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A review by thebookishhedgewitch
Slay by Brittney Morris
5.0
Kiera, after a disappointing and racist interaction on the equivalent of WOW, decides to program her own gaming world, just for black kids, so they have somewhere to feel accepted and not have to think so much about the things that are important to them. Until a boy is killed over the game; now Kiera is worried that people may be out to get her while grappling with the question of whether a Blacks-only space is discrimination in it's own right.
I loved the premise of this book - Black, teenage girl develops her own game. You do have to suspend a little bit of doubt about whether a seventeen year old would be able to both get great grades in school, have a social life, AND run the game essentially entirely by herself. Once you're able to let go of that, the book is very good. The character development in some of the secondary characters, especially Harper, is sort of filled with holes (although I did really appreciate that Harper turned around and "got it" by the end of the book, just would have liked to see more). I would have loved to see more of Cicada.
One thing I was a little disappointed in - the treatment of Kiera's relationship with Malcolm. Holy cow, it was as unhealthy as the grass is green. Teenagers get wrapped up in that "I'm in loooovveeee" feeling, I know, and they don't see unhealthy warnings the same way that adults do. So I guess, my main issue was that literally no one but her younger sister even steps up and says "hey WTF, this guy shouldn't talk to you like that." Kiera's interactions with Malcolm and his comments are what I would expect from a seventeen year old, but I was disappointed we never saw her parents chime in on their relationship.
I loved the premise of this book - Black, teenage girl develops her own game. You do have to suspend a little bit of doubt about whether a seventeen year old would be able to both get great grades in school, have a social life, AND run the game essentially entirely by herself. Once you're able to let go of that, the book is very good. The character development in some of the secondary characters, especially Harper, is sort of filled with holes (although I did really appreciate that Harper turned around and "got it" by the end of the book, just would have liked to see more). I would have loved to see more of Cicada.
One thing I was a little disappointed in - the treatment of Kiera's relationship with Malcolm. Holy cow, it was as unhealthy as the grass is green. Teenagers get wrapped up in that "I'm in loooovveeee" feeling, I know, and they don't see unhealthy warnings the same way that adults do. So I guess, my main issue was that literally no one but her younger sister even steps up and says "hey WTF, this guy shouldn't talk to you like that." Kiera's interactions with Malcolm and his comments are what I would expect from a seventeen year old, but I was disappointed we never saw her parents chime in on their relationship.