Slay

I absolutely devoured this book. I could not put it down. Kiera is a nuanced and captivating protagonist; her struggles are both specific (keeping her massively successful video game secret from her friends and family) and universal (struggling with her identity and plans for the future). I also loved her sister and Claire, the co-creator of the game, as characters. Morris has a masterful command of suspense and pacing. I found myself holding my breath when Kiera's digital life and real life came into conflict in time-sensitive ways. For fans of Warcross, this has many of the captivating elements of an invented virtual reality world that that book has. Also similar to Warcross are complicated ethical issues and uncertain interpersonal relationships; unique to this book is the specific exploration of Black culture across time and space and a basis in a reality much closer to our own. I especially enjoyed the chapters that gave brief glimpses into the lives of the various players, although Q.Diamond's chapter broke my heart. The story's climax had me on the edge of my seat and that PLOT TWIST AT THE END!!! I KNEW Malcolm was an asshole! One of my favorite recent reads and a good reminder for us whites that not everything is about us and people of color don't exist to answer our basic ass questions.

Slay is a great book if you are capable of massive suspension of disbelief. I love the description of the game.  The virtual reality world that this game exists in sounds absolutely amazing.  I'd love to see video games like this.  In the world of this book V.R. technology appears to be commonplace.  It is much more technologically advanced than we are now but everything else besides gaming seems to be about the same level of technology.Slay is a virtual world where people duel using powers granted to them by cards that they draw from a deck.  The cards are based on aspects of black lives across the globe.  Mom's Macaroni and Cheese makes the ground your opponent is standing on gooey so they get stuck.  The Afro card surrounds you in a protective bubble of hair.  Other cards on based on famous people.  I loved reading about the cards.  The world building here was so inventive and funny.  It was everything I love about fantastical worlds.  In order to play Slay you need to have a passcode from another player.  It is understood but never explicitly stated that you have to be black to play.  When a top player is murdered in real life because of a dispute about the game, the media finds out about the exclusivity of Slay.  They start to debate about whether or not it is racist to limit play to black people.  There are great discussions about harassment of black videogamers and the importance of having spaces where you can be yourself.  Who gets to decide what is black culture?  This part of the story is all good.  The problems come if you think about the details too much.Supposedly this game was built by a teenager.  It has 500,000 players using virtual reality.  Where is this being hosted?  How is it being paid for?  It is a free game with no apparent advertising.  The murder was over people pooling resources in the game.  It implies that there was money being spent on the game but she never seems to collect any money.  How would a minor be able to set up a company that could do that alone?  Somehow her family has never noticed that she is running a massive undertaking from her bedroom.  She doesn't really seem to do much but moderate some large duels.  She talks about adding new features and about some glitches but she never seems to fix anything.  She goes to school full time, has a boyfriend, tutors, does her homework, and goes to bed early.  Nothing ever seems to crash or absolutely need her attention.  Games need teams of people to keep them going but she checks in for a few hours a day when she can get away from her family?  Not likely.If you can let all that go and pretend that this is a totally self sustaining game, then you can enjoy the larger social issues brought up in the story.  This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story