I found myself confused by this one and what it wanted to accomplish really early on, and could not connect it or its characters as a result..

It was an interesting concept but I should have stuck to my usual guns and just said no to the dystopian novel... I don't tend to do well with them. I don't know if it's that the world is dark enough at the moment without needing to imagine it darker (or immerse myself in a darker experience than reality) or what, but I just do not enjoy reading these books. I am fully aware that not all books are meant to be enjoyed, in the lighthearted fun sense, but I read fiction to be entertained and I must confess that I did not find this one entertaining...

It wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this novel but do agree with other reviewers that the premise was so good but it just didn’t live up to my expectations.
There isn’t much left in the dystopian fiction boom to make a novel stand out but looking at the future of the prison system was a fascinating idea. The book started well with the scene setting as to what the different tiers were and how Grace was treating her patients. I also enjoyed the dual aspect of protestors; those who thought tier 3 was too lenient and those who thought it was a violation of their human rights.
Sadly the further in to the book I got the less and less believable it became. Mal, Bizzy and Sarge were caricature baddies and Remy just didn’t feel three dimensional.
The prologue was SO good and some flashbacks to the times Grace and Remy had growing up would have been much better (in my opinion) than Grace simply musing “they were close as brother and sister back then”
The final chapters did grip me and there were one or two shocks but it just didn’t have any emotional pull for me.
A nice book, but not a must read.

This is set in the near future, where crime is controlled by a four tier system of treatments, administered by Janus Justice. Grace is a psychiatrist and enjoys her role in tier 2 where offenders are given support and therapy to help them return to a productive non-offending life. After a colleague suddenly resigns she is asked to move to Tier 3 where offenders get Aversion therapy, which Grace finds brutal and barely ethical. About this time Tier 3 treated offenders start to reoffend, usually dying themselves in the process. One such reoffender is an important figure from Grace's past and she faces the options of watching him go to the living hell of Tier4, or trying top find out what is going on - and there are plenty of people who don't want her to do that. Its a fast paced thriller with an ingenious plot. A good read.

I was really looking forward to reviewing this book by Sarah Moorhead and it did not disappoint. There was some parts of the book which I found confusing but I loved the dystopian/ futuristic/ imaginary aspect of the book. Some parts did take me a while to read as I tried to keep track of the different tiers and the crimes committed by each character. I thought the tier system was clever and how a tier system could maybe work in the future in real life, obviously not tier three or four.

This was a creepy read with characters who pulled me in all sorts of directions. The plot was scarily close to the bone at times, and it's easy to see how something like this would play out away from fiction.

Deliciously thrilling.

The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in. This is an absolutely compelling, gripping book full of mystery and suspense. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of the very highest quality. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Canelo for this eCopy to review

I enjoyed The Treatment, I felt the characters were well rounded and I liked how the plot unravelled so what you thought was happening was not correct. 'The treatments' seem all too scarily plausible to become reality in the not to distant future.

I really thought that I would love this book, especially after reading all of the "advance praise", but sadly I found it to be quite disappointing. The plot was original and well thought out, but I felt there was no real depth or believability to some of the characters.

2.5

I was really excited for this book and thought the overall plot was really excited and would captivate me. Unfortunately it feel flat. It took me almost 2 weeks to read this book which is incredibly long for me. I wasn’t moving towards picking it up like I thought I would. It was obvious Grace and Remy were going to have more than just a ‘brother/sister’ connection but Grace felt the need to mention it every few pages. I don’t feel like I connected with her nor did she have any real character development. Overall, I was disappointed and it wasn’t much of a page-turner

Wow. This was a difficult read. Not because of the writing or the plot or anything like that. But because the story was really, really heavy. It's definitely a frightening read, full of potential triggers, even for people who aren't usually as sensitive for these things.

The Treatment follows the POVs of Grace and Mal. Grace is a renowned psychiatrist, working within the so-called "Tier system". In this futuristic dystopia, criminal justice has had an overhaul and offenders are punished within these tiers. For example, small and low-risk crimes are treated with governmental help and physical therapy. Changes are made to their environment that caused them to offend. First-timer offenders of higher-risk crimes (like robbery, etc.) are treated in Tier 2. They are offered therapy and emotional support and sometimes sent to Agrarian compounds for rehabilitation. In Tier 3, Aversion therapy is recommended. This is quite a drastic punishment in which criminals are directly confronted with their crimes. For repeat offenders and the worst of the worst crimes, Tier 4 is recommended. Siberia. It's really quite awful to describe, but think of it as an escalation of Tier 3. And for life.

Mal is part of a group of vigilantes, opposed to the Tier system, as they don't believe that it adequately deters criminals.

Grace harbours a dark secret of her past and her connection to a man called Remy. Remy has been through Tier 3 therapy before and he has re-offended, meaning that he will be doomed to Tier 4 for life. Unless Grace is able to do something about it.

This book features a lot of futuristic ideas and could spark interesting conversations about criminal justice and the idea of punishment vs. rehabilitation. I liked the main character of Grace, but was disappointed by some of the side characters. There was a major twist towards the end of the book that I saw coming, but was still very cleverly done. All in all, I enjoyed this book and would be interested in reading more by this author.

Grace will do just about anything to save her foster brother; including make a deal with the Devil.

That’s how Grace found herself working in Tier Three, the experimental program that forces offenders to experience their crimes. Before Grace worked on Tier One and Tier Two supporting people who were struggling due to lack of basic necessities, mental illness, or trauma.

When Grace finds out Remy had Tier Three therapy and reoffends, everything she believed about Remy and Tier Three is thrown into question.

With her crummy reporter husband by her side, Grace starts investigation what’s actually happening in the “Justice” system.

This was a chaotic read - lots of violent crimes described and terrible humans - hardly categorized as enjoyable, more thought-provoking. The story did not push far enough into the possibilities of the Justice system instead it spent a lot of time trying to unravel mysteries, corruptions, and secrets.

Such an interesting concept that stayed solid throughout the book!

Yes there were twists and turns but the major plot never turned into a surprise or turned too unbelievable like most sci-fi/ dystopian books do.

This is such a page turner and I would be interested in more books in this world the author has set up

This is a big movie thriller style story! It's the future, and offenders are put through a psychological program in lieu of prison. Janus, the private company has 4 tiers for offenders based on the offense. There is physical therapy, emotional and addiction support in the lower tiers while the higher tiers are subject to aversion therapy where they are forced to experience the crime and the victim.

Not everyone agrees with this program -some feel it is far, far too easy for the convicted criminals as the tier treatment is over in a week or less. A rogue group of protestors have decided to take matters of punishment into their own hands, some of the treated criminals seem to have committed crimes again and Grace, a valuable therapist at the Janus Company is being moved from her comfortable job at Tier 2 to work with the violent criminals of Tier 3. What she finds out changes EVERYTHING

Great thriller, if you like components of science fiction, or question the current incarceration system this is a fantastic book for you!
#canelo #TheTreatment #SarahMoorhead

2.5-3 stars

I had high hopes for this book, I thought the premise sounded really interesting. In the future , a private company named Janus Justice is in charge of law enforcement. They have four tiers based on the severity of the crime/repeat offenses, ranging from therapy to aversion therapy and isolation. I don’t feel like I ever connected with our main character, Grace, a psychiatrist working for Janus Justice. She seemed to have one track mind that only involved helping her childhood friend. There were some exciting parts and twists but overall it wasn’t much of a page-turner for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

After reading the blurb I really wanted to read The Treatment. Unfortunately for me it did not deliver what was promised. The premise was good and the story was okay but it could have been so much more. The more I read it was becoming more predictable. A couple of twists but I knew they were coming. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.

I was hooked by this one the minute I read the description. It’s like a modern day A Clockwork Orange mixed with an action thriller and I loved it!

In a futuristic world, the government has sought out new ways to treat criminals that have a lower cost than the prison system and focus on rehabilitation…unless you commit a level four crime. But with any law system there are people who try to cheat it, and psychologist Grace gets pulled into a dark underground that makes her confront her past.

I found this equally fascinating and creepy! Aversion therapy is such a sensitive topic and the author has clearly done her research for this book to understand it. The idea that nearly everyone can be cured is a hopeful thought though perhaps not a realistic one!

There was more action in this than I expected, definitely thriller vibes. I really liked the characters and the fact that there was a whole backstory to give you some insight on our FMC. It did seem a little convenient that the main character had friends/enemies in the places that mattered but I was willing to look past it.

Overall I really liked this - I’m a big fan of books that look at decisions futuristic societies may make so this played right into that for me!

I’m thankful for the opportunity to review this advance copy. A review will be posted on my Instagram page (@_thats_what_she_read) in the week preceding the release.

Overall; I would rate this book 4.5 stars, I have rounded down to 4 stars as I have a few issues, I think that it would have been more cohesive to hear a little bit more about the tier 1 and tier 2 treatments in this dystopian world, it wasn’t 100% clear to me what these treatments entailed, particularly tier 1.

I enjoyed the overall theming of the book, the characters were interesting and complex - although I felt so sorry for Grace being married to Dan (spoiler avoided but you WILL understand when you read)… I enjoyed the ending although I somewhat predicted the twist with a certain character by the same name as myself.

Overall, an interesting dystopian novel with thought provoking prose

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.....isn't that what they say?

This is one of a number of books I have read which relate to the criminal justice system and books like this certainly make you think.

Rounding up to three stars

Just an OK from me unfortunately.
Some excellent ideas here, of a future not to distantly away, but slightly scary.
A completely imaginable future for prison reform, and cutting down crime.
Some predictable bits, but a few good twists.

It did get me thinking about suitable punishments for serious crimes , and am sure it's going to spark a lot of debate.