I really enjoyed this thriller set in a rehab. The story did not give itself away and even when I suspected someone, new facts quickly came to light and changed my mind. I do wish the setting was a bit spookier to match the cover, but overall a good psychological thriller!

The Clinic
Cate Quinn
January 23, 2024

Meg grew up under the guidance of her sister Haley. Her mother was wealthy not a caring parent, in fact she did horrible things to her girls with verbal threats and physical punishment. Haley had quite the talent and began singing on stage at an early age in the Country Western front. When she went professional there was money, drinking and drugs. Meg went a different route and via a talented gentleman neighbor learned to play poker. She too found herself hiding in one casino or another to turn in the ‘bad guys’ in her job with security. In that came money, drinking and drugs.
The Clinic shows us a different side of treatment centers for addicts. The expensive out of the way rehab is for professionals only, who want no one to find them.
The Clinic will be published on January 23, 2024 by Sourcebooks. I read the ARC for Cate Quinn’s latest novel via NetGalley. It’s a long intricately woven tale of one sister’s search for who murdered her sister. It’s not a delicate read however a very suspenseful plot woven among the minds of six highly addicted entertainers who are on their last rehab run. I can see it on the best fiction reads for the winter, very well written, worth exploring.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking this book! Yes, it is long (448 pages!) and really could have been shortened a bit, but I was so immersed in the story and the characters that it didn’t bother me as much as it usually would. I loved Meg’s character and was rooting for her from the beginning. This was a 5 star read for me until the ending when things started to get a bit too unbelievable for me. I think fans of Stacy Willingham will enjoy this read!

Told from two different POVs this thriller will hook you from the start until the very end. Full of secrets and twists this was overall a fantastic thriller. Cate Quinn does a fantastic job taking the experience she had in rehab herself and turning it into an amazing book.


Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital ARC.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
I had fun with this one, from the unreliable characters, to the spooky isolated setting of The Clinic which made for the perfect atmospheric setting. The only downside is that this book seemed way too long and drawn out, and I feel like it could have been cut down a lot. The first part of the book is really addicting and hard to put down, but it is also a slow build up. I really enjoyed the characters, Meg and Haley, who are estranged sisters. One of them suddenly dies while she is a patient at The Clinic, which is an isolated rehabilitation center in the Pacific Northwest, and the other sister goes undercover to The Clinic to investigate her sister’s death. The story flows back and fourth between multiple character POVs, but my favorite of them was Meg’s and her journey of growth.
This story was the definition of a psychological thriller! I really enjoyed the built up suspense and tension, the drama, characters, mystery, the unreliable narrators, the atmospheric setting, the short chapters, and the fun story line. The ending was fun and twisty, but I felt that it was a bit rushed & too unrealistic.
I think that the author did a fantastic job with tying in mental health awareness, struggles with addiction and recovery-as well as relating it to her own personal struggle (per the author’s acknowledgements)-this really made the story relatable & realistic.


𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞?
For anyone who enjoys an entertaining psychological thriller, isolated settings, and unreliable and sketchy characters should give this one a try!

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

Would you check into rehab to investigate a sibling’s death? In The Clinic, Meg, who does have substance abuse issues checks into The Clinic after her sister dies/overdoses/commits suicide at the location.

Told in alternating perspectives with an unreliable narrator, The Clinic is a gripping whodunnit right from the start.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher, for the chance to review an advance copy.

The Clinic was such an addictive, thought-provoking and intriguing mystery/thriller and I absolutely loved it! The short chapters made it a fast paced read. I loved the alternating POV and unreliable narrators as well. It was full of twists and turns and secrets that kept me hooked from the very first to the last page. The setting is atmospheric and stunning as depicted on the cover and I just loved everything about this book! This was my first book by Cate Quinn and I’m excited to read her others.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review!

My first thought after finishing this book was “whoa what did I just read” because I was genuinely shocked. The plot twist gave me full body chills and that isn’t something that happens often for me. After the reveal, I started thinking about what I had read before the twist and it all started clicking in my brain and made sense. I’m usually one to skip the acknowledgments, but I highly recommend reading that section in this one to get some insight on the author’s inspiration behind this book. Definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys thrillers!

✨ super short chapters
✨ “locked in” thriller - someone inside is a killer but no one knows who and everyone is a suspect
✨ how far someone will go to find the truth
✨ heavily focused on darker topics including addiction and trauma (check trigger warnings)
✨ multiple twists + one out there twist that requires suspension in belief
✨ dual POV

2.75 - trying a little too hard to be psychologically deep- missing the mark and ultimately distracting from the points of the book that were entertaining and fun.


Jumping into the novel, I immediately did not connect to the style of the prose. It felt a bit too rudimentary.

But by page 50 I had moved past those feeling and began to get really strapped into the story.

I found most of the journey to be fast paced and engaging- the book has short chapters and straight forward language.

There were so many things that I liked in the story- Meg is a great character with complicated problems. The setting of the story (a high end rehab for high profile clients) is well drawn and engaging. I had long periods reading this book where it felt unputdownable.

BUT… I’m sad to say that I felt the story really fell apart at the end.

Too much psychobabble exposition, requires a lot of suspension of belief and I really disliked the payoff of one of the main mysterious plot points.

I would definitely read more of Cate Quinn, I really enjoyed about 70% of the book- loved the journey once I got into it, but ultimately felt that the conclusion was trying to do too much. I would have loved for one or two plot points to be neatly wrapped verses the attempt hitting every point all over again at length.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this book is a WILD ride! Meg enters an exclusive rehab clinic to investigate her sister’s recent death there. The other patients are an interesting mix of celebrities along with a crazy mix of staff members. This story is very unique and has lots of unexpected twists.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This is a murder mystery about two sisters that has a traumatic past. Haley that was famous that went into rehab, but died from an overdose. Meg is a gambler and an addict. Meg went undercover and checked herself into the clinic to figure out who murdered her sister.

The premise of the book was good, but I couldn't get into the characters. I only ended up liking Meg and her journey of figuring out the truth about Haley and also trying to fight her addiction and mental health.

I did like the twist and turns, but I felt the end didn't hit the way I wanted it to, Overall I did enjoy this quick read.

Overall it was a decent read. The ending really saved it for me. Parts of the beginning and middle seemed to just drag on with lots of fluff. At some points I was wondering why there were even two different point of views. But the author seemed to pull it together in the end.

The Clinic delivered on a mystery with creepy characters in a secluded area. The type of book you shouldn’t read late at night. Meg wasn’t creepy- just your average undercover gambler. But getting a message from your estranged sister, after she is declared dead. Creepy. Meg gets herself into the clinic her sister was attending when she died. The different characters in that building! I’m not sure which were creepier- the staff or the patients. So many twists and turns- right to the end. A great thriller.

This one was just okay for me. The premise made me want to read this, and the beginning had me hooked. But the middle dragged for me, making it hard to get through. The plot did pick up at the end, but I found the ending was anticlimatic. I also didn't care for many of the characters, except for Meg, she was the only one I was rooting for. This book had some good twists that I didn't see coming, while others were predictable. Overall, this was just okay.

Thank you NetGalley and Source Books for the ARC!

3.5 rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an interesting book, and I feel like maybe I need to sit with my thoughts on it to figure out how I felt with it. I did really enjoy most of the characters, or at least the concept of them all together as a group. It was a very slow-paced book (or maybe it FELT that way because it was 115 chapters, even if they were short chapters), and I felt like I spent a lot of time with the characters, but I also feel like I don't really know a lot about them besides Cara and Meg? I was definitely interested in the mystery surrounding the book. I think the ending was really out-there and a bit too convoluted for my taste, and felt a little bit rushed despite the slow pacing of the book. I'm also not a big fan of the "science" presented in this book - really screamed more pseudoscience to me, but I understand that this is a thriller where we'll have to suspend our disbelief. I still overall enjoyed the story and would like to read more about the characters in the future.

I loved the idea of a thriller set in a rehab and the author executed it perfectly. As she mentions in her author's note, the author has experience in this setting and it shows with the humor and compassion with which she portrays the cast of characters that populate this high-end, secluded, and experimental rehab. The resolution of the mystery was kind of silly, but the characters and the secluded Pacific northwest setting made this a win for me.

I tried to read this book 3 times but I just could not get into it. I found the writing style not for me. I couldn't really connect with anything in this book.

Great read!!

Meg is an addict who decides to go undercover to figure out what happened to her sister, Haley, who overdosed in The Clinic. I don’t want to say too much and give it away, but y’all— it’s GOOD!

I liked that this was set in a rehab facility. Cate did such a great job writing a realistic depiction of addiction! The shorter chapters kept my attention and I couldn’t put this down! It’s twisty, it plays with your mind, and will hold you captive from rhe first page all the way to the last!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC 🫶🏻

Meg’s sister Haley is a patient at a highly exclusive rehab known simply as The Clinic when she is reported dead of a self-inflicted drug overdose. Meg doesn’t buy it though – this wasn’t Haley’s drug of choice and Meg believes Haley was too selfish to unalive herself. In order to find out what really happened to Haley (and maybe get a handle on her own opioid addiction), Meg checks herself into The Clinic as a patient, but she never could have anticipated the dangers lurking around every corner.

This is one of those books where it’s hard to say too much about the plot without giving it away, but suffice it to say this is a dark, twisty, and original thriller! Right off the bat, that gorgeous cover is giving spooky gothic vibes, and you just know some scary will be going down in that place. The Clinic is a character in itself – imposing, isolated, and filled with foreboding. The story is told from two perspectives, Meg and Cara the facility manager. Meg’s addiction and withdrawal are written skillfully and authentically, making her an extremely unreliable narrator, which keeps the reader on tenterhooks throughout. Just like Meg, you don’t know what’s real, what she’s hallucinating, and when she’s being gaslit by the staff and her fellow patients. The tense short chapters and unpredictable twists and turns make for a propulsive read that kept me turning pages well into the night!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This book had a lot of potential, the setting was great, and Haley’s character was good as well. I didn’t love or connect with Meg’s character and it was hard to sympathize with her choices and motivations. Unfortunately for being a “street smart” tough, undercover cookie, Meg is kind of dense in a few situations. She seems to know alot about alot, and then has no idea what the word co-dependent means.

For all the dark trauma seemingly in this book, the twists felt very bureaucratic. They tease at some very dark plot points in Meg and Haley’s history, which are all explained away with some repressed mistaken memories.

This was a very quick book with short chapters, but I felt like a lot of the characters and leads were half baked and some of the twists and reveals I was guessing at were left dead in the water. Turning your head to other, less exciting results.

I think if you want to suspend your disbelief, and you like dark themes with twisty plots you may enjoy this one more than I did.