This was an interesting thriller. I struggled a little with the multiple POV’s and the past and present stories but the story was very interesting and I’m a sucker for any book set in the PNW

This is one of those wonderful times when you CAN judge a book by its creepy cover! Meg and Cara share perspectives in this sinister and twisty rehab-centered thriller, which starts off with a real bang

The Clinic started off strong. I really liked Meg and the setting intrigued me. I think it ended up falling flat for me due to the twist. I was kind of expecting it, but I think if it played out in a different way I may have enjoyed this more. The writing was engaging enough but nothing special.

The Clinic is now available.

3.75 stars.

The Clinic took me a little bit to get into but I’m glad I stuck to it. Once things got moving, it took off. You definitely could feel that tension and odd feeling of the Clinic. You could tell it was full of secrets that were itching to get out. It took some turns I that I didn’t think of and made me like it so much more. The creepy vibes were so good!

Thank you to Source Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy,

The Clinic is certainly intriguing, with a premise and storyline that is completely unique. It's told through the lens of two different characters, one of whom works at the mysterious rehab clinic, and one who fakes her way in as a patient to try to solve the mystery of her sister's death. Having those different points of view immediately works in the story's favor, allowing the reader to see the rehab clinic from two sides.

This novel is well-written and a quick read, with extremely well-rounded characters. Unfortunately, the story lags a bit in the middle, as some specific details of the clinic's inner workings become a bit too involved. Otherwise, it's a fascinating and entertaining read with some truly shocking twists.

This suspense thriller mostly takes place at a remote luxury rehab centre on the Oregon coast. Haley, an famous singer, is a patient there and we see her as the novel begins going into an area that she's not supposed to be in.
The novel then jumps to her sister Meg. Meg works at a casino in Las Vegas, where she is part of the investigative team looking for people trying to cheat the system and for other types of crimes. Meg was caught a few years back by some of the bad guys and suffered an injury that she got opioids for and now she is a functioning addict. She's already used other substances to deal with childhood trauma that she hasn't dealt with, and has recurring nightmares that include a man in a fedora and playing cards.
She'd been close to Haley until Haley left home suddenly, leaving Meg with their mentally unstable mother.
When Meg gets the news that Haley has died at the rehab centre, and hears rumours of suicide, she is at first very upset, then decides to enter the centre herself as a guest to try to find out what really happened to Haley. She is sure that Haley would never commit suicide.
There is a second point of view here as well, that of the manager of the rehab centre, Cara, who hasn't been there long. Cara has a background in the hotel industry, where she worked until she got caught up in a scandal. As Cara gradually learns what is going on, partly from the doctor there, Max, and partly from her own investigations, we learn about things from a different angle.
The other guests at the centre are as famous as Haley was, actors and singers, all there for various addictions. The head of the centre is a man from Switzerland with his own sketchy past, and as the local police also show an interest after the death of Haley, we find some other centre staff may have troublesome connections as well.
This is a story of both psychological suspense and some physical suspense as well. It has lots of twists and turns and unexpected events that keep you guessing on things right to the end. None of the characters are particularly likeable, even though you might think are.
The author has her own experiences in rehab, and says that this is her first novel that she's written sober.

The Clinic by Cate Quinn is yet another thriller that I seriously questioned DNF-ing, and now wish I would have.

I really wanted to read this one because of its gorgeous cover; how could I not want to pick up this book with its spooky fog and menacing cliff-side clinic? Side note: I love atmospheric thrillers! I expected the setting to really act as its own character but there were none of the chilling vibes I wanted, and instead the remoteness of the clinic was only mentioned a handful of times.

I realized at the 25% mark that I just didn't care about the mystery or the characters to be intrigued enough to continue and this is where I should have DNF'd! Mix this with characters that were all too interchangeable and exhibiting questionable behaviours, juvenile writing, odd plot holes, redundancy and an exorbitant length - and I really struggled to finish this book. Honestly, this felt like the longest book in existence and it would. not. end. However, the closer it got to that coveted ending, the more ludicrous the plot became (I may have even rolled my eyes a time or two).

The tagline on the Kindle edition states "Six troubled celebrities. One dead singer. No way out." and I wish the locked room, atmospheric thriller that this hints at played out for me within the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the complimentary copy to read and review.

Not the best or worst book I've ever read. It really didn't have any substance you could sink yourself into. Repetitive parts, and the writing could have been shorter with the same impact. It did give a good look at the inner workings of a rehab facility and addicts in them. I'm sure much of this was due to the author's own addiction and rehab experience. Not a lot of action, suspense or any aspects of a story you can't put down. It starts off with a great opening prologue, but then seems to take a left turn. Overall story just went beyond believable. Characters were ok, although none really likable. This won't be a book that stays in my memory for long.

Absolutely captivating! Unreliable narrator kept me on my toes and guessing, Very enjoyable. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out strong, but overall fizzled out at the end. I loved the clinic setting and I enjoyed the overall writing style and alternating POV chapters, but the plot itself was lacking. Some editing to shorten the book would help.

The Clinic is about a girl named Meg who goes undercover at an addiction recovery center (called The Clinic, hence the title) to solve the murder of her estranged sister. The only problem with this is that Meg is also an addict, and solving a murder while going through withdrawal is going to be tough.

If this was not an ARC, I would have DNF’d this thing after 10%.
I don’t want to completely rip this book apart (who has the time?) so let me focus on what I felt were the most major shortfalls for this title.

The Writing
I started having concerns about the writing around the Chapter 3. By Chapter 10, I was tired. This book takes the idea of “show, don’t tell” and drop-kicks it into the sun. As our two main characters, Meg and Cara, gather evidence, we are given a summary of that evidence and what conclusions we should draw from it. This has the effect of making the audience feel like the author assumes that they are very, very stupid. Assuming this is not your first thriller ever, you’ll be able to draw conclusions on your own with the information you’re given.

Additionally, the dialogue in this book ranges from stiff to completely unrealistic. Nearly every sentence has one character addressing another by name (ex: -What do you think, Meg? -I don’t know, Henry.). Conversations between characters feel like they were ripped from an extremely bad TV drama and stuffed in for the sake of writing them. When I saw the line “released the breath I didn’t know I was holding”, my eyes briefly rolled back to check out my brain stem.

The Characters
All this choppy, stiff, confusing dialogue means that the audience never really gets to connect with the characters. Meg and Cara are unlikable and one-dimensional – Meg is an asshole, Cara is an idiot. There is some movement towards Meg getting character growth, but it never feels real or accurate. I’m not going to put a spoiler in here, but the diagnosis that Meg receives did not ring true to me in the slightest by the end of the book.

The side characters also feel one-dimensional and lame, so there is no emotional connection to drive the story forward. When characters are in danger, it’s genuinely hard to care. Strangely, we only ever get to meet three of the staff of the Clinic – every other employee remains nameless and faceless, and every treatment that Meg undertakes is either administered by Max, a doctor you meet early in the story, or the owner, Dr. Lutz. The overall effect is that the world feels very bare – “Yeah, there were other people, don’t worry about them”.

Unbelievability
The Clinic is advertised as “the best therapy money can buy”, hosing celebrities and providing state-of-the-art, expensive treatments for the patients in attendance. Despite us never getting the names of other medical staff, we are assured that others are there. So how in the hell did Meg sneak in several packets of Oxy and an entire cell phone? I was waiting the entire book for someone to come out and say, “We knew you had it the entire time, we were playing with you.” OR/b> for the whole thing to have been a hallucination.. Alas, neither of these predictions were true and the end of the book genuinely made me want to throw the thing across the room (Except, remember, this is an ARC that I’m reading on my desktop).

Another prime example of this is the scene where Cara, Max, and the nursing staff (who definitely exist, guys) are running around looking for a patient that might be in danger. This is a dire situation, but you would never, ever know it because one of the characters stops to have a whole sidebar conversation in the middle of his run!


Really, the thing this book was in desperate need of was an editor. This feels like the unpolished first draft that you send off to be made pretty by a second set of eyes. I would not recommend this to anybody, but especially not to thriller fans who have learned to expect better.

I'd give this 3.5 stars...if only I could!! It's definitely heavy on the mystery and intrigue with a plethora of suspects to boot. The who and why are really quite diabolical if I bit tough to swallow. I don't mind suspending belief in my reading, especially with thrillers, as long as it doesn't go too far off the rails. I am amazed how quickly I raced through this one, since it says its 448 pages and I read it in less than 24 hours. So that's high praise!! I think anyone who appreciates a nail-biter thriller would enjoy this.

We read this for my book club and it was great! It was definitely a different thriller and it was nice to get to know the characters. The only reason it wasn’t 5 star is because I could guess where the story was going. However I definitely recommend it

Thank you NetGalley for this advance reader copy. This one was just ok for me. The beginning was pretty engaging and suspenseful until about halfway through. I did love the multiple POV's and short chapters which got me through to the end. The twist at the end was pretty good but also predictable. While not one of my favorite page-turning, thriller, this was still a good read.

I enjoyed this novel soo much!! This was my second Cate Quinn novel. I wasn’t a huge fan of Black Widows, so this was a nice welcome from that. This is set in a rehab hospital, a great setting in a secluded area in Northwest America. There are two points of view, Cara (manager) and Meg (patient). I enjoyed both points of views and perspectives, they tied together very well!

I didn’t see that twist at the very end, I was a bit 🤯. The only downside I found was it felt a bit too long. There was a lot of middle, I think you didn’t need and could have been left out. Overall though, I would highly recommend this novel if you want a big unexpected twist at the end!

It is a bit hard to describe this book. It is well worth the read, but I just about quit reading part way into the book. It twists, and changes, and makes a VERY good story and well worth the reading. You will not be disappointed! Cate Quinn is a very detailed and thoroughly researched author!

this was such a good read and then the twist at 80% just lost it for me and the final twist forget it. I understand a thriller can’t be entirely realistic but twist completely out of left field with 0 logic I can’t do. Not to say this book didn’t have a lot of strong points. It did keep me compulsively reading and engaged.

So, I just finished reading "The Clinic" by Kate Quinn, and I gotta say, it was a rollercoaster of emotions! Quinn really knows how to weave together historical fiction and suspense. The characters felt so real, and the setting—post-World War II in a mysterious clinic—added this extra layer of intrigue.

The plot twists were like a one-two punch, keeping me hooked until the very end. And can we talk about the pacing? It was just right—enough to keep me turning pages without feeling rushed. I loved how Quinn delved into the complexities of human relationships and the aftermath of war.

Plus, the writing was top-notch. Quinn's descriptive style painted vivid pictures in my mind, and I could practically feel the tension in the air. Overall, "The Clinic" is a must-read for historical fiction lovers who enjoy a good dose of suspense. Highly recommend it for a weekend escape into a gripping world of secrets and surprises!

At the beginning of this book, I was totally engrossed in the story, but by about 70% I had mostly lost interest. I feel like the book could have been about a hundred less pages. I also didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters. I feel with a story like this, that the reader needs to feel a connection to the characters to really appreciate the story. The story is told in two different POVs. Both brought something to the story, but Meg’s definitely felt more important.

I was first drawn to the book because of the stunning atmospheric cover. I was hoping the book would be a bit creepier, but the author still did a good job setting the atmosphere. I loved the references to the PNW.

It’s hard to go into much of the plot without giving anything away, but I was hoping for a more exciting ending. After 444 pages, I was really hoping for a satisfying ending.

I’m sure a lot of readers will enjoy this rehab thriller, but sadly it just wasn’t for me. I still hope to read more from this author in the future.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC. I am anticipating reading this soon and reviewing on my socials.