The Program

In Sloane’s world, one mistake could cost her all of her memories. The Program is constantly watching, seeing if anyone looks “depressed”. They claim they only want everyone to be happy, but how can you be if your mind is blank? Everyone tries to keep things in order, to look happy, but depression is spreading and taking more and more people.
Before I read this book, I wanted to. We’ve all read dystopias, but this one sounded more realistic to me. Instead of a ton of violence and people dying, it seemed more like something that could happen now. Like it was our world, just a lot more distressed. Most of these ideas were true. The book is a dystopia, so it takes place in the future. It is written to seem like it could almost be our lives. Sloane goes to school everyday like we do. The only difference is the Program.
I thought the idea of the Program at first sounded insane. People watching your every move, deciding your feelings for you? Sounds weird. And as I read the book, it still seemed weird. We all want to be happy, but as Sloane says, “we all feel lonely and overwhelmed”. But the Program takes it extremely, taking out all of your “bad” memories, so you have nothing left but a little bit of happiness. I think that would be pretty crazy- coming back from this place not remembering everything. The book definitely makes it sound negative, because no one wants to go there.
The book kept me interested the whole time. Some parts seemed more normal, when Sloane would be with friends or at school. Other parts were full of action and so many things going on. It was a really good balance, because I could always understand what was going on. I think my favorite part of the book was that I almost felt like I was Sloane. The book was written in a way that I could read it for a little while and be in the same position she was. The ending left me shocked and wanting to know what happens next (good thing there’s a sequal- The Treatment). The Program is an amazing book that will have you turning the pages until there are no more. Read it!