Review : The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : The Remedy (The Program #0.5)
Author : Suzanne Young
Publication Date : April 21st 2015
Publisher : Simon Pulse
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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.

Personal Thoughts

Suzanne Young's The Program series is one of my all-time favorite dystopian books. It wasn't only a unique book, but it also tackled mental health issues. The ship in those books also had my heart aching with how beautiful it was. There were still some major questions unanswered at the end of the duology though, so when I found out that there was going to be a prequel to the series, I was beyond ecstatic. The Remedy was yet another thrilling novel from this very talented author.

The Remedy has the very disturbing premise of young people pretending to be dead teenagers in order to provide their families with closure. It's a truly dreadful situation that Suzanne Young explored, but she executed it so well. I felt so many emotions while reading The Remedy, but mostly I felt the grief of the families and the "closers". Like The Program and The Treatment, The Remedy was very much a character driven story line and it's one main reason why I cherish this series so much. It also helps that Suzanne Young is fantastic at characterizations. In The Remedy, we have Quinn, a closer. Quinn was an interesting character and I immediately felt a connection to her. There was something very relateable about her personality. When Quinn is assigned the task of pretending to be Catalina, a young woman who recently passed away, to give closure to Catalina's family and boyfriend, her whole world is turned upside down. Her forming an intense connection with the family members and Isaac, the boyfriend, wasn't the greatest idea and we see how her job as a closer slowly starts to eat at her. Her vulnerabilities, her fears and her grief were so palpable. The author did a phenomenal job at capturing the despair in Quinn's voice. Through Quinn, we also get to watch not only the downside and emotional impact of being a closer, but also the effects on the families. It was a very bittersweet experience.

The romance in The Remedy was a little complicated. Quinn has always had a bond with her ex-boyfriend, Declan, and theirs was a relationship that I quite liked. It was a comfortable relationship, but also one filled with swoony moments. When Quinn took up the Catalina job, however, she began to form a link of sort with Isaac, Catalina's boyfriend. Even though it felt like a love triangle, it wasn't exactly one because you knew how it was going to end from the very beginning. I also had a love-hate relationship with the final twists in this book. I went into The Remedy expecting it to be a standalone, so I was a little let down (and also incredibly frustrated) by the cliffhanger. Some major revelations were made at the end of the book. I loved them because they made me gasp out loud and screaming at how painful it all was, and also frustrated because I had absolutely no idea if there would be a sequel or not (I searched every nook and crook of the Internet and couldn't find anything!). I've heard murmurings of a sequel now and I'm crossing my fingers that that is true because I need more answers.

The Remedy was a unique YA novel that explored complex themes of human emotions. Relateable characters, swoony romance and crazy twisted plot turns - The Remedy has it all!

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon Teen for the e-ARC of The Remedy.