Series: The Program #0.5
Published by Simon Pulse
Published: April 21st 2015
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n 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.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
To say I loved Suzanne Young’s The Program and The Treatment is an understatement. Those books messed with my head in the best of ways. I had a strong ‘what came first the chicken or the egg’ feel the whole time I was reading. It was the best of both worlds as it was real world with just a tiny twist to make it not 100% reality. It was flawless and perfect and amazing and I didn’t think I could love the story any more than I did. And then The Remedy happened to me. I knew where it was going pretty early on. I could feel it as I was reading, wasn’t surprised by the end, or the direction it took. Yet I was blown away anyway. Suzanne Young took a story I loved and made it into more.
The Remedy is a prequel to The Program. Honestly I don’t know the time frame but it has to be a while between books. The story is about Quinlan (love this name by the way) a 17 year old girl that is what is known as a Closer. Quinn has the job of mimicking a person after they have died to help give the grieving family closure. She’s been doing it for as long as she can remember and she good at it. When she is given an assignment that is against the typical one she must figure out a way to integrate herself in these people’s lives while not losing herself forever. And as she starts to bond with the clients things start to unravel in a way no one saw coming.
It’s hard to explain how hardcore I loved this book. There is something about the way Suzanne Young gives power to her words and characters that I fall head over heels in love with. I mean as soon as I was introduced to Quinlan, Aaron and Deacon I was in and I was in deep. Quinn and Deacon reminded me of James and Sloane from The Program. They had this thing about theme that just made them relatable, like you wanted to be part of their group, be the one that had their backs. The story was…just wow. It’s a heavy subject matter, grief, and Young dealt with it in a way that once again had me thinking. It broke my heart to see these families grieving enough to hire someone to play the part of a loved one. But I also understood that every case was one that needed some kind of closure. Just fantastic.
The short of it…read this book. Read this series. Like I said, I had a feeling how things were going to go down and I was still in love. I ached for these characters. I was completely immersed in their lives and their story. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it.
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