The Program by Suzanne Young
Published in 2013
By Simon and Schuster
Pages 405
Goodreads Rating: 4.06
My Rating:
"When suicide becomes a worldwide epidemic, the only known cure is The Program, a treatment in which painful memories are erased, a fate worse than death to seventeen-year-old Sloane, who knows that The Program will steal memories of her dead brother and boyfriend."
The Program is a dystopian novel that has a heavy focus on love. I was surprised with the amount of character focus and the lack of world-building. With that being said, I did enjoy this book. I enjoyed Sloane as a narrator because she is strong. A lot of things have happened to her, but she keeps going. Her boyfriend, James, is always there for her. When she is upset, she confines in him. In their world, teenagers have to suppress almost all of their emotions. If they are sad or act depressed, their parents can call The Program to have them taken away to be treated. The Program wipes away all of their memories, so they will no longer be depressed. This sounds all fine and dandy, but they can erase eveything. The doctors at The Program drug the teenagers and get them to tell them anything. This is necessary for the second set of pills they force them to take because these pills attack the memories that cause the patient any pain. I enjoyed the characters and the plot of The Program. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I believe that people who don't normally like dystopian would still enjoy it.
SPOLIERS:
If you haven't read The Program then STOP and come back after you read it.
There were quite a few predictable moments in the story. For example, Miller's death. I knew it was coming, but it was still so sad. Young did a great job making us love Miller, and then replacing our love for Miller with hate for The Program. Another example, Realm being a part of The Program. He was just too good to be true. I enjoyed reading his parts of the story. I still shipped James and Sloane, but I enjoyed Realm. He was the only person in the story was did not seem confused. He was just a fresh breathe of air.
Did anyone else want to punch Sloane's parents in the face? Her mom was so annoying. I understand that she was terrified to lose her daughter, but damn. Let Sloane morn. She has to put on this big fake front at school, so let her come home and let it out. People are killing themselves left and right. How else is she supposed to act? Sloane's dad was just bleh. I was he would have stood up to his wife.
It really bothered me how James started talking to Sloane right off the bat after The Program. Out of all the people in the school, he is automatically interested in her. Of course I wanted it to happen but it seemed too unrealistic for me. It also seemed weird to me how they could skip class so easily. If they were just labeled as a serious threat to themselves and they have to go to a special school to be monitored, I would think they would be watched more closely.
I'm excited to start The Treatment. I need to know what happens to everyone. With that ending, I need book two ASAP. What did you think about the book?
Until next time,
Bre
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