🙂
This sounds cool! I think I have to add this to my Goodreads. XD So many books to read. Not enough life.
AMEN TO THAT, MY FRIEND. IT IS THE BOOKWORMS' STRUGGLE.
I’ve been seeing this book off and on around different blogs so I have to say I’m curious to read it although from your review, yes, yes, yes, it sounds hella creepy BUT needless to say, I like things like that so I’m going to give it a try. (It also may or may not have something to do with the dark clouds outside right now) 0_o I’m heading over to Goodreads now to put it on my TBR shelf! 🙂
Yaaaay! You have made an EXCELLENT life decision.
DAMN IT! Now I want this book in my life. I loved The Program, but was disappointed with The Treatment because it didn’t give me any answers. Looks like this won’t either, so I will probably be super frustrated but the story sounds good enough that it won’t completely ruin it for me.
I was ridiculously disappointed in The Treatment. >_< Bu this is more on The Program level of awesomeness (thank goodness)
THAT ENDING THO. DAMN. Now I’m super interested. I was on and off with this book as well and thought it was pretty snazzy here and there. BUT WITH YA. We needed more personality. I wasn’t a big shipper or anything in this one. In fact, I could are less about the romance HAHAHA (for once)
Oh I completely agree! The romance was NOT the best feature… >.> Which is fine, I just, yes…it brought out a lot of hot/cold feelings. BUT ZOMG THAT ENDING.
So does this mean that Quin is Sloane?
Ah, no, I don’t think so? This is a prequel to the Program!