The Program Review

The Program by Suzanne Young

Hey everyone! As we all know, I'm very infrequent with my reviews, and after listening to The Pen Addict Podcast, episode 28, I think that I realized that my blog had problems. I think that I've been trying to become such a big blog by acting like other bigger blogs that I've lost my touch for reviews that represent me. So I'm just testing different ideas out and then eventually I'm going review more and I'm going to find something that works for me. I don't want to just let this blog fall to the wolves. I think this is my chance where I'm really going to post more and I want to keep this blog up so thanks for still following me or even just finding my blog. I appreciate all new readers and I appreciate everyone who stuck with me through all this crazy non-posting, blog craziness. I really want to get this blog off the ground and I think this is going to be home I'm going to work, but anyway back to today's post. Today I'm going to review The Program which is a book that focuses on a girl, named Sloane, in a world where suicide has become a pandemic, and the only cure is to wipe their memories in a treatment plan known as The Program.  NOTE: This is slightly spoilery, but I won't be giving away most of the main conflicts, because I'd much rather leave that up to the reader.

Cover - 

As much as I love this cover, I wish I could figure out who it was with Sloane on the cover. Is it James, or Realm? I absolutely love covers like this, but it really upset me when Oh wait, she goes into the program ALONE.

Plot - 

The plot of this book is about depression and features suicide and some other topics that might not be appropriate for young readers, or emotional readers. I personally didn't mind that it was focused around this type of world, and honestly I cried over the book. I do know that it is pretty much impossible for depression to become an epidemic, but the plot is quite good in this story. Sloane doesn't know much of what's going on, and although I usually hate when a reader is stuck in the dark, this book really caught my attention and kept me hooked.

Characters - 

Honestly, I didn't like the Sloane - James romance, although it was cute, it really just didn't seem to represent real love to me. I felt like it was just young love, nothing too real. As with Realm, I could see a slight future, but the way he treated Sloane sometimes turned me off. Sloane at times could come across as annoying and slightly bratty to me, but I actually think she was a decent character. 

Pros - 

~ Decent plot

~ Characters weren't too flat

~ I cried

Cons - 

~ Very strong subject choice

~ Reader kept in dark

~ I cried

Overall - 

My rating of this book is 3.5 / 5

Subject content took 1 away

Characters & Plot took 1 away

Cover added 0.5

I recommend this book for those who can handle the subject of this book, and don't mind some bad pacing. Readers, to like this book, have to share personality traits with Sloane, or they might find her bratty like I did at times.