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The Program #5.5

The Reaction

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Shortly after going on a recovery road trip with Michael Realm, James Murphy returns home to bring his girlfriend Sloane a file. Her entire life--the memories that had been erased by The Program--are contained in a manilla folder. James wishes he could save Sloane from her pain, but he can't save her from the past.

A short story set in the world of The Program series by Suzanne Young, The Reaction leads into the last novel in the series, THE COMPLICATION.

8 pages, ebook

First published April 9, 2018

6 people are currently reading
2881 people want to read

About the author

Suzanne Young

69 books4,891 followers
Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program, The Treatment, and several other novels. She currently lives in Tempe, Arizona where she teaches high school English and obsesses about books. Learn more about Suzanne at www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com

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Community Reviews

5 stars
100 (26%)
4 stars
107 (27%)
3 stars
133 (34%)
2 stars
34 (8%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Profile Image for Rissa.
1,588 reviews44 followers
May 5, 2018
The reaction 5⭐️

Realm is giving people back their memories and it makes me love him even more. I dont care that he was somewhat evil I loved him!
I’ve missed Sloane and james too i didn’t realize how much i missed their relationship, their journey until reading this short, short story.
I love seeing the originals even if it was just for 7 pages.
Profile Image for Kayleigh Potter.
34 reviews40 followers
November 16, 2019
It's okay, but I honestly don't get why we had to buy an additional book to read what could have been just another chapter in The Recovery.
Profile Image for Trisha.
5,944 reviews232 followers
April 12, 2018
"Together, they are a blaze."

I can't lie, I've missed Sloane and James - I love Tatum & Quinn but I really missed the first I read through The Program. I can't believe our next book will have all the characters making a cameo. I'm ready, I think - but these few pages only start it and now I'm worried.

Because The Program is far reaching, never dead.....always just a sleeping giant. I can't wait to see where this goes!
Profile Image for Ilana.
1,220 reviews18 followers
May 19, 2019
The way that this summary is written, you get the sense that it’ll be far more dramatic and deep than what it actually is. There seems to be a lot of build up to considering what Sloane could handle and what she deserved to know now that her world has been completely turned around. The build up throughout the series has always paid off, and sadly in this really really short chapter like object, there’s an anticlimatic ending.

I think that it’s safe to say that we all knew how Sloane would react and what it would mean….but i guess it’s nice to finally have it down on paper
Profile Image for Nelli Lakatos.
693 reviews25 followers
November 21, 2022
“’You can’t erase James from my heart,’” she reads. “‘Because James is my heart.’”

Well this was a super short story and honestly I don’t even see the point of this.
I didn’t hated or anything but all of that little conversation that happened in this is technically happened in The Recovery short story too. So I’m just confused why this little 8 pages story happened when it wasn’t necessary.
I think if you want to read The Program series you can definitely miss this one.
Profile Image for Kelli Santistevan.
1,050 reviews35 followers
August 11, 2023
Shortly after going on a recovery road trip with Michael Realm, James Murphy returns home to bring his girlfriend Sloane a file. Her entire life--the memories that had been erased by The Program--are contained in a manilla folder. James wishes he could save Sloane from her pain, but he can't save her from the past. A short story set in the world of The Program series by Suzanne Young, The Reaction leads into the last novel in the series, THE COMPLICATION.

I read this as an ebook on my Nook App. I enjoyed reading this short story. Sloane, James and Realm are my favorite characters from this series so far and the last time I read about them was in the books The Program, The Treatment and The Recovery so it was really cool to read about them again. I would recommend reading this short story if you want to read more about Sloane, James and Realm but it’s not necessary to read this.
Profile Image for Katie.
114 reviews11 followers
March 9, 2021
Just a very small snippet from the last half book (1.5) they could have added this in to the last one, but I guess they wanted to remind you of the original characters and close out their story for good. Has nothing to do with the last book next in the series or the one before it. Cute, but unnecessary.
Profile Image for Niki Flowers.
27 reviews
January 6, 2022
Too short. :( Would have enjoyed more conversation between the two of them. But I get why it couldn't have been part of The Treatment. Would have stood out to have jumped from one perspective to another just for a chapter. And it wouldn't have had the same effect hearing about this experience secondhand. A fun addition if nothing else.
Profile Image for Jennifer Melnyk.
145 reviews20 followers
August 6, 2019
I'm 67% done with the second book in this series, but decided to make sure that Sloane and James wind up okay. This little twelve page blip was literally a waste of three minutes of my life. I suppose, though, that I got my answer about Sloane and James. Two stars.
Profile Image for Deanna Fortin.
24 reviews
February 23, 2020
I expected it to be more than 7 pages but it was a cute little snippet that brought together why Realm was in the adjustment office in the 5th book. And I have a feeling the headache that James had was leading into the final book.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Mellen.
1,660 reviews61 followers
November 28, 2020
Cute little short story back into Sloane and James. I enjoyed this, for the like 3 minutes I was reading it 😂 But I don’t think it’s anything that adds much more to the story, just gives you a bit more if you were craving it.
Profile Image for Alysa Fenner.
607 reviews15 followers
July 9, 2022
I found it interesting that this book picked up right after the other half book. It was nice to see Sloan look at her files with James. I'm worried about James' headaches, and I hope we will get to see them as well as Nicole and her boyfriend in the final installment!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jay Miraldi.
352 reviews2 followers
August 3, 2018
Just a little check in with James and Sloan, not a whole lot of revealing or shocking information but it's okay.
Profile Image for Alecia.
73 reviews
November 12, 2020
Really could've just been another chapter in the treatment. No need to make it another book.
Profile Image for sb.
76 reviews7 followers
March 11, 2021
short story that catapults into the last book of this series— I am totally noooooot ready!
Profile Image for Kirstyn-maree.
154 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2021
Seemed like it could of been a chapter in one of the other books but not a bad short story.
Profile Image for Mai.
851 reviews81 followers
January 14, 2022
this was so pointlessly short?! 😭
Profile Image for Darren.
2,043 reviews48 followers
March 1, 2022
This is a short story book by the author of the program. It was well written. I enjoyed reading it.
Profile Image for Andrea.
532 reviews33 followers
April 13, 2022
Short and sweet. James getting headaches is NOT a good sign.....
Profile Image for Kayla Seidl.
375 reviews12 followers
October 15, 2022
Quick little chapter basically. Bring on book 6!

-bought digitally from Apple Books
Profile Image for Nubia Zapata.
7 reviews
February 16, 2023
For a book called the reaction, I expected a bigger, more emotional story. Yes it was interesting to see Sloane read through her memories, but it was a bit too short to get the full story across.
Profile Image for Tangie Peltier.
81 reviews4 followers
May 5, 2023
Love James and Sloane but this was unnecessary for 8 pages…
Profile Image for Cassandra Kay.
49 reviews5 followers
June 1, 2023
Why would we have to buy another book for 9 pages that could have been added to the previous Novella? It was fine but still.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews

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