The Treatment - C.L. Taylor

Reading Challenge Category: Author’s back catalogue book

Official Blurb:

“You have to help me. We’re not being reformed. We’re being brainwashed.”
All sixteen year old Drew Finch wants is to be left alone. She's not interested in spending time with her mum and stepdad and when her disruptive fifteen year old brother Mason is expelled from school for the third time and sent to a residential reform academy she's almost relieved.
Everything changes when she's followed home from school by the mysterious Dr Cobey, who claims to have a message from Mason. There is something sinister about the ‘treatment’ he is undergoing. The school is changing people.
Determined to help her brother, Drew must infiltrate the Academy and unearth its deepest, darkest secrets.
Before it’s too late.

My Thoughts:

I grabbed this book when it was cheap at the beginning of the year, not realising it was one of the author’s Young Adult fiction books. This wasn’t a problem, though, as everything Cally Taylor writes is utterly fantastic, gripping, and a guaranteed good read. This is no exception.
I think the storyline was perfectly fitting for teenagers. Had it been adults in the same situation, it wouldn’t have had the gravity nor been as thrilling. Teenagers, especially when already troublesome, are easily ignored when they make a claim such as the one in the blurb: “You have to help me. We’re not being reformed. We’re being brainwashed.” It is construed as another act for attention, making the reality of their situation that more chilling.
When Drew receives this message from her brother, who is at a reform school, she has to take matters into her own hands when neither her parents nor the authorities believe her. She finds a way to help her brother and is determined to do so, even if that costs her sanity and freedom.
The book is very well written; the characters are all very different and exciting. Every one of them that you meet you want the best for. It is all narrated from Drew’s point of view; there are no dual aspects or time lapses making this an effortless and straightforward read. There are plenty of shocks and hold your breath moments. I felt like I had to keep looking over my shoulder, making sure no one was there to cart me off. It gave you the perfect amount of anxiety that you want from this kind of story.
The ending was very fitting to the book, although it did seem a little rushed. The events that happen at the end are over only a few pages, and then we are a few weeks later getting a summary of what happened as a consequence. I’m not sure if I wanted more or just to feel like I was in the moment for a little longer as it did feel like a very sudden ending.
Overall, however, this is a brilliant read. If you’re not used to Young Adult fiction or are put off by that genre, don’t let that be why you don’t read this book. It is the author’s usual high quality of writing and is developed very well. Other than the characters being teenagers, this doesn’t feel like anything other than a Psychological Thriller.

Buy Now on Amazon