 |  |  |
The Remedy by Suzanne Young
Get jazzed: This review contains spoilers. {Also, I didn't know it was a prequel when I read it, which was kinda cool.}
This book was awesome! I had no idea what it would be about. I read The Treatment and The Program and they ended quite nicely. How could there be a third book? The whole series had always been low on my list of To Reads because it deals with a dystopic society where suicide is an epidemic. It was a little too close to our world for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be okay with how the issue of suicide was handled. I didn’t want it taken lightly or mocked or stigmatized. But I took the leap and got hooked on the series.
Part of what I enjoy about Suzanne Young is her portrayal of young love. She does not make it perfect or idealized or even that hot and steamy. She shows how awkward it can be, and how hard it is to know when it’s happening that you have a choice in how you feel. Her book’s underlying themes are dark but handled with a certain wry humor that I love.
At the start, The Remedy was a slow boil, plot wise. I got tired of the main character feeling sorry for herself. She felt unloved and alone and stuck in a hard, emotionally draining job. She didn’t have the gumption to quit or to make changes. *Yet*, her few friendships were strong. I especially enjoyed reading about how she interacted with Aaron, her co-worker. This kept me hanging on ‘til the plot brewed up.
And brew up it did, keeping me up until one a.m. reading. I got hooked in by the unique way the author intertwined hints about the main character Quinn’s past and present romances. She had a complicated history with an enigmatic boy, and current romantic feelings building for a new boy--her client. The plot picked up quickly and I began to lose track of which boy I was rooting for.
In the meanwhile, I fell in love with Quinn’s desire to be loved. It was pathetic but sweet and made me want to reach into the book and give her a huge hug. You slowly see why she is so desperate for affection and honest regard. Slowly, the larger plot unravels and !doggone it! the conspiracy threads back to the first two books. As this happened, I felt like I was watching a magic trick on a CSI episode during a Clue game. Yeah, I had to think hard and pay attention all while feeling the romantic drama building tension. So exhausting! But great.
I absolutely loved and respected the main character by the time she hit the critical juncture of her plot crisis. I learned something about sympathy and grief through her interactions with a family struggling with loss. She was really good at her job, and it was that defining trait that won me over. The surprise at the end and the eventual tie in with the other books was gasp worthy. I felt the rush all day after finishing the book.
Thank you, Suzanne Young! You did it again. But in a new way that both thrilled and satisfied me. Wow, that might be a weird way to talk about a book. Oh well, I bet you read it now.
Happy reading,
~gregorific
PS. Look what we have here! A sneak peek at the cover of the next in the series!
RSS Feed
