And I am not invested in it. This is probably why I am hyper-focused on the possible social commentary. As with many books of the genre, a love triangle is present. Teenagers running from the government to avoid brain damaged inflicted on them, testing a cure available in pill form despite high risks. The book directly refers to behavioral contagion. No other mental illnesses are discussed in the books, aside from a generic description of depression.
But depression in this universe seems to spread from person to person like a pathogen. The origin of the contagious depression is never fully explained. Defective vaccines and pesticides in food are offered as possible fringe theories. The Program is developed to combat teen suicide, and in turn, the pressure teens are under to avoid The Program makes them become suicidal.
I am sure there is a message in here somewhere about suppressing your emotions. Does it warn against over prescription of psychiatric drugs? Is it a critique of poor conditions that still exist in mental heath facilities today, or those of the past? At one point, I even wondered if the erasure of memories relates in anyway to the memory loss experienced by patients that undergo electric convulsive therapy. In an interview Young stated,.
To be honest, it was too hard. I have my own experiences that I brought into my books. Otherwise it hit a little too close to home. There is certainly is mistreatment and abuse occurring in our mental health system towards vulnerable people.
And this is especially true in cases when police are called, and patients are committed involuntarily. The Program, like some modern psychiatric hospitals , liberally uses restraints and sedatives on non-violent patients, and at times puts patients in isolation.
And unfortunately, sexual assault has and continues to occur in psychiatric facilities. While these comparisons can be made, I am ultimately left wondering what message, if any, Suzanne Young wanted to convey about mental illness or mental health treatment.
You are commenting using your WordPress. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories. Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James.
They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them. Get a FREE ebook by joining our mailing list today! Plus, receive recommendations for your next Book Club read. Originally from Utica, New York, Suzanne moved to Arizona to pursue her dream of not freezing to death. She is a novelist and an English teacher, but not always in that order. Visit her online at AuthorSuzanneYoung. With big questions still unanswered and promising twists, this first volume in a new series will leave readers primed for more.
Tell us what you like and we'll recommend books you'll love. Sloane and James are on the run after barely surviving the suicide epidemic and The Program. Escaping with a group of troubled rebels, Sloane and James will have to figure out who they can trust, and how to take down The Program. The key to unlocking their past lies with the Treatment—a pill that can bring back forgotten memories, but at a high cost. Ultimately when the stakes are at their highest, can Sloane and James survive the many lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end?
I can hardly describe the overwhelming disappointment that The Treatment brought me. Still, I had problems with it because of the many unanswered questions The Program left me with. I pegged them as cliffhangers, so I expected The Treatment answer them, particularly the ones about the suicide epidemic that wrought this society. Did I get those answers? The big issues were glossed over so much, I was mad at the end of the book. To me, The Treatment hardly contributed to the duology.
For the most part, nothing much happened. The Treatment was broken down into three parts. Part I came across as filler material. Nothing important happened until the last page, when finally! Seriously, the entire first part only continued where The Program left off without introducing compelling plot twists.
Sloane and James were on the run until they met the rebels. That was it. What happened to The Program and the suicide epidemic in that time? As if the fact that Realm and Sloane kissed in The Program was so much more important than their missing memories and the horrors they went through while locked up in the facilities of The Program.
Part II was a let-down because I held onto the hope that this book was going somewhere, especially when the all important question that bugged me surfaced. This should have gotten the ball rolling. The answer to that question in a nutshell: We will never know.
What a waste of my time reading up to that point. There was no update either on the progress of any cures for this depression that led to so many suicides. At least some answers did surface about how The Program came into being. Though even that part left me largely unconvinced. Because a love triangle is totally what that The Treatment needed to keep things interesting.
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