Review #41 - The Treatment by Suzanne Young

Trigger warning: suicide

Spoilers - Slight spoilers to The Program

The Treatment is the sequel to The Program. It's set in the near future in the US where suicide is an epidemic so teens are put into "The Program" which cures them but with terrible side effects. 

I really liked The Program but I found The Treatment pretty boring. I didn't really enjoy the plot as a lot of it involved hiding out in buildings and fighting which wasn't really that interesting. I think the real issue is that there is much less threat involved in this book so it doesn't have the suspense of the first book.

I really didn't like James in this book and Sloane was very drippy. I didn't feel like their relationship was particularly healthy either. The dialogue felt overly sentimental and I didn't feel like I really wanted them to stay together but it was portrayed that Sloane's mental health would deteriorate if she didn't have James.

If I were to try and tell you the feel of the sequel I'd say it was a mix between Catching Fire and New Moon.

I read the whole thing because it is a quick read. A really great aspect of this series is that it only contains two books which I really enjoyed. I hate feeling like I have to slug through three books in order to get an ending but this was conclusive and I do really admire Suzanne Young for that.

I felt there was no subtlety with this book, the dialogue spelt everything out to the author which was really, really annoying. It treated me like an idiot.

Also the cover is one of those American covers so the spine is gorgeous.

I would recommend this if:

You read The Program

You love reading series

You want a good old dystopia
You want a really nice American copy of a book on your shelves

I would not recommend this if:

You were upset by the themes in the program

You are upset by suicide

I gave this two stars

If you do want to buy this I get 5% commission from the book depository:

Hardback (the cover isn't accurate on this)

Review #26 - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake is the story of Snowman and his past life as Jimmy and the Children of Crake.

Miranda lent me her copy of Oryx and Crake as I'd never read any Margaret Atwood before. She's often heralded as this superb author - Margaret Atwood, not Miranda though I'm sure Miranda is good at writing - (to quote one of my sister's friend's mum: "she's a seminal author") and I did really enjoy her style. I found it different which is what I really loved because so many adult books have the same style and plot: "let's discuss family issues". The sentences were just constructed well and differently and creatively and I loved that.

I really liked the way that the story flicked from past to present a lot. At first the present is super confusing but then it becomes understandable as more of the past is revealed to us chronologically.

The ending is really ambiguous and I'm not sure if I'm ok with that yet. I know there are sequels but Miranda said they're really unsatisfying. I just like it when books finish neatly and wholly and this book didn't do anything like that. I think it's a shame.

I found it at first hard to get in to as the style is quite heavy. There are books that are more "academic" and require more concentration, for example anything by Jeffrey Eugenides. This book was fairly academic. It's not a light read. That being said I did really get into it when it started to become a little less confusing and it did really gain momentum.

I feel like this is the next natural step for someone who wants a dystopia which is a little more adult and serious because it is a dystopia and the human race has died out. It's quite political, in a science way, without being a corrupt government killing you if you're rebelling/different.

I would recommend this to you if you wanted to read:

A dystopia which isn't YA

A fat, home-alone-day book

A book with a social commentary

I gave this four stars.

P.S. I'm writing quite creatively today which sounds really artsy but really it's 11pm and I've spent the last four hours travelling and I can't be bothered to grammar.

Review #22 - Matched by Ally Condie

Matched is a dystopian young adult book where a girl, Cassia, lives in a society where they pick your job, death date and partner for you to maximise efficiency. Her best friend, Xander, is chosen as her partner and she is given an ID chip about him. When she puts it into the wall she sees another boy, Ky, as "her match" before it disapeers. And so the love triangle begins.

As dystopian society goes it wasn't nearly as inventive as Divergent or THG but I liked it more than Divergent and THG because it was far more complex. I really liked the relationship between the government and the people and how the people weren't super negative about their society because it felt more true to life.

There is a love triangle and as my friend Sophie (not me Sophie, this Sophie) once said "love triangles are unacceptable unless you're Shakespeare." With the exception of Sarah J Maas (who can do no wrong) this is completely true. I felt like she only really liked Ky because she wanted to rebel against The Society. She annoyed me a bit with the love triangle stuff it is not that hard to pick a partner.

I think my main problem with the love triangle is that Ky isn't particularly loveable. I feel like he's the douche with the guitar, artsy and will teach you how to write blah-dee-blah but he's more like a brother. I've just read books with Chaol and Etienne St Clair and Ky wasn't all that. He wasn't romantic.

The redeeming feature of this book is that it is really gripping. I always wanted to know what happens next and I did read it cover to cover in one day. If you want a new book to grip you, I would recommend this. I'm unlikely to read the sequel, despite the-sort-of-cliff-hanger.

I gave this three stars.

The book trailer excuse the awful acting.