SLATED

Like many other currently popular young adult books, this is a dystopian novel, set in a world where a coalition government has reached a bizarre compromise: torn between punishing young offenders and rehabilitating them, they ‘slate’ them, wiping all of their memories so that all that remains is a blank canvas. The offenders are renamed and given a new life with a new family, the only distinguishing feature about them being the Levos on their wrists: irremovable without near-certain death, they ensure the rehabilitated teen is ‘happy’ at all times.The novel is told from the point of view of Kyla, who has no memory of who she was before she was slated nor an inkling of the crime she might have committed. Her character is developed well, with all the right elements of rebelliousness that comes from a protagonist in this genre. Other characters are also well-rounded, though the lack of information on them is at times frustrating; we are given numerous hints, for example, that there is something strange about Kyla’s ‘Dad’ but we don’t know enough about him to guess at what this might be. This is likely something left for the remainder of the trilogy.

this is like the most interesting book ever. its great for teenagers and preteens.

Slated has one of the coolest stories to it. Ever. It takes place in futuristic England where young teenage criminals are given a second chance. Rather than being put to death or imprisoned for life, they can be "rehabilitated" by being Slated. Their memories and personalities are erased and they are given a clean slate. They start over from scratch, relearn the basics, and most importantly, they are equipped with a "Levo" device. This device monitors their emotions and their happiness levels. If they get too sad or too angry, their Levo device knocks them out and can even kill them. This is to prevent the criminals from reverting back to their old, violent ways.So this story is basically about Kyla being Slated and given a new adopted home. She goes to school and tries to fit in. But along the way she starts remembering things, presumably from her old life, even though that shouldn't be possible. She begins to question everything around her and doesn't know who to trust.I just thought the ideas in this book were great. I loved the idea of teenage criminals who were supposedly so bad that they had to be wiped clean. I loved the conspiracy surrounding this, and the awesome technology it involved.I also thought Kyla was a great character. Despite having her memory erased, Kyla is constantly thinking for herself. She learns very quickly, is incredibly perceptive, and doesn't blindly accept everything as fact. This made her a very likable character because I felt like I could quite easily be her. As a reader, I'm sitting there desperately trying to find answers. I wanted to know what was going on. What's the truth behind the Slateds? Where are these people disappearing to? Why was she Slated in the first place? And Kyla was right there with me asking all those questions. Although I loved that about her, that is kind of where my first issue with the book arises..Kyla asks all the right questions -- all the questions that I wanted answers to. But after 448 pages, I felt like almost none of those questions were actually answered. There was so much information I was desperately starving for, but by the time I got to the end of the book, it still wasn't there. It was honestly pretty frustrating because the book was a little slow at times but I kept telling myself, "Surely the ending will be epic!" ..but it wasn't really. We do get bits and pieces of information, but it wasn't the "z0mg all revealing" ending I was hoping for. On the bright side, I am inclined to think that this means the second book will be epic. There are so many unanswered questions and I'm desperately hoping that all will be revealed in book #2. If they are, then I'm sure book #2 will be incredible!As for some other characters, I loved some and didn't like some. Most of them, I loved. I adored Kyla's mum and dad because my first impressions were totally off. At the beginning, Kyla's dad is portrayed as the nice guy who's on her side, and her mum is portrayed as the evil, overbearing, dragon mother. But as the story progresses, they almost completely switch roles. We become very suspicious of Kyla's dad because there are just so many questions.. and once again, there's mystery surrounding her mum, but it seems like she might be more on Kyla's side than we originally thought!Many of the other characters were very similar to Kyla's mum and dad in the sense that I was constantly doubting their intentions. I literally had no idea who I could trust, who was a government pawn, and who actually sympathized with Kyla and saw her as a person rather than a criminal to experiment on.The one character I really didn't like was Ben. I just felt like I didn't "get" him, and that's a shame because he's a really key character and a love interest develops between him and Kyla. He's Slated, just like she is. At the beginning I got the sense that he was kind of a clueless guy. Most of the Slateds are very unlike Kyla. Unlike her, they accept everything without question and they're often just smiley, bubbly, and thoughtless. That's what Ben seemed like. I just felt like he didn't really fit well with Kyla. She's one who questions everything, who's dying for answers, who wants the truth. But Ben is just happy in his little mind-wiped bubble. I didn't feel the spark or the chemistry between them.But issues aside, Slated was a really intriguing story. Teri Terry has created a fascinating world, and man, she knows all the right buttons to push to have me clawing for answers. I'm literally dying to see the conspiracies unravel and the truths to fall into place. That's why I'm desperately hoping that the second book, Fractured, will put all the pieces into place and have that BIG BANG that I'm hoping for.

This book was beyond frustrating. I started it with the best of intentions. My shelves tell me that Slated has been on my to-read list since 2014, but I had always pushed it to the back for whatever reason. So, I was certain that now that I was finally sitting down to read it, I would hungrily consuming the next novels in the series as soon as I finished the first. Unfortunately, while Slated had all the makings of a fantastic YA Dystopia novel, it just fell short for me.Good Things First: The ConceptWhile others may have felt the ending was the redeeming factor for this book, I felt the complete opposite. I enjoyed the beginning of the novel and found the end to be completely lackluster. The beginning of the book focused on the concept of being Slated. I loved toying with this concept in my mind. I loved the political undertones and the moral dilemmas the concept of Slating brought up. I was wholeheartedly intrigued by the concept of slating.The Not So Great: Underdevelopment All-AroundUnfortunately, however, this dystopian world was woefully underdeveloped. While we got glimpses into how the version of London came to be, there was so much more that could have been explored that just wasn't. I felt robbed of getting to explore it more.Underdevelopment was seen in other aspects of the novel as well. As many before me have commented, the characters weren't very dynamic. Kyla's mum was my favorite as she was developed throughout the novel. Kyla and Ben, on the other hand, were stagnant characters in my opinion and any growth they did achieve was told to me rather than shown to me. (Or induced by "Happy Pills") This shortcoming made me question why some characters were even included in the novel - Torri, Wayne, Phoebe, Jazz- even -Amy. While each of them served a purpose for moving the story forward they remained just that in my mind, rather than actual characters with feelings and motives. Finally, in regards to character development, there were 3 characters - Kyla's Dad, Dr. Lystander and Nico - that were elaborated on, but there were such significant unanswered questions in regards to them that I just can't help but think they were solely used to set up the next book. I hate when there are blatant attempts to create a series.I am not going into great detail, but the plot development was completely underwhelming for me. I wanted nothing more than an aha moment or a reveal that really got my gears going. "The answer" as to who Kyla was and why she was different was forced. Why did I spend my whole plane flight reading the book just to have Kyla have a breakthrough in her memory? It was lackluster and unimaginative at best.2.5 stars from me.

Imagine if you were a nasty criminal or had a bad childhood ? Would you love to forget your past and become a new person - be "Slated" ? Kyla Davies has been slated and can only remember from the age of 10 when she arrived at the hospital. When she is given a new home and family, Kyla must learn to adapt but Kyla has always been different - once you are slated you are supposed to forget your past but Kyla remembers it in flashes . Who was Kyla prior to the slating ? Was she in fact a criminal or a somebody that someone out there is probably missing ? It's quite hard to write a review on Slated as it is a challenging read and you are thrown headfirst into a new society and I don't want to delve too much into the plot as it will give the story away and you will be left without that surprise element. So to finish, all I should say was that this book was surprisingly a really good read and that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. So much enjoyed that I have the second book sitting on my bookshelf to read.

Great series, I read it in about a week, I couldn't put it down! Slated is kind of like an introduction, so it's a bit slow, but it's sort of necessary to read it. Otherwise, you'll have no idea what's going on in the other books. Don't get discouraged with the slowness, the other books really pick up the pace. At first, it seems like Kyla's mum is all bad and her dad's the only good one. But, like most of the characters in the series, they almost switch roles. The writing style isn't that great though: it's not very descriptive, just a lot of 'he said' 'she said' and not a lot of 'asked' 'exclaimed' 'announced' or anything. Kyla asks all the right questions, but there doesn't seem to be any answers in the first book.