Book Review: The Treatment by C.L. Taylor

The Treatment by C.L. Taylor

Pages: 299
Publish date: October 22, 2017
Publisher: HQ Australia Teen
ISBN: 9780008240561
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

“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.

The Treatment:

I received an arc of The Treatment by C.L. Taylor from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I am always up for reading a crime/mystery novel. I love the thrill of reading, not knowing what is going to happen next. Where something new could happen right around the corner. There aren’t many of those types of books in YA. And while The Treatment by C.L. Taylor wasn’t my favourite book out there, I still really enjoyed it.

The Treatment follows sixteen-year-old Drew as she tries to live her life without her younger brother Mason, who’s been sent to a reform school. But when she receives a message from him saying his in trouble, she will stop at nothing to save him. But how could she save Mason, when she can’t even save herself.

Drew was a hard character to get along with. For the main part I enjoyed her, however, throughout the novel, it was hard to like her. Drew wore her emotions on her sleeve and while that not be bad, it did get her into trouble a lot. Because of this attitude and her stubbornest, I felt that she got herself into situations that could have been prevented.

In saying that, I loved that Drew cared so much about her brother – and she would stop at nothing to save him. C.L. Taylor was able to show this love and that Drew would do some crazy things to get Mason back.

One of the things that The Treatment does have is girl on girl hate. I know a lot of people don’t like it in books. And while I don’t love it, I do think it’s necessary at times. Bullying and hate are very much present in this world and to shy away from that in books aren’t right. Readers need to know behaviours that are wrong and how they can hurt others. It also showed how horrible girls can be to one another.

The Treatment was an intense book. I didn’t really know what was going to happen next and it kept me reading on. While there were parts that I did guess, I was shocked by other things that happened. So that was really enjoyable.

It’s really hard to review this book without giving so much away, plot-wise. But it was really interesting to see the inside of a ‘reform school.’ Who was in there, what they did to change these teens? I liked seeing the interaction between these kids. And while they didn’t actually do horrible life threating things, it was interesting to see why they were there.

While I did enjoy the plot of the book, I wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was Drew’s voice that didn’t sit with me well. But it did put a damper on the book and my enjoyment of it.

The ending of The Treatment also felt very rushed to me. It was like the reader was getting into the thick of things and then bam it’s the end. And while I don’t mind open endings, because of how rushed the last part of the book was. It didn’t feel complete. There were so many things left unanswered or brushed by.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Treatment by C.L. Taylor. It was an interesting and kept me on edge throughout the novel. The plot was gripping and I wanted to always know what was going to happen next. The Treatment explores family and what you would do for them. Corrupt systems and how not everything is how it seems. If you like intense, mystery novels then The Treatment is for you.

Have you read The Treatment by C.L. Taylor? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? What are some of your favourite crime YA novels? Let’s Chat!