The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Simon & Schuster, 2015. ISBN 9781481437653
(Age: 16+) The Remedy is a dystopian romance with a dark twist: it tells the story of Quinlan McKee, a 17-year-old, relatively normal girl with a very strange job: she's a 'closer'. She's an actor-of-sorts who takes on the persona of people who have recently died, and brings comfort and closure to their families, in an unusual form of grief counselling. But then she takes on the assignment of Catalina Barnes, who died a mysterious death, and uncovers secrets beyond what she thought possible.
The Remedy is a prequel to Young's other novels The Program and The Treatment, taking place in the same universe, and in this way it works perfectly well. The story itself is highly original and often very engaging - however, the writing style is quite simplistic and far from literary. For some this may be annoyingly plain, while for others it makes the story more enjoyable, but this mostly comes down to personal preference. It's worth mentioning that love triangles are often a point of contention when it comes to teenage novels, and The Remedy is no different. The love triangle here is quite well done - the only problem being that it feels underdeveloped, and this remains one of the major flaws in the novel. Because of this, and since the love triangle is such a key part of the storyline, the novel would have definitely benefited from being a bit longer.
Even though The Remedy is a prequel, it works quite well as a standalone book - nonetheless, it is of course aimed at fans of Young's other books, particularly The Program and The Treatment, and it is they who will most enjoy it, along with fans of teenage dystopian romance.
Rebecca Adams