The Program Review

The Program

Written by Suzanne Young
# of pages: 408

Average Rating: 3.99/5
My Rating: 5/5

Read in August 2013

Summary

In Sloan's world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program. 

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane's parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they'll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who's been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone - but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He's promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it's getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

My Thoughts

Right off the bat, I want to talk about the only issue that I had with this book. Being someone who suffers from depression, I feel like she didn't portray the struggle in the right way. Dealing with something like this you need medications, doctors, therapy, etc. Depression cannot be fixed just by erasing the bad moments out of a persons memory.

James. Oh my goodness. One of the things that I loved the most about this book was surprisingly the romance. Normally I find romance in a dystopian novel to be annoying, but in this book I was loving it. James was portrayed as a very likeable guy with a sexy attitude, but the way he was around Sloan was adorable.

There were parts of this book that broke my heart and made me sick to my stomach. I didn't want to keep reading, but I also didn't want to stop. This book played with my emotions, but in the end I am glad I had picked it up.