Book Review :: SLAY, by Brittney Morris

SLAY by Brittney Morris
ISBN: 1444951726
Published by Hachette
on 2019-10-03
Pages: 323
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

Black Panther meets Ready Player One. A fierce teen game developer battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for black gamers.

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only black kids at Jefferson Academy. By night, she joins hundreds of thousands of black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY.

No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm.

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals.

Driven to save the only world in which she can truly be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?

Last updated on 7 December 2021

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My thoughts on SLAY

When a synopsis of a book begins with ‘Black Panther meets Ready Player One‘ you know you’re in for a good time. SLAY was exactly that: all the fierceness of Black Panther and all the gaming glory of Ready Player One.

The synopsis lays it out pretty accurately for us, so I won’t go into too much detail about the plot. What I will say is that I loved the characters. Kiera is strong young woman with a passion for her Black culture and VR gaming, and what a winning combo that is. It was so interesting to read these gaming scenarios, with the hard-hitting political and cultural issues and ever-present racism which were (and are) around every turn. While the book is about the virtual reality game SLAY that Kiera has created, it’s really not about that at all. It’s about racism, culture, heritage, and being proud of who you are and your story.

“As we duel, as we chat, there’s an understanding that “your black is not my black” and “your weird is not my weird” and “your beautiful is not my beautiful,” and that’s okay. It brings tears to my eyes if I think about it too long.”

I really loved the gaming aspect of this book. Much like Ready Player One, a lot of the story takes place in the gaming world. Kiera has created this incredible world where Black culture is the driving force around the game play. There are cards labelled with Black icons, cultural and political references, hair styles, food and drink, dance moves and so many more epic themes, ideas and country-specific cards. Players use the cards to battle each other, their avatars performing actions and kick-ass moves from the cards they play. Wanna know something even cooler? You can see the Battle cards here on Brittney Morris’ SLAY website. How neat are these?

The concept is amazing, and I think Morris has written it very well. When it gets to the death the of one of the players, and the game takes a turn for the worse, Kiera’s strength really shines through. It’s a superb concoction of the reality of the harsh, unrelenting world we live in, and the entertaining, colourful worlds we can create.

If you’re after a short read about kick-ass Black gamer games, then SLAY is your book.

Have you read SLAY? What did you think?

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I received this book from Hachette NZ in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my thoughts, and all opinions are my own.