Clever, inventive and compelling. There's just enough left unsaid throughout The Subjects to keep the story incredibly compelling. The characters are damaged, imperfect and deeply relatable, so well written that their lives feel real and important.

I was intrigued by this book from the very beginning. Children who aren't too sure where exactly they've ended up but their not in jail and their not where they were before so they are giving it a shot. Everything we learn is through the main character Daniel and what he experiences at the school and what he learns about it after he leaves. Somethings are more clear than others but that was probably the intention when you learn about the school.

I wanted to love this book but found it hard to connect to. The characters, the plot, the setting, all were so strange....and maybe that's the point. Maybe I did love it...and this has all been an experiment....

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Interesting premise for a book, but I had a very hard time staying interested. Daniel is a 16 year old who has been busted for dealing drugs but instead of jail time or juice he is sent to this “school” for rehab instead. The interactions with the other “students” and adults at the school keep the book moving, it just wasn’t able to keep my attention or interest.

Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Hopkins and Swann House Publishing for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

*Many thanks to Sarah Hopkins, Text Publishing and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
The idea behind the book was introguing: how to rehabilitate young offenders by the use of a special programme, however, the execution was boring in my opinion and the book never had my full attention.

I was drawn to this book by an interesting premise and an intriguing cover. The outline described an experimental programme for young offenders that took them out of the prison system and instead sent them to a special institution where they would be monitored and hopefully rehabilitated. It sounded like an idea with a lot of potential but unfortunately , in my opinion the book did not live up to its promise. I did finish the book, but it felt like a chore rather than something I was enjoying. The story is told by Daniel , as an adult looking back on his time at the school , where he was sent when he was sixteen. There is a lack of focus and the narration moves from past to present without clear delineation. I found it difficult to care about what was happening to Daniel or any of the other residents even once it was made clear that they were the subjects of some sort of an experiment. The revelation at the end of the book was pretty underwhelming, especially given the effort it took to get to that point.
Unfortunately I think this book just was not for me.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The premise of this book was really interesting and the blurb made me very keen to read this book however the characters didn't engage me or make me feel very excited or interested in them. I did finish this book but it was a bit of a slog. It was a shame because I really wanted to like it a lot.

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting, but the execution leaved a lot to be desired. It lost me quite a few times, and it was just honestly pretty bland.

An intriguing concept, but perhaps not the best execution. It was interesting enough -- the characters, the setting, the suspense -- that I kept reading, but eventually, it left me somewhat disappointed. The narration at times went off into textbook or scientific report territory, making it really hard work at times. But there was just enough to keep me hooked. I'm not a great fan of an adult voice narrating a teen story (even though this is pegged as an adult book), so that was another obstacle. The ending, by the time we got there, wasn't too much of a surprise, but it also left me with too many unanswered questions, which, is not conducive to a satisfying read.

A very contemporary novel about youth and the criminal justice disparities but with a twist...not for the better. And what a twist! Loved this book.

DFN @ 26%

I honestly can't even continue this book. I really tried, but I'm going to be brave and DNF this. I actually thought the cover was cool and the premise sounded interesting, so I was a bit disappointed with what I’ve read.
I think the main problem for me was how confusing the narrative was. I couldn't keep up with what was happening and the main character had a weird speech and thought process. Not only that, but I felt a constant shift within his character where he changed from a teenage boy to a forty eight year-old adult. I'm not sure if there were two different timelines within the story, but if there were, it was never referenced.
Maybe it wasn't for me, and maybe if you read it you'd understand it and like it. I wanted to keep reading it not only because I don't like to DNF books, but also because I wanted to provide a full review, but I'm not going to torture myself anymore. I still encourage you to give it a shot though.

***A big thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review***

DNF @50%

I don't have much to say about this book because there literally isn't much to it.
The MC gets thrown into this facility, apparently willingly, and we don't know what they do in there and neither does he. And then we get to see his day-to-day life there, where many weird things happens but not in a sci-fi way. Like, he has some classes and they'd listen to music or talk about various subjects in an hour, and he has to sign this contract that he gets to craft alongside the facility's director. None of that was intriguing enough to keep my interest.
All of the characters were forgetabble, I can tell you maybe one thing about each of them, and for some I can't even tell you their names. The MC had this weird crush on a girl that he literally never talks to even though his contract said he can't get touchy-feely with anyone, and the fact that there was unnecessary heterosexuality in the book made me even less interested.
The prose was weird and hard to follow. All of the sentences were very long and they didn't even say anything most of the time.

So, yeah. No ammount of surprise and out-of-nowhere plot from this point on can make up for the fact that I just read 50% of a book and literally nothing has happened.

I found the premise of this book very intriguing. A young boy attends a “School” instead of being sent to juvenile detention. He lives at the school with eleven other young people, all of whom endure lessons, etc. - all seemingly part of some type of experiment. I found myself growing bored about halfway through the book, as I wanted desperately to understand what exactly the “Doctor” of the story was doing with his wards, but no information seemed to be revealed. The very last part of the book DOES go into some detail and explain some things, but I found that I would have liked that to have been spread throughout, in order to maintain my interest and attention.

I struggled to get along with this book. The main character and his relationships with people outside the Collective felt underfed; I also couldn't tell whether the strange sense of time and place was intentional or not. I suspect it was- students in a closed facility will undoubtedly experience the passage of time differently to folk in the outside world- but I was shocked when I realised that I had NO IDEA the book was set in rural Australia until it was almost over! I also felt like the author didn't commit to writing sci-fi- the 'reveal', when it came, didn't feel fully realised, the consequences almost inconsequential despite the overrarching tribunal narrative. I would recommend this novel to readers who have enjoyed other books about young 'test subjects', like The Girl with All the Gifts and another book I recently received from Netgalley, Catherine House. This one missed the mark for me.

In this book, we have Daniel, who has been arrested for selling his ADHD meds to his classmates. Rather than going to jail, he is whisked away to some kind of medical facility where they do all kinds of experiments on him and other "gifted delinquents." That is the premise of the book. It sounds great (reminds me of the institute by stephen king) but the book is really confusing, imo. It kind of jumps around and didn't keep my interest very well.

This kept me intrigued throughout and had a thoroughly satisfying ending. I like the differing topics of maths, psychology, data, experimentation and suspense. The story does jump about a bit but this didn't distract from the general enjoyment of reading.

Thank you to Netflix and the publisher for the ARC.

The Subjects by Sarah Hopkins feels like a commentary on the pharmacological answer people seek when faced with a child who doesn't or will not fit into the social norms.

Daniel is the protagonist leading this story. Swept from the criminal delinquent courts and into a curious rehabilitation facility out in the bush of Australia, he finds himself in the care of the enigmatic, Dr. J.
Once there, he's treated like a person, a human being, and not some child needing diagnosing or a heavy handed litany of prescription drugs. Like the other juvenile offenders, Daniel is not entirely sure why he is there or what he will be rehabilitated from. Also curious is the cooperation all involved appear to display.

With daily lessons, occasional field trips outside the facility walls, and the chance to play video games at least two hours a day, there isn't much wrong with Dr. J's plans. The lessons are seemingly useless, discussing topics that range from ancient myths to reclusive historical figures. These moments in the classroom become as tedious as attending school on a brilliant spring day would be to any regular student.

There is a lot of science at work, making the story overall a little clouded. We know early on that Daniel survives this peculiar "treatment" due to the narrative voice that inadequately depicts 16-year-old Daniel merging his voice with 47-year-old Daniel. The characters lack depth. Far too often, the narrative dissolves into philosophy, and the overall ending is clunky at best. With that said, Hopkins delivers a clear agenda in her fourth novel, The Subjects.

Sarah Hopkins is a criminal lawyer based in Sydney, appearing for the youth in children's court. Her real-life understanding of the justice system and the history of juvenile cases has informed her writing, making The Subjects inherently sad. The Subjects entices us to think about what is wrong with the system and question if there shouldn't be another way for us to help the youths of our nations.

Wasn't as good as I hoped... I skimmed through most of it and thought the writing style was boring and unimpressive.

This book was very hard to follow and understand what was going on. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. This book was just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Subjects, admittedly it took me some time to understand what was happening but that never stopped me from wanting to pick up this book and keep reading. I was captivated by the characters and the promise of questions answered.