NetGalley ARC | The Clinic

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐ (second ⭐ is only for the cover!)

Just LOOK at that cover! Seems super creepy and thriller-y and gothic-y, right? JUST WHAT I LOVE, RIGHT??!!

*sigh*

Meg works at a casino in LA. Her sister Haley is a famous actress. When reports start coming out that Haley has died at the rehab facility to recently went to, there is talk of suicide. Meg doesn't believe this and decides to check herself into the same facility. Unfortunately Meg also is struggling with addiction so she will have to contend with that, while being completely on her own trying to figure out what really happened to her sister.

So the premise is great. The cover is great. I'm expecting a great thriller in one of my favorite settings, because that is what has been implied.

Unfortunately, the book moved so slowly at times that it was hard to even stay interested.

It also required massive suspension of belief in several instances, as well as some things that just did not make sense.

There was also disappointment over it not really being a thriller. I considered DNF-ing a couple times, but I stuck with it because I kept hoping things would get better. Plus...THAT COVER! How could the cover and story not match?

Well, they never came together, unfortunately.

I expected a bit of gothic-y goodness based on the cover and the premise, but given the way this remote rehab facility operated, none of it came together in a way that made sense. Instead we just get this clinical, sterile, celeb-filled environment, characters who all ran together after a while and to be frank, there was a lot of things happening at this clinic that are simply unrealistic and would not happen in an actual rehab center.

First off, the characters. The book altermates between Meg, the sister and Cara, the office manager, but there were times when I would have to go back and look at who was talking. Despite having very different lives, backstories, and personalities/characteristics supposedly, it was hard to tell them apart. Neither had a unique voice and neither were particularly likeable. This isn't always a bad thing, but this time around it just did not work. Rounding out the patients we have Sierra, Jade, Tom, and Dex. I can not tell you anything about them, because they blended together after a while.

The second thing that simply did not work is the facility itself. Sure, it's a private clinic. But it is a place known to celebs, so it is not a secret. There is simply no way the facility could do what they do and get away with keeping their license. Not to mention there doesn't seem to be much staff around to do anything useful. Given my non-fiction interests, it will surprise no one that I know quite a bit about this topic, and believe me when I say there is simply NO. WAY.

Let's start with the biggest glaring issue - Haley's death. She overdosed on heroin.

In a licensed medical rehabilitation facility.

That claims she OD-ed on "medical grade" heroin.

What. The. Fuck.

I'm not sure if the author was trying to imply that Dr. Lutz was doing illegal stuff that authorities and clinic boards and insurance companies didn't know about, or what, but he even talks to the police about it. He legit says that all professional rehab facilities keep federally approved supplies of drugs for use in clinic settings.

Again I ask...what the fuck?

This is simply not true. Heroin is not an available drug to use in rehab clinics, for anything. I don't even know what "medical grade" heroin is supposed to be. Heroin is an illegal substance in the US. The story takes place in the US. Therefore, no licensed and certified clinic operating in the US could ever use heroin as pain management for their patients.

There were lots of other shady/weird things about this clinic. Meg snuck in her phone and some drugs of her own, I don't even remember if she was searched. If so, obviously not very thoroughly. And with Haley supposedly over-dosing on the magic heroin, shouldn't it have been a huge security breach that she was somehow able to access more than whatever magic dose she was supposed to be taking? So why was there not staff constantly monitoring the meds and drugs even as they were locked up? Clearly we are to believe that Haley somehow accessed them, so couldn't any of the other patients also do that?

And speaking of staff...where are they? We know Cara, the office manager. Then Dr. Lutz. The owner, whose name I forget, and some nurses are around there somewhere, carrying on helping with treatments that are sometimes experimental (and therefore unlikely to be approved by insurance, but done anyway), which the patients are not informed of. And on top of that, patients are also not informed about what they are taking, and when. Basically, they're being drugged all the time.

So, in reality this is a one-star read. The only reason I gave it a second star here on my blog is because I love the cover so much and am sad that it has gone to waste.

Not recommended.