Review: Fractured (Slated, #2)

Author: Teri Terry
Series: Slated, #2
Release date: April 4th 2013
Publisher: Orchard Books
Paperback, 432 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

How do you know where to go when you don't remember where you came from?

Kyla's memory has been erased,

her personality wiped blank,

her memories lost for ever.

Or so she thought.

Kyla shouldn't be able to remember anything. But she can - and she's beginning to realise that there are a lot of dark secrets locked away in her memories. When a mysterious man from her past comes back into her life, she thinks she's on her way to finding the truth. But the more she learns about her history, the more confusing her future becomes...

Set in a disturbing future world, FRACTURED is an engrossing, fast-paced read that establishes Teri Terry as a master thriller writer.

Fractured doesn’t suffer from the dreaded middle book syndrome, not in the least. If anything, the stakes are higher, the plot more complicated and the characters better developed. It is a tense read, a thrill ride from start to finish. There were times when I was genuinely afraid for Kyla, even though the rational part of me insisted that nothing too terrible could happen to her.

Most of the anxiety I experienced was caused by Nico, an important person from Kyla’s past. Even when she didn’t know who or what she was, due to being slated, she knew he was no ordinary teacher. His presence brought forth some very strong emotions, but she didn’t quite know what to make of him. As her memories started returning in Fractured, her feelings toward him became even more complicated. For the most part, he was kind and supportive, and Kyla kept getting this urge to please him, to gain his approval. But even when he was smiling at her, there was a feeling of wrongness she couldn’t shake. As the story progressed and her past with Nico came to light, I as a reader understood that what Kyla was experiencing was some form of Stockholm syndrome, but her confusion and constant changes were done excellently. The nuances of their relationship, the creepy undertones, were impossible to ignore.

Thanks to Nico and his many forms of tough love, Kyla is actually three different persons in Fractured: Kyla, the slated girl; Rain, a Free UK fighter under Nico’s command; and Lucy, the little girl who was taken and broken by Nico, only to be rebuilt into a terrorist. Handling an MC with a multiple personality disorder of sorts on top of Stockholm syndrome would probably prove challenging for most authors, but Terry dealt with it beautifully. I was (although it seems a bit rude to admit it) more than a little surprised.

Ben was mostly absent in Fractured, but he was always present in Kyla’s mind and a great many of her actions were in some way motivated by her desire to protect him and reunite with him. He was, in his absence, perhaps more important to the story than he would have been had he actually been there. Through him, Terry showed that a feeling as strong as love can work against any kind of conditioning.

Some old secondary characters were given more important roles, and some exciting new ones were introduced. Tori, Ben’s supposedly re-slated old girlfriend played an essential part and caused some emotional conflicts, and then there was Katran, another Free UK fighter and Rain’s (Kyla’s) greatest rival for Nico’s affection and approval.

All in all, I thought Terry did an outstanding job with this sequel and I simply can’t wait for the final installment in the Slated trilogy.