Cate Quinn’s The Clinic is a chilling, twist-filled psychological thriller that grips from page one and refuses to let go. Set in a luxury rehab center with dark secrets lurking beneath its glossy surface, the novel masterfully explores trauma, truth, and trust. Quinn creates a cast of complex, flawed characters whose hidden motives unravel with razor-sharp precision. The atmosphere is tense, the pacing relentless, and every twist lands with shocking clarity. With sharp prose and emotional insight, The Clinic delivers more than suspense—it’s a haunting examination of healing, survival, and the lies we tell ourselves. Utterly compelling.

Wild, gripping, and totally unsettling. I couldn’t put The Clinic down. Meg’s search for answers about her sister’s death pulls you into a world of secrets, addiction, and twisted experiments. If you're into dark mysteries and flawed, fierce heroines—this one’s for you.

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.

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.

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.

Not recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

I was quite excited to read this book the minute I read the synopsis. The catch phrase that always catches my excitement is psychological thriller. And I love that it took place in the PNW as that is where I am originally from so I was looking forward to all the atmosphere!

The book has pretty good pacing as you reach about the middle of the book, the beginning was a little more focused on development, and ends in a fast paced hard to put down crescendo . I enjoyed our main character Haley and she is easy to follow through the book and feel connected to. It definitely delivers on vibes as well.

I think this book did a pretty good job on delivering what it promises. I like that we had characters that we could connect with and some characters that were unlikeable. The clinic as a location was developed really well and I felt was a character of the book in the end. There are good twist and turns, as we would expect in a thriller and I think it did a good job in addressing awareness of mental health and addiction.

I would highly recommend this book! Looking forward to reading other books by Cate Quinn this was their first novel I have read from them.

I was very bored with this one. I picked it for my book club to read and I think we all felt the same way. Not a great story and very predictable.

I went into this one with pretty high hopes. The cover had me expecting something with a moody, Pacific Northwest Gothic vibe, but that’s not what this book is at all. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.

None of the characters were particularly likable, which I don’t usually mind if they’re at least interesting or layered, but I didn’t find that here either. The story leaned into the kind of thriller tropes that aren’t my thing - big, unbelievable revels and over-the-top suspension of disbelief that pulls me right out of the story.

On top of that, a few plot threads felt rushed at the end or were left hanging altogether, which made the ending feel a bit unsatisfying.

All that said, this feels like a case of mismatched expectations more than anything else. If you're into thrillers and don’t mind a little chaos, this might land better for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.75/5 🌟

Meg plays hands and reads people for a casino, uncovering scammers daily. This gets her into some muddy waters and even nastier habits. She’s on the verge of losing everything when she finds out about the death of her rich & famous sister- who passed away at rehab. So what’s the next course of action?

Meg takes on rehab, somewhat for herself but mostly for her sister.

I really wanted to like the idea of this book, and I did at times but it quickly turned into toooo much. It was disjointed, lots of subplots and twists that were just so far out. I will be checking out more from the author, this one just didn’t really do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the read.

The setting of this one is the highlight. The pacing here was slow, and there wasn't anything twisty or enticing enough to keep me wanting to know more. The short chapters helped keep the momentum, but it still felt rote and monotonous. Overall, this felt more frustrating than satisfying, which was a bummer for this reader!

This reads pretty quickly which I think helped my enjoyment of it. Meg and Cara were both very interesting characters and I liked that we switched between the two of them. The clinic itself was so wild and the people who worked and went there were so interesting and disturbing. I loved the twist and didn't see that exact one coming.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was ok. I honestly can't remember enough details for a proper review. It was just an average read.

I enjoyed this book. It started off really strong, but fizzled a bit as the story went on. Overall though, I enjoyed this one.

I had hoped — perhaps because of the cover design or the novel’s title — that this would be similar to Sarah Pearse’s work. Unfortunately, The Clinic fell flat for me. Confusing with unnecessary plots and cliches.

I read half of this book and then never picked it up again. It was interesting at first, but maybe too slow? I didn't feel invested enough in the characters to see how it would all play out.

Ooooooooooo! Okay, yes. This was quick paced, not boring, and a great twist. All of the elements that I love in a thriller!!!! I was trying to figure out what was going on and what I was missing, only for a perfect unraveling at the perfect time. Great read!

This was a very basic thriller. There were twists and a interesting setting where the book takes place, however I found the book very lackluster. Key aspects of the twist were made very obvious early in the book. The characters didn't feel believable at all and lacked much development and uniqueness. I prefer my thrillers to be more believable and character driven and this felt extremely basic, using overused plot points and character ideas. I would not recommend.

I love the premise but I got a little confused as the story went on. The plot seemed to be everywhere.

This is my second book by this author and I enjoyed it even more than the first! Full of twists and turns and wondering if people are who they really say they are! If you want a fun read with quick chapters that will leave you on a cliff hanger then this is for you!

For those who enjoyed 'The Silent Patient' and want to be kept on their toes at every turn - this book is for you!

Another good read by this author who never disappoints. Well read and intriguing. Kept me on the edge of my seat half the time I was reading it and will recommend highly to friends and clubs.

This book starts off with a bang and just keeps on going strong until the end. The story alternates between two women’s POV. I really felt like I got to know Meg, but I wanted to know more about Cara. Other than that, I found this to be a quick and fun read.