Book Review – Slated

by Teri Terry (Orchard Books) ISBN 978-1-408319468

Kyla has been slated.

She does not know who she was or why this has been done. All she has been told is that she was a terrorist and that the government is giving her a second chance. There is no third. She wears a bracelet that is supposed to keep her emotions in check and has a brand new mom and dad. She must accept them and her new situation without question. Questions have consequences, but she remembers things. Things she shouldn’t remember, but I guess that’s the thing about ‘supposed to’.

I have been reading a lot of YA lately and I am always amazed at the awesome stories. I often wonder if it weren’t for the current overwhelming popularity of the genre if these books would have seen the light of day, maybe on some obscure Sci-Fi shelf, but luckily this is not the case.

Slating is a sort of chemical lobotomy done only on children under the age of 16 in the not too distant future. This all sounds great when discussing murderers, rapists, and terrorists but when good kids start disappearing for asking simple questions it gets interesting. I liked the story, the feasibility of it all, the rationalisation of the government, the villainous peacekeepers. It’s all downright chilling. It sure makes you think about where we are headed.

I am looking forward to the reading the sequel and finding out exactly what Kyla was up to that got her slated.

Mia Botha
4/5