Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late?
Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.
The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...
The story started off pretty strong. Luna is one of the people in the world not hooking up into the virtual world. She refuses to participate because when being in that world, you're not supposed to be aware of your actual physical surroundings. Your body is supposed to go in some kind of comatose state, and that's not happening with Luna, she just gets very nauseous whenever she puts on the glasses. Also her grandmother keeps warning her not to go online, that she's somehow special and needs to be careful.
Things change when Luna has been chosen to do the testing, which is to see where she would fit into society, but also her secret could be exposed. There she meets a hacker that changes things for her, she's let into a world of even more secrets and finds out that the ones controlling the virtual world aren't particularly nice.
That's about as far as I want to get into the plot. It isn't always easy to follow what is going on, sometimes things move pretty fast and it's all so abstract. While the story starts off at a decent pace, it quickly shifts into higher gear after the testing. Actually a bit too fast for me. Half the time I was wondering what was happening now had to do with the plot. Towards the end though is when everything really became rushed, and by then I already stopped caring.
I feel that the world the author created is certainly interesting, but there was so much information crammed in this story, that it all blurred together for me. Also there wasn't any real buildup towards some big reveal, because of the fast pace. Everything happened so fast, but somehow I never felt any real danger for the main character.
Overall not a bad book, just a bit confusing to me. I'm not sure if it was the writing style, or the way the plot was set up. I believe it might have been better if this story was split up in two, and that we get more time to explore the characters and this crazy virtual world. It's certainly something else.
Teri has lived in France, Canada, Australia and England at more addresses than she can count, acquiring three degrees, a selection of passports and a silly name along the way. Past careers have included scientist, lawyer, optometrist, and, in England, various jobs in schools, libraries and an audiobook charity. The footpaths and canal ways of the Buckinghamshire Chilterns where she now lives inspired much of the setting of Slated. She hates broccoli, likes cats, and has finally worked out what she wants to do when she grows up.
Things change when Luna has been chosen to do the testing, which is to see where she would fit into society, but also her secret could be exposed. There she meets a hacker that changes things for her, she's let into a world of even more secrets and finds out that the ones controlling the virtual world aren't particularly nice.
That's about as far as I want to get into the plot. It isn't always easy to follow what is going on, sometimes things move pretty fast and it's all so abstract. While the story starts off at a decent pace, it quickly shifts into higher gear after the testing. Actually a bit too fast for me. Half the time I was wondering what was happening now had to do with the plot. Towards the end though is when everything really became rushed, and by then I already stopped caring.
I feel that the world the author created is certainly interesting, but there was so much information crammed in this story, that it all blurred together for me. Also there wasn't any real buildup towards some big reveal, because of the fast pace. Everything happened so fast, but somehow I never felt any real danger for the main character.
Overall not a bad book, just a bit confusing to me. I'm not sure if it was the writing style, or the way the plot was set up. I believe it might have been better if this story was split up in two, and that we get more time to explore the characters and this crazy virtual world. It's certainly something else.
2.5 stars
The Author
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