Slated by Teri Terry

Kyla has no memory of who she was, all she knows is the hospital - this is all she knows because she has been Slated.  Being Slated is supposed to be a new start for teenagers who have broken the law or been traumatised to the point that they want a new start, it is supposed to give them the chance to start life again with a clean slate.  All Kyla really knows is that she is not like the other people around her, even her sister Amy who has also been Slated, and the kids at school wont let her forget that she was Slated.  To make matters worse she is the only patient her doctor has, and her doctor seems to be keeping secrets, but Kyla has been keeping secrets too.

The levo device that is part of the slating process records her moods and is supposed to stop her from getting too emotional, and it is supposed to stop her getting angry or depressed.  Kyla tries to be good, and tries to work through the nightmares which threaten to trigger a dangerous, and fatal, reaction from her levo.  When Kyla makes a connection with Ben, one of the other Slateds at her school she begins to feel the faint stirrings of hope and even love, but destiny and fate seem to be working against her - as does her past.  As Kyla settles into her new life strange and dangerous events start to unfold and Kyla may lose everything she holds dear if she can't figure out what is going on and why.

Slated in the first book in a new series that shows great promise - if Teri Terry can keep the suspense, tension, and pace going.  The writing style is a little unusual and took some getting used to, but once you are used to the broken style of breaking up sentences the story takes over.  There has been a trend to write dystopian novels over the past few years, but most of them are set several hundred (if not thousands) of years after something happened within society - but Slated is one of an emerging trend to focus on the events that occurred leading towards that final dystopian society.  This is somewhat more interesting than an established dystopian society as you get to see that way people react, the way they respond to changes and reductions in their civil liberties.

Slated is one of the longer novels I have read lately (at more than 400 pages) but the chapters are relatively small so you can pick it up and put it down - although I did try and read it as a sprint rather than a marathon because it was compelling and I wanted to see what happened next.  I look forward to reading Fractured and hope that Terry is able to keep the story as intense and interesting.

If you like this book then try:

• Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
• Chosen ones by Tiffany Truitt
• Partials by Dan Wells
• Variant by Robison Wells
• Enclave by Ann Aguirre
• No safety in numbers by Dayna Lorentz
• The always war by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• The declaration by Gemma Malley

Reviewed by Brilla