Slated (Slated, #1)

by Teri Terry

[layawaydragon]

The Good:
+Interesting dystopian set-up
+hooked me (for no discernible reason)
+Liked Kyla’s relationship with her Mum, and how her Mum changed/evolved

The Bad & The Other:
- Pathetic romance
- Weak characters
- Long and boring
- Predicable
- Kyla makes some dumbass decisions, several which are chickshit just to keep the “mystery” and prolong the story.
- Setting is lackluster, no sense of place or atmosphere

All in all, I’d call Slated a trendy, bland YA and can’t recommend it.

For some reason I was hooked into this with all the issues. I didn’t struggle to finish, but I didn’t enjoy really either. I kept waiting and felt like the book stood me up.

I'm torn between giving the next book a shot and saying life is too short. UPDATE: After reading reviews for Fractured, life is indeed too short.

The idea is interesting, but the execution not so much. There was so much promise but it was all a letdown.



Dystopian London, Great Britain wasn’t felt, explored or described. It might have well been Blandstown, USA, including their speech besides “Mum”.

I thought it was unique to have the Slated adopted out and begin our story there. But that remains the highlight, unfortunately. The plot & world-building = transparent.

I mean they only slate those 16 and younger...How is that NOT a giant red flag that it's all about brainwashing and control?

As far as who and what Kyla used to be? Clearly no one “normal”, but specifically I don’t know and don’t care.

"Kyla is different."

Boy, am I tired of hearing this! Everyone knows it, Kyla sucks at hiding it but she's oblivious. She drags ass, misses giant glues, and straight up ignores opportunities to learn more. Just to prolong the "mysterious" journey.

Of course your Levo doesn't work right with you, don't you pay attention?!?



After all the whining you chicken out of seeing the answers?! It was on a silver fucking platter for you, FFS.


and you ain't cute enough to pull that off.

Romance:



**heavy sigh***
Another romantic relationship I can't get behind.

I can see Kyla’s attraction to Ben. But her loving devotion? Not so much. It’s desperate. There’s no other options and I can’t see them working out as a couple unless it’s a “last people on Earth” type scenario. Which it kinda is for them at the moment, but that’s not a relationship I will champion.

And Ben’s side….He does not come off well in the beginning, especially with Tori. Besides that? He kind of creeps me out. I understand it’s part of the Slating but…**shivers** no.

He makes a stupid, desperate decision and it’ll fuel Kyla for the next books. I can’t help but wonder why? It feels like this and several other events occur only to prolong the story instead of being a natural flow. Is it because we don’t actually know these characters? Because it’s so obvious? I don’t know.

Tori:


She’s just a bitchy plot device, not only to cause needless ~drama~ with Ben/Kyla but as a sharp contrast for her. Tori is the ultimate don't be like her example. Tori clearly is different too, i.e. speaks her mind, isn’t mindlessly cheery, and gets punished for it. But it didn’t ramp up the tension or add anything new. It just…was.

Why can't two people just fucking like each other and get together? There's far more important things, which is the whole reason I'm reading a dystopian and we'd get farther into the story without it. Why a love triangle? Why make this a trilogy? Does it actually need to be? I dunno.

Routine. SSDD

School. Doctor. Group. Running. Home.

2-3 visits to Rebel Dude.

1 trip to Ben’s home.

Gossip. Drama.

1 bombing. 3 kidnappings.

The last makes it sound exciting. It’s not. When you build up the attacks for weeks, that alone makes it OBVIOUS. Then she found stuff out that was seen coming from a mile away and fucking hid from the rest.

Then she does some really stupid stuff that I wanted to smack her for. Blabbing other people’s secrets over a ~good feeling~ she has and bringing them along to their illegal setup. The Fuck?!?

She knows this could get everyone killed but doesn’t feel bad about it at all. How and why are you trusting your “gut instincts” right now? Are you stupid? I’m so tired of protagonists dragging their feet and moving based on random, senseless ~feelings~. Fucking think and do shit! You’re the MC, FFS! If you can’t do it, no one can.



The One Thing:

I did like Kyla's relationship with her new Mum. Mum grew and changed along the way, which was nicely done. The relationship with her father and his role in the story was, omfg again, obvious.

The fake-nice was plain in the beginning and it felt so forced to make him the bad guy. The mother’s transition wasn’t that smooth but much better. She’s one of the few I liked and appreciated. Her story might be better than Kyla’s if she was allowed to do stuff. Oh well.