SLAY

You are a queen, and this is your game.

SLAY is fun, poignant, wicked smart, and absolutely ferocious.

Kiera is, frankly, Girl Genius. At 17, she's created the MMORPG "SLAY", as a place to have fun, feel safe, and express herself online. SLAY is a VR game that combines the best parts of World of Warcraft, Yu Gi Oh, and black culture, and has gained thousands of fans from New Orleans to Egypt. But she hasn't told her friends, family, or boyfriend - they all have such strong opinions on how African-Americans should act and what their politics should be, while SLAY embraces everyone's expression of their culture.

Then a player is murdered over an in-game argument, and the media vilifies SLAY as an insidious, racist, violent video game preying show more on low-income black teens regardless of how it apparently requires a full body of VR equipment, but that was never really mentioned...by anyone. Kiera has to face being the creator of something that technically ended someone's life, deal with the (white) public's accusations, and then handle the harassment of a troll who tries take Kiera down with the entire game.

SLAY keeps up its strong cultural conversation with flashy, impressive dueling scenes within the game - the game world is so thoughtfully built, it may as well be the setting of a fantasy novel. It's almost as much a portal fantasy as it is a contemporary novel.

It also feels mostly effortless with its commentary on hard topics. As much as it's a battle against racism, it's also a discussion of divisions and policing within the community: how much right do you have to talk for your whole group - or look down on people not modelling their resistance like yours? What's the importance of a safe space? What should that safe space look like? Honestly, it thankfully shucked the veneer of Teaching White People About Racism(which a lot of the Very Political books seem to have these days), and was way more about reaching out to black teenagers and hearing them out.

SLAY was fantastic to me - it was charming, full of excitement and bright colours, and also very thoughtful and poignant. Kiera doesn't have all the answers and doesn't make all the right decisions and you don't expect her to - but you do expect for her to support the people that matter and their right to safely express themselves. show less

Since I’m not a gamer initially I was a little concerned that the gaming aspects of this one would be a struggle for me but this did a fantastic job of explaining how these types of games work without it coming off as a confusing info-dump and most importantly the author through Kiera, Cicada, and other gamers POV’s really helped me understand how and why Slay meant so much to its players so even though gaming isn’t something I do, I became invested and appreciated its importance in these characters’ lives.

I mentioned that there are a few different POV’s here which I know isn’t something all readers enjoy, but for the most part the story does stay with Kiera, only the occasional chapter is given over to other characters and show more those characters do very much add to the emotional impact rather than feel like they’re taking time away from Kiera.

A tragedy that reverberates into the game created an almost thriller like atmosphere at times, it becomes very much a page-turner, but even more than that the depth of this really stood out to me. Whether it was secondary characters so fully realized that I could easily imagine any one of them taking center stage in their own story or the frank conversations about race that featured a range of opinions or how every single one of Kiera’s relationships with friends, with her family, and with her boyfriend, were realistically layered, often both loving and complicated, my favorite example of that came late in the book, a scene between Kiera and her sister in the car, there is so much they’re feeling in that moment, fear and frustration on her sister’s part, and the specter of race and how it hovers over everything making an already horrible situation feel like it could take an even worse turn all while Kiera’s reeling from a painful truth. I defy anyone to truly take in that scene and continue to paint all young adult novels with the same brush as if they’re all somehow less than, gems like this one dig in and offer as much complexity as any adult title. show less

SLAY by Brittney Morris is a young adult book featuring a "blacks-only" massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by high schooler Kiera. Having repeatedly experienced racism in popular MMORGs, she wanted to create a safe space that would both celebrate black culture and give blacks an exciting game of their own. After a player is murdered, the game gets accused of exclusionary racism, and her masked identity becomes the subject of fervent media interest. She has not let anyone, including her parents and judgmental boyfriend, know she's the developer and gamemaster. She wants to protect her beloved online community and her own privacy, but both are under threat.

This was both an engaging read, with appealing game show more battles, and thought-provoking as to common problems experienced by black high schoolers in majority white situations. Even Kiera's close white friends thoughtlessly expect her to be "the voice of her people", and have trouble realizing there are as many different perspectives within the black community as in the white. There are some cardboard characters (including, unfortunately, her parents), but the book's strengths lie in showing diverse black perspectives and the fallacies even well-meaning whites fall prey to. This is a good one for thoughtful young videogamers, methinks, but even old farts can enjoy the story and the thoughts provoked. show less

Kiera has a secret that not even her family and high school friends know about: She is the owner and creator/coder of SLAY, an extremely popular online VR role-playing game celebrating Black culture and, more importantly, a safe space free from racial "othering." But when a young teen is murdered in real life over in-game money, the media spotlight suddenly shines unfavorably on SLAY and harsh speculation ensues about the game and its perceived threats.

I loved this book most of all for clueing me in on so many not necessarily outwardly visible aspects of Black culture, which was both educational and a delight. Importantly, Black joy plays a significant role in the narrative, despite a tragedy being a pivotal plot element. As a lifelong show more gamer I was excited by the virtual world Kiera built and wanted to more about SLAY's origin. How/where did Kiera and Claire meet? How did their partnership develop? The technology-curious me also wanted to know more about the game servers, where they are hosted, and how that all came about. That said, there were some aspects of SLAY gameplay that I willingly suspended my disbelief in favor of pure entertainment. Recommended! show less

It took a while to get into "Slay" but I am so glad I persisted with it. Not only was it an action-packed read but it was also a wonderful testament to being Black. Kiera was a fabulous protagonist - strong, intelligent and brave, and proud of who she was.

The sisterly bond between Kiera and her younger sister, Steph, was touching and I also loved Kiera's relationship with Cicada, who was a moderator of Slay. Despite having never met face-t0-face, there was a lovely friendship between the two young women.

It was refreshing to have such inspiring female leads in the story. The males, on the other hand, especially Malcolm and Watt, were rather pathetic. Malcolm's attitude annoyed me from the start and I never thought he was worthy of show more Kiera.

At first, I found the gaming aspect of "Slay" confusing, having never played video games before, but I was soon intrigued by the world of Slay that Kiera had created. The virtual duel between Emerald and Dred had me on the edge of my seat along with half a million Slayers. It was nail-biting.

Overall, "Slay" exceeded my expectations and was a fabulous read. show less

If you’re willing to suspend reality to believe that a high school student programmed and manages an online, VR, dueling game played by hundreds of thousands of people around the world without her parents, sister or best friends knowledge then Slay may be the book for you. Kiera is that extraordinary character-- a social-justice-warrior-black student at a mostly white school dealing with college applications, tutoring her friends, dealing with a domineering boyfriend...oh, yeah, and running her extremely popular video game, Slay. Brittney Morris has done a really great job integrating a strong black identity theme into the book, and I loved the sprinkling of chapters voiced by other players, but at times her narrative gets waylaid by show more unnecessary (and dare I say...ridiculous?) plot points. Slay is an interesting first novel by an excellent author with a lot of important things to say that make it worth the time even with the missteps. show less

This was billed as a cross between Ready Player One and The Hate U Give. MC is a 17-year-old black girl who develops/runs a multi-player online game. Some reviewers complain that the scenario is not technically plausible. Luckily, I'm not a programmer, and I was immersed in the story. Others get caught up in one of the story lines—whether "reverse-racism" is at work. People: shut up, listen, learn! Bottom line: WOW, this was a fantastic debut!