The Program by Suzanne Young
2/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2013
405 pages
YA Dystopia
Source: Received a copy through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
This title has been on my radar for a long time as an intriguing take on teenage suicide although I wondered how it would be drawn out and built up into a full-length novel. As I was reading, I told some people about how weird this reading experience was and I struggled to formulate my thoughts. I hope to do better in my review here with the caveat that there are some spoilers.
I think my first problem is the world. In this future world, there is an epidemic of teen suicide. The solution seems to be to put any teen who cries a lot or may be depressed into the program which strips them of their memories and emotions, leaving them alive but as empty shells. All of the adults think this program is the best thing ever: it keeps their children alive. I didn't believe that everyone would be so in favor of this program because the way the kids return renders them vastly different. What parent would be happy with that outcome? I don't see how they would think it was worth it.
The second problem was the overall point of this book. I expected exploration of depression and reasons for suicide. I never really felt like I got that and the ending seems to turn this book more into a rising up against the evil government kind of dystopia. It was a rapid change of pace to me and I didn't think that the previous pages had spent enough time setting us up for this kind of story. For the most part, it felt like a meandering contemporary romance.
As for that romance, well that's the third problem. The main character Sloane begins the book in a relationship with James. Both are sent to the program where their memories are stripped and their relationship is forgotten with Sloane starting up a new relationship with someone else. Yet those memories are not fully excised, setting Sloane up to fight to get those memories back through rebellion. I didn't feel the romance either way but the second guy is pretty sneaky and repulsive.
Overall: I found myself unable to connect with this book, kept back by banal characters and nonsensical plot turns.
Other Opinions-I seem to be in the minority for this one:
Blkosiner's Book Blog
Heise Reads & Recommends
Katie's Book Blog
Princess Bookie
The library just emailed that this book came in for me. You and I often agree on books, but not always -- I guess we shall see!
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics
I hope it works better for you-I had such high expectations and they were just dashed.
DeleteSuicide books usually grab me, but this one doesn't sound like it does an adequate job of dealing with such a serious topic. That's too bad. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever read a book seriously dealing with suicide which makes me feel some kind of gap in my reading. Do you have any recommendations?
DeleteSorry you couldn't connect with the story! I've been hearing great things about it lately and I'm really curious about it since I have my own copy now. Great review and thanks for your honest opinion!
ReplyDeleteJanina @ Synchonized Reading
Hope it works better for you-I am always so sad when a book disappoints me like this.
DeleteDon't feel alone. I wrote my review a few days ago, it goes up tomorrow. I felt the way, but so many people seem to love it. Great review. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure this will be very popular but I found it quite lacking.
DeleteWe haven't read the book so we can't speak to its merits or flaws, but we wanted to respond to one thing in your review:
ReplyDelete"What parent would be happy with that outcome? I don't see how they would think it was worth it."
As parents we can assure you that you will do pretty much anything to ensure that your child lives. Furthermore, some problems take time to figure out and fix -- being a "vastly different" version of oneself gives you that time, but being dead doesn't.
(Note: We're not saying a program or medication or whatever is the BEST or only solution for situations like this. Not at all!! Just saying that we understand the human instinct, the desperation to keep one's child alive, in spite of the serious and unfortunate consequences.)
Thank you for speaking more on this-I guess I was trying to get more at would parents really be so accepting of their child's complete personality transformation even as it kept them alive? The child becomes a shell and no adult speaks out. It made me feel like the book was playing to the smart kids/dumb adults trope and I hate that.
DeleteOh man. I only glanced at your rating because I'm reading this soon, but 2.5 stars? I'm sorry the book was a disappointment! I think this is one of the few low ratings I've seen, so I'll have to come back to find out what you thought.
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
I'll be interested to see what you think when you have a chance to read this-most people like it and I hope you end up being one of those too.
DeleteI skimmed over your review, because I don't want to be spoiled at all. I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed by the world-building and the romance.
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
It really sucked. Are you planning to read this? I hope you like it more!
DeleteAww, so sorry that you didn't enjoy. you know that I loved the romance, but I totally understand how it could be hard to take.
ReplyDeleteAs I think back on this book, I dislike the romance less but I consider it disappointing compared to my expectations.
DeleteOh Nelly that is a low score for sure. I was hoping to pick up and read this one too. I think I'll still give it a go but sorry you didn't connect with it!
ReplyDeleteThere's always a chance you'll love this one more especially because it has gotten a lot of praise from other bloggers.
DeleteOh yeah and ...whats the 1858 all about?
ReplyDelete1858 is the birth year of my favorite president Theodore Roosevelt who also happened to be a voracious reader and writer-he's one of my biggest inspirations!
DeleteOh no, I'm sorry to hear this didn't work out for you! I originally hadn't planned on reading it, but all the positive reviews made me want to pick it up. I'm reallly disheartened to hear it doesn't explore depression and suicide in a real, constructive way, but rather tries to go the dystopian route. The romance sounds like a disappointment too. I might still give this one a try to see what I think, but I'll adjust my expectations somewhat. Thanks for your honest review!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't planning to give this a read until I was able to get a copy through Vine. The positive reviews left me very excited but I was very disengaged from the book.
DeleteHmmm... yeah, I guess we disagree on this one. I loved this book and while I think that suicide could be explored more, it wasn't something I really thought of at the time. I was pretty happy with everything. I was unsure I could be sold on it, but I was, the author managed to convince me that this is something that could really happen. Not for a long time, but someday. I also loved the romance. Yeah, I wanted to slap Sloane once for a mistake she made, but I found myself loving how things went for the most part. I'm sorry you didn't like it more!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to read your review of this-I just wish I could have had more of the same feelings.
DeleteI'm not sure I'll like this book. I'm sorry it turned out to be disappointing for you. It is hard if you can't buy into the story and find it believable.
ReplyDeleteI really struggled with the believability factor-if that had rang more true to me, maybe this would have been a more favorable review.
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