Book Review: Slated
Slated
By: Teri Terry
Published By: Nancy Paulson Books
Publication Date: January 24, 2013
Page Count: 448
Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound
Source: Amazon Vine UK
Audience: Young Adult - Science Fiction/Dystopian
When someone is Slated, their memories and personality are completely wiped clean (like the proverbial slate) and the person reverts to a childlike state. This can only be done to criminals under the age of 16, and when they awaken, their emotional levels are monitored by something called a Levo. The Levo ranges from 0 to 10; 5 is normal, 7 or above is super happy, and anything under 3 can cause blackouts, and convulsions.
Kyla has been Slated. She doesn’t know much about the world, but she knows she has to behave or else she might be taken away. She tries hard to settle into life with a family she knows isn’t really her own, although they are the only family she knows. She has hard lessons to learn about the world and how it works, including how she works. She has nightmares about fragments of a past she shouldn’t be able to remember, and she quickly comes to realize that she is different from other Slateds.
I found Kyla’s development to functioning & free thinking individual quite interesting, especially in comparison with other Slated characters who were much more suggestible. As she gained the confidence to ask questions, and the knowledge of who she could ask and trust, she became more and more intriguing. Her discoveries about the world and the way the government worked laid open many possibilities for a sequel which would be of interest to read.
For my part, I found the pace of developments a little lacking in Slated. I did enjoy reading many of the characters, in particular Kyla’s mother and father, who had quite subtle and complex roles in the story. The story is a good one, but it took me rather a long time to get into it and looking back, I feel like the second half was significantly better than the first half, which lead me to give the half birdie rating.
Kyla’s memory has been erased,
her personality wiped blank,
her memories lost for ever.
She’s been Slated.
The government claims she was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?
I hate when the beginning of a book is so slow that by the time it starts getting good, I don't even care anymore. Still, this sounds like a pretty interesting concept and I'm so loving dystopian fiction these days so I'll probably still grab it. Great review!
ReplyDeleteSlated sounds kind of interesting. But I do like a faster paced book. Maybe I'll borrow it from the library to give it a try. Thanks for the helpful review!!
ReplyDeleteThe blurb sounds interesting enough but I am going to pass on this one. Slow read and room for a follow up book means I won't like it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving comments ladies, we do love a comment or two here in the nest!
ReplyDeleteI think Slated is worth a try, and I can only see the series getting better as the foundation is now built. Could be a great series!
I've read many books that needed time for the story to get going and they usually ended on a high note and I am tempted to give them a rave review... I am very conflicted about these kind of books, they were great, with a good plot too, but the pacing was slow and I felt like I shouldn't give a too high review. Then I thought of other books that I rated with lower ratings and I started thinking the book was better than those books and then the cycle starts all over again. Basically, I can't made up my mind with slow-paced books.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the plot idea was very intriguing. This is one of the few blurbs that can get me excited about a book instead of the cover(it's great too). It definitely sounds a little dystopian and have mystery to it too and let me tell you, I love a good mystery, so I think I'll be checking this book out ;)
I know what you mean Allyson. This was definitely a book of two halves. I tend to give each half a birdie rating in my mind and then average them out for the over all rating - so I thought the start of the book was 3/5 and the end was 4/5 - so finally a 3.5 rating!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad we decided to expand our ratings system to allow for such conundrums!!
Ack, I hate slow books. But second half books aren't that bad. After all, that's the only way the Jets win football games (except for last week...last week they got completely pwned).
ReplyDelete