In Sloane’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 at 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. (Goodreads)
I ended up DNFing this book at 13%. I was just so bored!! I feel like the hype monster has gone to his work and he has ruined yet another book for me.The premise of this book was really good and I was really looking forward to reading it – but it just wasn’t my thing.
I know that this book was supposed to be about depression in a way – depression has taken hold of the teenage population and has become an epidemic; but the characters came across as whiny and irritating and I just couldn’t take it! I hate why people in real life, let alone them ending up in my books!
There also seems to be very little world building and there isn’t really an explanation as to why depression has become an epidemic. It even says in the beginning of the book that no one knows what caused the epidemic in the first place.Although it is supposed to be in the near future (which is entirely possible) there is no set year or even a round about year.
Can I just mention how creepy the program really looks. These depressed teenagers go in with all their memories and not really of their own free volition, but then they come out with no real memory of who they are/were or the people that they knew. They are put into rehab facilities, so to speak, after they come out and are not placed back into society (even though the general population are told that they are). It is relatively creepy, if you think about it!
Having read other reviews of this book, this is very much what I like to call a marmite book. The reader is either going to love it or hate it. There isn’t that much in between. This book wasn’t really for me, which is a shame because the premise looked really promising. I ended up giving this book 1/5 stars.
I would still recommend this book to other people – just because it isn’t my thing doesn’t mean to say it won’t be yours!
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