Slated - Teri Terry Review

 I first saw this book in my local Waterstones about two weeks ago and was quickly drawn into it by the title and cover -especially those vivid green eyes. After reading a couple of pages I was hooked and bought it soon after for my birthday (Yep! I am officially fourteen now!).

Kyla is a really interesting character. She's a Slated, which means she's undergone (unwillingly) a procedure to erase all her memories and take away her personality. The Government say she is being punished because she was a terrorist in her past life. Slating can only be done on people younger than sixteen years of age. After they leave the hospital where they are rehabilitated, they are adopted into a family and given a Levo. This is a device that basically controls the wearer's life. They cannot (supposedly)become very angry or upset, otherwise the Levo will detect a drop in their 'levels' and induce a blackout, or if they drop below 2 on the scale of 1 - 10, send a signal to permanently block blood flow to the brain, causing seizures and death. It cannot be moved, and definitely not taken off.  A Levo is designed to look like a watch or bracelet, but in Kyla's words, they're 'fooling nobody'. Slateds are looked down on by most, or discounted as non-entities. A Slated cannot hurt anyone or even defend themselves because of their Levos - this is to stop any recurrence of their 'terrorist' nature. Although it seems to me, you wouldn't necessarily be angry, sad or scared to build a bomb or something if you were really a terrorist. You might enjoy it. You know, if you were psychotic. Anyway, the theme running through the book is Kyla getting used to the world and realising it's not as great as it's made out to be, which leads to her trying to find out what's happening and who is lying to her alongside Ben, the love interest.

        

We first meet her in the hospital she's about to leave, to go out into the real world for the first time she can remember, even though she's sixteen years old. Everything is new to her but she is very analytical - unlike the other Slateds who are in too much of a happy daze to notice much -and categorises everything she sees because she has a need to put some sort of a shape on the world. Many times through the book it is said : Kyla is different. She is definitely more distrustful than most. And quite intuitive, but this doesn't always seem realistic - like when she knows things she couldn't or shouldn't and then goes and acts on that knowledge - like her decision to trust Mac. Then again, she's been Slated, so her 'intuition' could be some kind of hidden memory. Slated is told in Kyla's first-person perspective, dreamed passages interspersed with the narrative.

Kyla's world is an oppressive one, with the Central Coalition presiding over everything. It is set in the near future, 2052, and England has regressed back to its agricultural roots. No one under the age of twenty one is allowed a phone because apparently they had been used in the past to organise riots. The ideas in the book are great - the Central Coalition, Slating, Lorders... I thought it was slightly disturbing but thrilling and very thought-provoking. It doesn't really round off properly but there's a sequel coming in May 2013 called Fractured. To be honest, I really hope there's a film made - with casting in Ireland too, because there are hardly any castings here. I really advise you to read this and if you have, leave a comment to tell me what you think of it. Five stars!