Book review
Title: The Remedy
Author: Suzanne Young
Genre: YA/Romance/Sci-fi
Rating: *****
Review: The Remedy is actually the third book published in this series, but it is a prequel to the program, so I am reading it first. We are introduced to Quinlan McKee, who is a closer like her best friend Aaron. A closer is a person who temporarily lives with someone who has lost a loved one, for Quinn she plays the role of teenage daughters by changing her hair and eye color and learning as much as she can about the person she has to become. As her latest assignment ends she and Aaron had for their debriefing and Quinn seems a little worried especially considering Aaron’s contract ends in less than a month. We learn that most closers only have two contracts amounting to six years of service to the grief department, but Quinn is on her fourth largely due to her father’s influence, but we don’t know who her father is yet. Quinn also seems to be suffering side effects from working as a closer for so long as she is quite emotional although she fights to remain detached, she takes keepsakes from the families and her assignment and real memories are blurring together.
Shortly after arriving home Quinn learns she is going on another assignment in two days becoming Catalina Barnes for two weeks which normally isn’t allowed but this appears to be a very special case. As she begins trying to understand the person Catalina was she finds it hard to comprehend why Catalina`s boyfriend Isaac is going to be part of this closing especially considering he has repeatedly refused therapy. As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, the gang spend some time together before Quinn heads off on her new assignment and despite pretending to be normal there seems to be a lot of tension in the air as all are worried about Quinn but there is also a sexual tension between Quinn and Deacon especially considering their history but she seems to keep her distance from him as he doesn’t want to get into a serious relationship despite the fact they both have feelings for each other. When she arrives at the Barnes household and meets the family as Catalina for the first time, the dinner is interrupted by Isaac who seems to wants no part in the therapy but is undoubtedly the person who needs it the most and Quinn seems to feel a draw to him straight away which may spell disaster for her later on.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the only person Quinn seems to be connecting to as Catalina is her mother, her father is withdrawn, her sister angry and her boyfriend is dying inside but they are all refusing her help. On a day out with her “mother”, she decides to ditch the wig and get her real hair dyed and cut to match Catalina’s to make the illusion a little bit more real. I am beginning to get the sense that Catalina committed suicide, and nobody knows why and Quinn herself isn’t even sure of how her assignment died. A strange insight we get about Quinn is that she has been a closer from a very young age and has therefore been robbed over almost all of her emotional attachment and despite the rules she does find herself getting attached to the assignment’s families and friends and even imagines that their lives are hers because she doesn’t really have a life outside of closing.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Quinn is struggling with the assignment but has managed to break through to the father although Isaac is still withdrawn. We begin to learn more about Quinn as a person and how she is different from other closers. This assignment is different because both the family and Quinn break character at times and Quinn is becoming attached. The interesting thing is that Catalina has an email about a party that Angie is attending and decides to sneak out with Deacon’s help to observe Angie because she seems to be suffering as much as anyone else but like Isaac refuses help from Quinn.
Quinn and Deacon follow Angie but there doesn’t seem to be a way to get through to her but accidentally she makes some progress with Isaac, but she finds herself being drawn deeper and deeper into Catalina’s life and the love people had for her and Quinn finds herself wanting this life as her own. The following day she is planning to for lunch with Isaac, but she is realizing there are several inconsistencies in Catalina’s life, namely regarding the last section of her life and her death. Quinn’s suspicions are only high-end when she learns her father left drugs behind for her and that her partner Aaron who should be available for her has also been sent on a new assignment and the death is also undetermined like Catalina’s. The thing that is frightening Quinn the most is her growing attraction to Isaac but more specifically the love he has for Catalina.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, it seems that Quinn isn’t the only one getting attached, the Barnes family want Quinn to stay longer than the two weeks and Quinn is fighting with herself because she also wants to stay. We also learn through the father that they care for her not just as Catalina but as Quinn which is something she has never had before and even finds herself talking about her real life although mainly by accident like when she has to confess that she has a nut allergy.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, I was interested to see how this story was going to end and whether it would be good or bad for Quinn considering she has been offered everything she has ever wanted but it is coming from an assignment not the people in her real life. Despite everything she knows, Quinn can’t deny the way she feels and ends up kissing Isaac, although the following morning she does try to brush it off as nothing. Ever so slowly, Quinn is becoming more and more attached even to the point where Aaron reports her, and Marie makes an unexpected visit warning her to keep her distance, but Quinn has other plans. Despite having feelings for Isaac, Quinn knows he just wants Catalina and not her, but she seems determined to prove to him that he can love Quinn as Catalina and let go of the real Catalina, but it seems to be taking a mental and emotional toll on Quinn that she doesn’t seem to be aware of despite Marie, Aaron, and Deacon trying to convince her she is slowly losing herself to the assignment.
As we cross the ¾ mark in the novel, Quinn has a really bad night with Isaac and she realises that Isaac is turning her into Catalina and she believes that she is although she heads to Deacon’s place and he manages to bring her back to herself rather than pulling out of the assignment and getting another closer to finish it she decides to go back even after all the trouble she has had with this family trying to turn her into Catalina to replace the daughter they lost. After that night Arthur Pritchard the creator of the remedy pulls both Aaron and Catalina from their assignment and Quinn finds it strange that his daughter Virginia seems to be tied to these two assignments where both kids killed themselves and it seems that before they died they entered either a form of psychosis or they had a suicide pact of some sort but as she says her goodbyes Quinn is glad to be going home, glad to be herself again.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, some huge revelations are revealed that just completely blew my mind. While this story isn’t a whole one it is continued in the other prequel novel The Epidemic which I don’t own right now but will be getting soon to see how Quinn’s story concludes but I can’t wait to get into the Program very soon.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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