Book Club: The Treatment

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Author: C. L. Taylor
ISBN: 9780008240561
RRP: $19.99
Publisher: HQ Young Adult
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher

C.L. Taylor is an established author in the suspense genre who is now spreading her literary wings a little. The Treatment is her YA debut and the first of her works that I have read.

The Treatment is a story that echoes with similarities to many other stories. I had a lot I wanted to say about the similarities and what they made me think of, days ago when I started the review and when I finished the book but once again life got crazy and reviews got left behind.

Teenagers often push boundaries and test limits which impacts on the adults in their lives, especially the authority figures in the family. From the perspective of the adult, especially a step-parent, that can be really hard to live with and there are times many of us wish we could just do something to bring them back into line.

Adults look at teens and think that this is our next generation, this is who we are handing safe keeping of our society over to and when it’s troubled teens you are looking at it can be quite a scary proposition. Those already in charge of society, or a section of it, can be quite protective of what they’ve built and the thought of these tearaway teens taking over could be terrifying, what will they do to all our hardwork? These are the people in a position to be able to do something about that.

I remember often hearing people threaten boarding school or military school, send them away somewhere so that someone else can instil some discipline and to an extent that’s what this is doing. Troubled teens get enrolled in a program at a high class academy for behavioural therapy to transform them into dedicated and focused young people with a desire to do something good in society.

Drew Finch is a bit of a loner, getting most of her interaction through anonymous websites and blogs. She is worried when her troubled fifteen year old brother is sent away to reform school but there isn’t much she can do except keep doing what she’s doing and wait for him to come home, until she gets a mysterious message that leads her to believe that there’s more going on at the academy than they are meant to know.

Loner she may be but Drew loves her brother and would do anything in her power to protect him. How far will she go to get him out before it’s too late?

Taylor has written quite an engaging story that drew me in and had me wanting to know what came next and how she would get herself out of the trouble she threw herself into.

The story wasn’t as fresh and original as I would have liked it to be, it seemed to be a bit of an amalgamation of a lot of other storylines but it was well written and well executed. The characters were both realistic and relatable and a lot of the interactions between teen characters were terrible to watch but very true to life. Bullying is rampant among teens and can be quite demoralising, Taylor uses that to shape her characters and it was quite disturbing to eavesdrop on at times.

The whole premise of this story is completely terrifying, more so because in a lot of ways it’s completely plausible. The story is a psychological suspense so I don’t want to say too much.

Drew is determined to save her little brother by any means necessary but how can you save someone from something that there’s no real information about….

I enjoyed the story, there were a few unpredictable twists which I really loved and the conclusion leaves us with an inkling that it’s open for a sequel which I would definitely check out.

Thanks go to HQ Young Adult for supplying a copy of The Treatment for review.

C.L. Taylor can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and her website.

The Treatment is published by HQ Young Adult and is available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.

Thanks to HQ Young Adult 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading The Treatment so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.

 

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20 thoughts on “Book Club: The Treatment

  1. Thank you for the opportunity to review The Treatment by C L Taylor, although I don’t usually read young adult books I did enjoy this one although the plot was a bit predictable but wouldn’t be for the ages it’s aimed at. I’ve passed the book onto my 21 year old daughter as it’s more her type of book. I would recommend it to young adults and older adults it’s an enjoyable and it’s nice to have a change from what I usually read. I loved the twists and turns and it kept me enthralled till the very end which is always great.

  2. The Treatment by C.L. Taylor is an excellent book for young adults to read. The Treatment follows the story of 16 year old Drew Finch who is being bullied at school. Drew feels isolated as her brother, Mason has been excluded from school for anti-social behaviour and sent away to Norton House, a residential reform academy, her biological father went missing many years previously, her mother remarried and she does not get on with her step-father Tony.
    As Drew is being chased by her bullies on her way home from school one day, she is confronted by Dr Rebecca Colby who gives her a message from her brother, Mason. Dr Colby was a psychologist as Norton House and everything is not as it seems. The academy is not just reforming the students to make them better people but is in fact brainwashing them to act and conform to societies standards of a ‘good person’.
    As Drew learns more from the sister of a former patient of Norton House she is convinced that she must help her brother. What follows is a gripping read as Drew herself is sent to Norton House to help her brother and other inmates escape. With a major twist towards the end of the book I found the last couple of chapters hard to put down.
    Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Harlequin Australia for allowing me to read this exciting book.

  3. A lot of the books I have read as of late have been difficult to get my head around, so it was nice to read a young adult book that I could really dive into and not put down.
    C.L.Taylor has done a wonderful job with The Treatment and it is a book I will be handing to my “young adults” to read too as I think they would enjoy it and take away a lot from it.
    The characters are well developed – you love those that you are supposed to (like Mouse) and others really get under your skin (like Jude and Lacey). Various issues that kids face are also well developed and covered in this book which makes it even more relatable.
    A great read. I will be looking into more books by C.L.Taylor for sure!

  4. Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read a genre that I normally wouldn’t read. Initially, I was hoping my 11 year old son would read it as a good intro to YA fiction but unfortunately he didn’t enjoy it that much as he may not be ready for this type of storyline? Anyway, it was a good chance for me to read something different and I found the characters very true to life and facing relevant issues that tweens and teens face in todays life, especially confronting some rights and wrongs and making some huge decisions that may or not be the correct ones to take! Sometimes difficult when your memory is not what it used to be…
    There were a lot of plot twists and some shocks and sometimes I found it hard to follow but the crux of the story was good and would engage someone who is into these kind of neo-sci fi adventures.

  5. C.L. Taylor explores some mysteriously dark undertone in this ya novel and as a reader Id highly recommend to the older end of the ya scale to read. Great for any adult read who enjoys a YA novel with a great story line and strong plot. CJ Taylor touches many factors within this story, bullying, personality growth and some out of the box mind altering moments. THings that make you acutally think are these legit aka brain washing !!

    While the book mainly focuses on the two siblings within the story. While the story is well put forth it certainly gives the reader much room for thought, Makes you wander if this could happen in our future ? Food for thought so to speak.

    The fast paced story line is a thriller that will keep you intrigued till the very end,Only because the concept is different nothing like I have read before. – while it lacks any romance for those who do love romance in their reads, it definitely doesn’t lack interest and depth. The author has delivered a line between reality , what is real and what could be the author gives us many moments within that makes you wander – a novel that I would recommend to all who enjoy thinking outside of the box and possibilities even not written in words .

    .

  6. Loved the start, but give 3 stars for this teen book, I suspect it is more of a young teen book, and that I questioned the coincidences and lucky breaks a bit much… a few WT? moments! The start is great, a really great sense of drama, and I could not put it down in this part, but it lost me as it went on, I read to the end but felt I enjoyed the first third the most and then was treading water a bit in the middle. I actually know Bristol and London and have been to schools in both places where it was set and would have liked to have a bit more of sense of place, but it is often good to make the geography generic and so this was successul. The characters feel quite young, and real in a young way, but trying to be tough, and it would be very interesting to have the views of girls of the age, to see if they really strongly identified with this book as it is quite raw to the pressures of modern life, spreading yukky pictures on social media, and bullying issues, as well as blended families and the difficulties of keeping everyone happy. An interesting book that made me think.

  7. I loved The Treatment by C L Taylor. Even though it was for teens I enjoyed it as a woman in her mid thirties.
    Drew was a very likeable character that I engaged with immediately and I found myself unable to put the book down.
    CL explores bullying in its many forms throughout the book and shows us what it’s like to be a teen in this day and age.
    I highly recommend this book if you want something to keep you in suspense.

  8. I read “The treatment” by CL Taylor and although I it was a book aimed at the younger audience, I thouroughly enjoyed it as did my 13 year old, who read it after me.
    Drew’s character was interesting and kept me reading.
    The story covers topics that most teens in this day and age can relate to and that is what my daughter found the most appealing.
    A fun clean read for the teens .

  9. 16-year-old Drew is glad when her brother is sent to a residential reform school, after being expelled from school 3 times. However, when she gets a note written by Mason from Dr Cobey, she decides to infiltrate the reform school, called The Academy.

    I was a bit unsure of this book when I first started reading. I was worried it would be predictable. However, I was gladly taken by surprise. It started off how I expected, but then it took various turns that I wasn’t expecting at all.

    I spent the entire time reading this book, hoping that the characters would get out unscathed. I can’t say whether this happened or not, but I found myself really cheering for Drew, Mason, and another character named Mouse. I found myself really relating to Mouse as a teenage girl. I empathised with her quite a fair bit.

    I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this book. I will be looking out for any other books that this author has written!

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