A twisted fix

The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Simon Pulse // April 21, 2015

hardcover, 416 pgs

ISBN: 9781481437653

source: egalley from the publisher

About the book:

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.

My thoughts:

The first word that comes to mind is twisted. Then interesting. 

Once I've thought it through and I'm over the shock of the twist in this series, I am able to think critically about the web that Suzanne Young weaved. 

She started with deep characters, and that stays true throughout the series. The characters in The Remedy are deep, but in a different way. Quinn is the central character in The Remedy. Her job as a closer makes her like a morphling... she changed with every assignment, just building on her base. Young made her vulnerable, scared, and a girl looking for her own life. As she built the new characters on top of Quinn, these personal pieces faded from the surface but were still visible. I see this as quite beautiful writing. And after finishing the book, I had even more of an appreciation for this. 

The other thing I really loved about this book was the psychological thriller aspect. I don't think the other two books contained as much as this one, and I felt compelled to know what is going on, what's coming next, and who is tied to it all. The answers, when they finally did come, left me shocked & disturbed - as good writing should!

The Remedy tells the story of what went down BEFORE The Program & Treatment. It adds a sufficient amount of creep factor and ties up some questions lingering from the previous books. This book is capable of standing on its own. You'll enjoy this if you've read the first books in the series, or if you happen to have an interest in how big brother could control us...

About the author:

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program series. 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. Suzanne is the author of The Program, The Treatment, The Remedy, A Need So Beautiful, and Hotel Ruby. You can visit her online at Suzanne-Young.Blogspot.com.

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Cover image, synopsis, and author information from edelweiss.com
I received an advance egalley of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review