Book Review: The Treatment by C.L. Taylor

C.L. Taylor, the the Top Ten Sunday Times bestselling author of psychological thriller The Escape, is releasing her first Young Adult story. Is The Treatment as good as her previous books? Here are my thoughts on it:

Title: The Treatment

Author: C.L. Taylor

Published: October 19th 2017 by HQ Young Adult

Amazon | Amazon UK

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. 

Review: I am a big fan of C.L. Taylor's psychological thrillers. I have to admit though that when she said she was working on a YA book this time I got a bit worried. What if her clever and absorbing style didn't translate well to the new genre? But people, worry no more. The Treatment is an amazing YA novel. Actually it is an amazing novel. Full Stop. Perfect for both new and old fans of Taylor's.

The story is told from Drew's point of view, a sixteen-year-old girl. After a cry for help from her brother, who is in a reform academy for problematic teenagers, she decides to go to the academy herself, but what awaits there for her is like nothing she could have imagined. Teenagers are not being reformed at all... but brainwashed. From the moment she realizes what it going on, it's a race against time. She needs to do something, quick. 

The pace of the story is certainly fast, you don't even have time to breath while you follow Drew in this new dangerous environment. She is a clever girl though and soon comes up with different plans to escape. But, as you can imagine, they don't make it easy for her...

The Treatment is not only an action-filled thriller though, but also a really clever and thought-provoking read. C.L. Taylor presents us with a near future that could very much be real, which makes it even more terrifying. Think how "well" a brainwashed society would work... I am pretty sure this story will leave no one indifferent. 

Not only that, C.L. Taylor has quite a few surprises in store for us. I was definitely gripped with this story and I found Drew and the rest of characters really interesting and engaging. I was fascinated by all the thoughts Drew had during her stay in the academy.

I have read a lot of YA lately and The Treatment is definitely one my top reads. But I'm sure too that its gripping and twisted plot will also appeal the adult audience.

Rating: 5 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.