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A review by nickoliver
Slay by Brittney Morris
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I don’t think this has ever happened before like this, but I actually was almost completely disinterested in "Slay" when I picked it up. Literally the only reasons why I even did that was because it was a YA contemporary (which I was in the mood for), and because it was short. That was it. I mean, usually, there’s a bit more excitement there when I start new reads.
However, I was completely taken by surprise in the end. This book blew me away in a way I absolutely did not expect. It has been a while since this happened to me, and it made me so happy! I read most of it during reading sprints on Saturday (the day when I finished this), and it drew me in completely.
At first, I had some issues. Books that are heavily about video games, specifically when they feature very detailed game play, always give me a bit of a hard time because it always feels a bit too elaborate to me (see, for example, Warcross by Marie Lu). But I realised after only a short while that I actually had no issues picturing the world of SLAY, and that it made complete sense to me. That was surprising, but certainly in a good way! And while the game itself was a bit confusing at first - and some of the little technicalities never made all too much sense to me (probably because I have no experience with VR games) -, I still got immersed and admired the world Kiera had created.
The book dealt very heavily with racism and, like, reverse racism, I guess? Essentially, SLAY was exclusively for Black people. You needed an invite to be a part of it, and you couldn’t get it from just anybody. And not only was it only played by Black people, it was also for Black people. Meaning that everything in-game was based on Black culture. The cards that you used in fights were named after famous Black people, or food they often cooked, or simply AAVE. It was honestly amazing, and I can’t imagine how it would feel like to play this game as a Black person.
One day, someone got tragically murdered because he was keeping certain things hostage from other people and had demanded ransom. That murder got the game into the public eye, and people soon started to call it a “racist game” because it didn’t allow for white people to be on it. It was extremely frustrating to read for several reasons. The way Kiera got attacked and called racist without anyone stopping to think why she created a safe space for Black people was anger-inducing. Plus, it was infuriating to see how others behaved. Not only were the news reporter & Co. extremely racist talking about the game - for example, equating it with the ghetto, or calling its name violent simply because they didn’t understand the double entendre -, there were also so many people pitching in their opinions despite never even having played the game. They called it racist and violent and brutal without having spent a single second on it. The audacity of people never ceases to amaze me. I had to take breaks and breathe through my nose at certain times. There was also a scene that I more or less skipped because it made me too anxious.
It was interesting to see Kiera’s friends, because they were all pretty different. There was her sister Steph, who was very proactive, vocal about what she believed in, and overall just amazing. A lot of the things she said were powerful. She was very supportive of Kiera once she learnt that she’d created SLAY, even played it herself.
Then, there was Harper, a white girl that Kiera had been friends with forever, and her brother Wyatt. They didn't understand a lot of the struggles Kiera and Steph went through on the daily. They made you mad too, because even when Kiera explained why something wasn’t okay - and explained it well -, both Harper and Wyatt were both, ‘Well, actually ...’ and completely ignored what she’d just told them. I was actually a bit caught off-guard to hear that Kiera and Harper had been friends for a while; I’d assumed that someone who’s been close friends with a Black person for a while would understand where they came from much better than she did. I also didn't completely understand how they were such good friends if Harper acted like that constantly; I would've liked to see their friendship explored a bit more.
Wyatt had disturbing white supremacist views and believed in reverse racism, and also thought that SLAY should be allowing white people in. He was the kind who thought it was wrong for a place to be Black-only and completely disregarded the reasons as to why it existed, even after Kiera calmly explained it. He was an infuriating character, and one I would've loved to see put into his place.
Throughout the book, Kiera had a boyfriend, Malcolm. He believed in Black power, but he went about it the wrong way. For example, there were many things (like gaming) he disapproved of because he believed Black people shouldn't engage with them, lest they got distracted from fighting for their success. And he believed that Black people had to be successful - they had to be enterpreneurs and only date other Black people and have 2.5 children with them, and if you didn't have these aspirations, you were a disappointment.
Plus, his type of activism was the kind that didn’t allow for women or queer men to be included. It was all about Black men being empowered and dating Black women who supported them any way they could, and there was a lot of misogyny and toxic masculinity in there. While Malcolm didn't actively say homophobic or misogynistic bullshit, you could read it between the lines. He wanted Kiera to fit his own activism and to be there for him all the time, and every time she stepped out of that, he got mad.
Lastly, there was a character, Claire, that had helped Kiera create the game in the first place. She sometimes had a few chapters from her POV, and I honestly loved her character. I loved how she showed the racism of French people, and also that she was from another country in the first place? It helped cement the fact, alongside some comments of Kiera herself, that SLAY wasn’t just for African Americans; it was for Black people everywhere.
When Kiera got harrassed in her game by someone, it didn't take her long to suspect someone that she was sure was the perpetrator. I was right there with her, because it made a lot of sense, and it fit the message the book was trying to convey. So when a plot twist revealed the truth, I was absolutely horrified. Because while I understood where Morris was coming from and what she was attempting to say, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and also put the blame in all the wrong places.
I didn't understand why the perpetrator would go to the lengths they did - pretending to be a white dude, do Blackface, naming themself after Dred Scott, talking about lynching -, and what were they trying to gain from that? Malcolm wasn't pro-Black in those instances; he literally just did it to tear Kiera down because she dared to do something he didn't approve of. Remember what I said about certain Black men hating Black women a lot, especially if they couldn't control them? Yeah. In any way, the fact that Malcolm was the offender and not Wyatt made me actually angry - I do think it’s important to talk about Black men behaving the way he did and condemning their actions, but Wyatt would’ve made more sense as the offender. It would’ve made more sense in the context of the book, since so much of it was about “racism towards white people”. And instead of that, it was just misogyny. Boring and disappointing.
What I would also like to mention were some of the POVs. Most of the book was written from Kiera’s POV, but every once in a while, there was a chapter from someone else’s POV. Some of them were important, like Claire, but most of them were just characters that had shown up before but weren’t actually that plot-relevant. I liked those POVs, because they showed the impact that the game had on Black people everywhere, and how loved it was. The only thing that bothered me was that it didn’t get back to some of those characters, which left some loose threads? Claire showed up again, and so did some of the others. The one that I hated the most was Jaylen. She was a trans girl living with an abusive mother, and I would’ve loved to see her again! Her chapter was just angsty with no payoff. That kind of pissed me off. You really put a trans character in your story just to give her a traumatic life with no hope in sight? Nice.
So anyway, the reason this book didn’t quite get 5 stars were the plot twist and that part with the POVs. Otherwise, it was practically perfect.
However, I was completely taken by surprise in the end. This book blew me away in a way I absolutely did not expect. It has been a while since this happened to me, and it made me so happy! I read most of it during reading sprints on Saturday (the day when I finished this), and it drew me in completely.
At first, I had some issues. Books that are heavily about video games, specifically when they feature very detailed game play, always give me a bit of a hard time because it always feels a bit too elaborate to me (see, for example, Warcross by Marie Lu). But I realised after only a short while that I actually had no issues picturing the world of SLAY, and that it made complete sense to me. That was surprising, but certainly in a good way! And while the game itself was a bit confusing at first - and some of the little technicalities never made all too much sense to me (probably because I have no experience with VR games) -, I still got immersed and admired the world Kiera had created.
The book dealt very heavily with racism and, like, reverse racism, I guess? Essentially, SLAY was exclusively for Black people. You needed an invite to be a part of it, and you couldn’t get it from just anybody. And not only was it only played by Black people, it was also for Black people. Meaning that everything in-game was based on Black culture. The cards that you used in fights were named after famous Black people, or food they often cooked, or simply AAVE. It was honestly amazing, and I can’t imagine how it would feel like to play this game as a Black person.
One day, someone got tragically murdered because he was keeping certain things hostage from other people and had demanded ransom. That murder got the game into the public eye, and people soon started to call it a “racist game” because it didn’t allow for white people to be on it. It was extremely frustrating to read for several reasons. The way Kiera got attacked and called racist without anyone stopping to think why she created a safe space for Black people was anger-inducing. Plus, it was infuriating to see how others behaved. Not only were the news reporter & Co. extremely racist talking about the game - for example, equating it with the ghetto, or calling its name violent simply because they didn’t understand the double entendre -, there were also so many people pitching in their opinions despite never even having played the game. They called it racist and violent and brutal without having spent a single second on it. The audacity of people never ceases to amaze me. I had to take breaks and breathe through my nose at certain times. There was also a scene that I more or less skipped because it made me too anxious.
It was interesting to see Kiera’s friends, because they were all pretty different. There was her sister Steph, who was very proactive, vocal about what she believed in, and overall just amazing. A lot of the things she said were powerful. She was very supportive of Kiera once she learnt that she’d created SLAY, even played it herself.
Then, there was Harper, a white girl that Kiera had been friends with forever, and her brother Wyatt. They didn't understand a lot of the struggles Kiera and Steph went through on the daily. They made you mad too, because even when Kiera explained why something wasn’t okay - and explained it well -, both Harper and Wyatt were both, ‘Well, actually ...’ and completely ignored what she’d just told them. I was actually a bit caught off-guard to hear that Kiera and Harper had been friends for a while; I’d assumed that someone who’s been close friends with a Black person for a while would understand where they came from much better than she did. I also didn't completely understand how they were such good friends if Harper acted like that constantly; I would've liked to see their friendship explored a bit more.
Wyatt had disturbing white supremacist views and believed in reverse racism, and also thought that SLAY should be allowing white people in. He was the kind who thought it was wrong for a place to be Black-only and completely disregarded the reasons as to why it existed, even after Kiera calmly explained it. He was an infuriating character, and one I would've loved to see put into his place.
Throughout the book, Kiera had a boyfriend, Malcolm. He believed in Black power, but he went about it the wrong way. For example, there were many things (like gaming) he disapproved of because he believed Black people shouldn't engage with them, lest they got distracted from fighting for their success. And he believed that Black people had to be successful - they had to be enterpreneurs and only date other Black people and have 2.5 children with them, and if you didn't have these aspirations, you were a disappointment.
Plus, his type of activism was the kind that didn’t allow for women or queer men to be included. It was all about Black men being empowered and dating Black women who supported them any way they could, and there was a lot of misogyny and toxic masculinity in there. While Malcolm didn't actively say homophobic or misogynistic bullshit, you could read it between the lines. He wanted Kiera to fit his own activism and to be there for him all the time, and every time she stepped out of that, he got mad.
Lastly, there was a character, Claire, that had helped Kiera create the game in the first place. She sometimes had a few chapters from her POV, and I honestly loved her character. I loved how she showed the racism of French people, and also that she was from another country in the first place? It helped cement the fact, alongside some comments of Kiera herself, that SLAY wasn’t just for African Americans; it was for Black people everywhere.
When Kiera got harrassed in her game by someone, it didn't take her long to suspect someone that she was sure was the perpetrator. I was right there with her, because it made a lot of sense, and it fit the message the book was trying to convey. So when a plot twist revealed the truth, I was absolutely horrified. Because while I understood where Morris was coming from and what she was attempting to say, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and also put the blame in all the wrong places.
I didn't understand why the perpetrator would go to the lengths they did -
What I would also like to mention were some of the POVs. Most of the book was written from Kiera’s POV, but every once in a while, there was a chapter from someone else’s POV. Some of them were important, like Claire, but most of them were just characters that had shown up before but weren’t actually that plot-relevant. I liked those POVs, because they showed the impact that the game had on Black people everywhere, and how loved it was. The only thing that bothered me was that it didn’t get back to some of those characters, which left some loose threads? Claire showed up again, and so did some of the others. The one that I hated the most was Jaylen. She was a trans girl living with an abusive mother, and I would’ve loved to see her again! Her chapter was just angsty with no payoff. That kind of pissed me off. You really put a trans character in your story just to give her a traumatic life with no hope in sight? Nice.
So anyway, the reason this book didn’t quite get 5 stars were the plot twist and that part with the POVs. Otherwise, it was practically perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Slavery, and Police brutality