Slated (Orchard Books) (Paperback)
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Short Description for Slated What would you do if your entire memory had been erased?
Full description- Publisher: ORCHARD BOOKS
- Published: 03 May 2012
- Format: Paperback 448 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Fiction | General
- ISBN 13: 9781408319468 ISBN 10: 1408319462
- Sales rank: 13,048
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Reviews for Slated
- Top review
Interesting ideas, but the pace was a little slow.
(Source: I won a copy of this book! Thanks to Jenny from 'Chocolate Chunky Monkie', and Orchard Books.)
It's been 9 months since 16-year-old Kyla was slated (a process that strips you of your memories). She's learned to walk and talk again, and now it's time for her to leave the hospital with her new foster parents.
Kyla is different though, unlike all the other mindless 'slateds', Kyla asks questions she shouldn't, and has trouble keeping her monitoring device (Levo) in the 'safe' zone (Slateds are supposed to be 'level' - not too happy or too sad).
Kyla slowly adapts to the new life that she has been given, but the 'Lorders' (the men who maintain the peace), scare her, and she begins to question things even more when people she knows are taken away by the Lorders never to return.
Luckily, Kyla does make friends with another slater - Ben, and also has her slated sister Amy, and her new mom looking out for her.
What exactly is happening though? Why was Kyla slated? And why is she different?
I liked this book, although for a lot of it I felt like I was trapped in the dark with Kyla.
Kyla knew very little, but had a thirst for knowledge that made her different from the other 'slateds'. She didn't know why she was slated, and she wasn't sure she that she wanted to know, although she did know that not everyone who had been slated had had it done to them legally.
I liked the way that Kyla used art as an escape, and how she often learned things by drawing, and then working out what the drawings meant. Kyla had a very active mind for someone who had been slated, as it seemed that the other 'slateds' were a little ditzy and clueless, which wasn't really Kyla at all.
Being slated seems a bit of a scary prospect, although I'm sure plenty of people would love to have the option to forget about their current lives and start over fresh. To do this to someone without their consent is truly despicable though, although I suppose it is slightly better than executing them.
I liked the storyline in this book, although I did think it was quite slowly paced. This was quite a long book at nearly 450 pages, but a lot of it was taken up with Kyla's reintroduction into society, rather than what was actually going on with regard to people being slated, and the 'Lorders'.
What I did want more information on was why exactly certain people were taken. I never really understood why one of Kyla's classmates was taken, and I didn't really get it when a teacher was then taken, purely for making comment about the classmate being taken. Not really sure why this was such a problem? It seemed that anybody could be taken at any moment on a whim, and it just wasn't obvious enough what exactly the government were trying to hide, why they took these people, and what their overall game-plan was.
Kyla did find out some information regarding her own slating, but not enough to really tell her what happened, or what was supposed to happen, although I'm hoping we find out more about this in the sequel.
Kyla and Ben's relationship felt a little odd to me, but I think that was mostly because Ben was a little slater-ish and ditzy at times which sort of put me off him a bit. It was nice to see how different Ben, and Kyla's adopted sister Amy were compared to Kyla, as Kyla really did seem to behave differently to the other 'slateds'.
Thankfully the action seemed to step up in the last 50ish pages, and things happened that I wasn't expecting. Something else happened that I had kind-of guessed at (there were hints throughout the book), but we were left with loads of unanswered questions at the end.
Overall; this book had an interesting premise, but the pace felt a little slow to me. I would be interested to find out what happens to Kyla in the sequel, but I'm not desperate to read it, if you know what I mean.
7 out of 10. by Sarah Elizabeth Great Idea: Under Done
Slated is definitely a page turner. But once you put it down you are to realize nothing actually happened. This is book one of another young adult book series. The story and ideas are unforgettable and are difficult to argue with. In this book it seems as if the story hasn't even began yet at 439 pages you'd think the protagonist would have made a difference by now. This is a story not finished. I would advise to wait till 2013 when Book 2 comes out (around May) called Fractured before reading it. by Lisa Scott
wow.wow.wow.
I read The Hunger Games series not long ago and was convinced it was the best book I had ever read. After reading it I couldn't get into any book, none of them seemed to compare. Not even Nicholas Sparks who was my favourite author. I went from book to book trying to find one to keep my attention for long enough. I saw 'Slated' in the shop and the blurb sounded interesting. I didn't really expect what I read though.
'Slated' is probably the most unique, unforgettable and interesting book ever. Infact if I had to chose between this and The Hunger Games, I couldn't...and that is saying something. The book kept me guessing throughout, and this kept me curious. I couldn't put it down and I read it in just over a weekend. The small bit of romance is perfect to keep you interested but not make you sick.The ending was surprising and I also felt a pang of sympathy for Kyla. I am just upset I have to wait a whole year for the second.
This is a perfect book, infact rating it 5 stars is too low;It deserves 10! I deffiantly suggest this book to anyone! YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!
This is deffiantly by Megan-JoAddictive and Unforgettable Page-turner
Kyla was different.
Kyla was Slated. She didn't have the eternal-I'm-harmless-and-oblivious-smile that was pasted on the faces of young Slateds. She was very curious about everything around her. It had become her way of coping - mapping out her world and discovering every detail about it, including details that could get her in trouble. I liked Kyla a lot. I admired how she remained true to herself while adjusting to her world. Most of all, she sought out the truth behind every lie and she never gave up on that search.
The concept of Slated was terrifying for me. The idea of being Slated - losing your memories, your personality and your family, starting over without knowing how to claim your life as your own and how to find place in this all-new-world - was too much. Slateds were held back by manacles aka Levos, devices that looks like wristwatches that detect and measure their level of happiness. The stable level was 5 but if a Slated's level would go down, it could lead to blacking out, seizures or worse, death. It was startling to know that they were forced to adjust to their new life with those Levos on. When you're new, you're bound to get upset, sad, frustrated and even angry at this phase.
Ben was a well-adjusted Slated. Everybody seemed to like him. He was nice to everyone, including Kyla. As the two became friends, they found out startling things about themselves and the society they belonged to. Lorders, people who maintained Law and Order, were always in school gatherings. People went missing and were taken for granted. No one seemed to be concerned about them. No one mentioned the missing, as if they didn't exist anymore. It seemed that everybody who said the wrong thing at the wrong moment was caught. The tension intensified even more as terrorists made their move. But on top of it all, one of the things that really bothered Ben and Kyla was this: Ben, along with other Slateds, couldn't seem to think for himself, couldn't seem to notice things that were oh so wrong in Kyla's eyes. The government messed with their brains.
I enjoyed and savored every page of Slated. It was the kind of novel that took both of your hands and pulled you into its pages, making you hesitant and even unwilling to leave it. As I questioned along with Kyla, I was struck with horror and repulsion at how people could easily be manipulated and silenced in her world. There was too much sugarcoating on every word that people spoke. People hid the truth with perfect smiles and nonchalant gestures. Kyla dug deep for answers. She certainly wanted them and she was willing to take risks. But when she does find them, things will never be the same for her.
Another thing I liked about Slated was the fact that not one character was the same from beginning to end. As the story progressed, I witnessed how their multilayered skins and masks peeled off to reveal their cores underneath. Every character had his/her own surprising revelation. Secret after secret exploded in this intense dystopian.
Slated is an addictive and unforgettable page-turner that is brimming with deception, suspense and mystery. With a smart, curious and inquisitive Slated heroine, plunge into the futuristic, intense and secret-filled story world of Slated. If you're looking for a great May debut, this one is for you! I highly recommend this to dystopian and post-apocalyptic readers and mystery readers! by Precious
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