Shattered
Author: Teri Terry
Release: March 6th 2014
Genre: Dystopia, Mystery, Thriller, YA
#3 in the Slated trilogy
Plot:
Kyla is in danger from both the government Lorders who erased her memory and the terrorists who tried to use her. So now she’s on the run. Sporting a new identity and desperate to fill in the blank spaces of her life pre-Slating, Kyla heads to a remote mountain town to try to reunite with the birth mother she was kidnapped from as a child. There she is hoping all the pieces of her life will come together and she can finally take charge of her own future. But even in the idyllic wilderness and the heart of her original family, Kyla realizes there is no escape from the oppressive Lorders. Someone close to her may be one of them, and even more frighteningly, her birth mother has been keeping secrets of her own.
In this stunning series finale, Kyla finally finds out who she really is, and the road to this discovery, and to deciding who she wants to become, is full of dangerous twists and turns that will keep readers riveted.
Review:
Such a superb ending to an outstanding trilogy. I'm seriously baffled here, because you can notice that this series was Terry's first project, it is clear that she's an inexperienced author, but despite all of the flaws, she still manages to make these books shine. They're so rich in emotions, it makes you forget anything that you could criticise otherwise.
I had a list of things I wanted this book to address, and I think almost everything on that list was solved. Let's go through it, shall we?
1. When Kyla first met Ben, he "looked familiar." Why? Was that some kind of foreshadowing, or nothing? I have a feeling that, perhaps, there's going to be some major plot twist surrounding this.
Well, okay, no. But then again, it was mentioned once and never again and I guess it was only my own suspicious mind seeing things where there's nothing.
2. Nico (duh).
Yes. There was enough closure with him.
3. Kyla's families, both old and new, what happens/happened with them?
Oh man, don't even get me started. One of the biggest mysteries in this trilogy, but so masterfully done and tied up. I loved it.
4. Who reported her missing (again, duh)?
I'll say more on this later, but: accounted for.
5. Doctor Craig?
Unfortunately, not much is said about him, which is a shame — I still don't know what his role really was in Kyla's past, and we never found out. Oh well.
6. Doctor Lysander?
Yes.
7. Cam and Coulson?
Well, Cam — no, he was not even mentioned once, but Coulson did get his screen time.
8. Are Ben and Kyla going to be happy in the end?
....
9. Where's Tori?
We got our closure.
10. Is Aiden a good or a bad guy?
He's good.
So. I'll start off with saying one thing that I am a little bummed about, which is the ending, yes. It came across as a little too easy and sunshiney for the kind of build-up it got, but I think the real thing here is actually, well, something else. I don't want to spoil anything, you know, but I'm just putting it out there that I did not like one thing that was left kind of unresolved.
Anyways, I think what I loved best, though, was the relationship between Kyla and her actual mother, Stella, who reported her missing and to whom she returns to at the beginning of Shattered. She doesn't really remember her, so they have to get reacquainted and I thought all of their interactions were just so incredibly raw, it reached out and gripped something in me, shouted This is it, this is so real. Their relationship was so genuine, and Terry simply did a wonderful job at portraying it exactly right: not too much unicorns and rainbows, but also some kind of real reunion with happiness and joy involved. I just ... loved this.
Of course, the novel does not lack for mystery and action in the slightest. It was, again, a rollercoaster ride that never let me see too far ahead, which in turn sent me screaming in fear and exhilaration every time the ride took an unexpected turn. Which was lots of times, actually. Bottom line — it was awesome.
Character development? Do I have to? I don't have to say a lot, because these characters, as I already mentioned, are so there, they exude an aura and demand so much attention that you can't help but feel like they could step out of the pages every moment. That they should step out at any second. Wonderful.
All in all, I'm really sad that this trilogy is over now, but at the same time, it is one of those novels that I'm leaving feeling satisfied, in a way. There are series that I could re-read a hundred times and every time, still turn the last page of the last book and be left like I'm missing something more, which wasn't the case with this book. Yes, there is that one thing that's still nagging at me obviously, but ... yeah. I loved Shattered. And I cried, again. I don't know what it is about these three books, but they really resonate with something deep within my soul. I think that this trilogy is one I am going to re-read some time in the future.
Did Ben run away in the end?
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