Review: Slated by Teri Terry

Title: Slated
Author: Teri Terry
Publisher: Orchard Books
Published: May 03, 2012
Buy: The Book Depository

“Don’t you ever want to know?”
“What?”
“Why you were Slated.”
“No. If the past is unbearable, why choose to bear it?”
I shrug. Because it is mine.

In Kyla’s world, Law and Order officers lurk in the shadows, waiting to pounce on any potential rule-breakers. The Central Coalition has devised a way of dealing with criminals under the age of 16. They are Slated – wiped of all memories and former personalities and given the opportunity to start over as different people. With a Levo attached to their wrists, monitoring their emotions and loaded with the potential to cause unconsciousness should the wearer be close to inflicting harm, the Slateds are forced into being the perfect citizens. Kyla is one of the Slated.

This is a plausible dystopian world that Teri Terry creates. Although lacking in some finer details, the concept of two opposing parties reaching a compromise on punishment and rehabilitation with the process of Slating is actually fairly credible. It really did make me think, especially with Britain currently being run by a coalition government. It’s a chilling idea but not a completely far-fetched one. Not set too far in the future, there isn’t a great deal of world-building to appreciate, but the ideas that were present were interesting enough. I was fascinated by Terry’s creation of the Levo. The thought of having one permanently attached my wrist monitoring my emotional levels is just plain creepy.

Although I appreciated the story overall, I felt it was fairly anti-climactic. The start was an engaging one and the mystery surrounding Kyla and her past was probably what intrigued me the most. I wish this level of interest had been consistent throughout the book, but I felt much of the middle should have been condensed. The ending is what disappointed the most. Slated is a slow paced book, sometimes frustratingly so, and this aspect fed over into the climax. I was expecting something more startling to happen, or something that held more of my interest. I guess I can blame this on Ben.

Ben is the love interest, though I should stress that the romance is very light in this book. I couldn’t get a grasp on his character. For the most part, I was uninterested by him and bored by his presence. I almost wish the romantic sub-plot hadn’t been included – and this is not something I usually say. If you’ve read the book, you can then probably imagine why the direction of the storyline bothered me.

Despite the few issues I had with this story, I did still enjoy it. I’m slightly disappointed it wasn’t particularly mind-blowing, but I think Terry did a fairly commendable job with this book. Her writing was distinct and that I appreciated. She has an interesting way with words and provided that she polishes up with the plot slightly, I will definitely be reading the second book.

Rating: 3 stars