Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing its e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

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Kiera, Steph, and Malcolm are all varying degrees of "black" - there's the 'all-black-everything', 'angry black man' boyfriend, the 'black is magic' sister, and the 'is my black enough' main character. But that isn't what this is about. Slay is a video game made by a black woman, for black people, celebrating blackness all around the world, in whatever way that manifests for the player. But that isn't what this is about either. There's been a murder of a prominent Slay player and the world begins discussing culpability and the repercussions of online gaming. Still, that's not what this is about either.

This is a story about personal growth and learning to give people the chance to surprise you. It's a story meant to remind you that not everyone fits neatly into the box that you've placed them in, and over time the person you think you may know may have changed (and not always for the better).

Morris writes us into world where you're reminded every step of the way that it's okay to not be exactly like everyone else, but always remembering that representation matters and that, no matter what, you are important and enough. The world is immersive, the lore is expansive and the characters fully developed.

This book left me feeling even more proud to be black than before but it also left me hurting for the constant battle black people have to go through to find a welcoming space the world over. This is an excellent escape. I get it, Kiera. I get it.

This was so good!! I love the new 'actually modern' books that are being published at the moment, this book felt so realistic and didn't feel dated at all.

Thanks to Netgalley who gave me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review <3

First off, I am white and this is one of the most unapologetically black books I've ever read. This book is not for me and that's great and y'all should read it anyway.

So, this book is about Keira, a teenage girl who is secretly the creator of SLAY, a MMORPG made for black people, celebrating black culture. When her game gets in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Keira has to confront the divide between her online and offline lives.

I loved how this book dealt with race in a more sophisticated way than not just most YA books but most adult books too, dealing with the need for POC safe spaces, the perils of being black online, and the intersection of gender and race. For the last of these, I really appreciated the portrayal of the relationship between Keira and her boyfriend Malcolm. This book really goes to new places and dares to do so in the confines of a ~300 pages YA novel about a video game and I think that's wonderful.

The book is told primarily from Keira's point of view but there are also chapters from other SLAY players around the world. I've seen some people say this didn't work for them, but for me it gave the book depth and emphasised the global nature of her game and the themes of the book. I think it's a risky structure but for me it paid off.

One issue in the book is implausibility. Even with the book being set in a near-future with more advanced technology... it still requires some suspension of disbelief that a teenager, with school and family responsibilities, could build and maintain a huge MMORPG by herself. I'm usually quite good at letting things like that go (it is, after all, the premise of the book) but it may bother other readers more. Some of the details of the denouement also made me question the mechanics of the game and it did bring me out of the book a bit towards the end.

Overall, this is a great fast-paced page turner that was great fun to read and is balanced wonderfully by the serious issues it presents.

I love this cyber inclusive YA novel. The writing is totally engaging and evocative, creating its own aesthetic and character so clearly on the page.

[Review live on blog on 27th Feb]

I read Slay back in October 2018, but I was left with a big jumble of conflicting thoughts, so I'm only just getting around to reviewing it now I've had time to mull my feelings over a bit.

So, first of all, there are lots of things I liked about Slay. I loved Keira, the kick-ass, determined, supremely talented gamer. I really liked her sister Steph, although occasionally her rants seemed a little heavy-handed; some of her explanations about culture were excellent reading, but it felt a bit forced when she's explaining Black language use to her Black parents. I would have liked to see more of the mod who helps with the site, Cicada, who I thought was a really interesting POV character. One of the strongest points of the book is the relationships between these three, and how each of the characters responds to the events in the story. I thought the concept was really cool, and I loved the idea of the game itself - the fact all the cards were based on Black culture is really cool, and I could totally understand Keira's drive to create the platform.

I did find the concept implausible though, and every time we learned more about Slay and how Keira had created it, it jarred me out of the story. I don't personally understand how Keira could have juggled being a great student around having a boyfriend and social life, whilst also building a complex video game which no one in her family knows about - for THREE YEARS. Aside from the financial and logistical issues - VR equipment, dealing with servers in Paris, learning how to do literally every part of the design from concept to coding to graphics and sound effects - I just don't see how any one human could have enough hours or energy in the day!

The next point is a tricky and potentially controversial one - while I loved the idea of Slay and it being a safe space for Black gamers, I'm not entirely sure I agree with the idea of it being ONLY available to Black players. By all means, advertise it to Black players, hammer home the idea of it being a safe space, have strict mod rules to kick out players who jeopardise that and emphasise the role of Black culture in the rules and concept of the game, but don't ban white players altogether. It seems to me the game has the potential to bring people together - to help white people understand more about Black people and culture, and bringing people together in positive ways is one of the research-backed approaches to tackling discrimination and prejudice. I honestly don't mean this to sound like a privileged white person complaining about racism against white people, because frankly that concept is a load of rubbish - I would be significantly more uncomfortable if it was a game created by a white woman that excluded POC - I just don't think more division is the answer. I'm a bisexual woman married to a man - if I created a game specifically for lesbian, bisexual and gay cis people but excluded trans people, it seems to me that would be unequivocally wrong. Equally, if I was excluded from a site about LGBTQ+ communities because I 'wasn't gay enough' because I'm married to a man, that'd be wrong; yes either way the aim would be supporting a minority group, but is it really necessary to tear down another to do so? I back Keira's aim to lift up the Black community whole-heartedly, but there's just something a little bit uncomfortable about deliberately excluding people. Not to mention the fact that there's no mention of other people of colour throughout the book. This is of course purely my opinion, and as I said, the book really forced me to analyse my own feelings, and I'm still not 100% certain how I feel - generally I think positive discrimination is a good thing, so my feelings may change, but for now, it seems like a waste not to allow people in to try and bridge gaps. I fully acknowledge that it isn't the job of Black creators to educate others, but if someone is trying to learn more about things they're ignorant about, it seems like a waste not to let them in to do so.

I thought the plot was fantastic, although a little rushed at the end - the villain feels very two-dimensional, and I'd have liked to see more to explain their motivation. I desperately wanted to know how the potential lawsuit would play out and I loved reading all the different opinions about Slay, from the parents to kids to a lawyer Keira's friends; I couldn't figure out from my own point of view whether Keira had done anything wrong, let alone what the law might conclude, and the more points of view I read, the more complicated the idea got. Combine the addictive plot with the writing, which is both easy and gripping and you end up with a book that is impossible to put down - I finished it in a single sitting. It's a thought-provoking, debate-inspiring book, and even months after finishing I have a hard time making sense of all my thoughts and feelings, but I would 100% say it's worth reading. It has a gripping sci-fi story, as well as plenty of real-world ideas to think about, and I'll definitely be adding a copy to my classroom library.

Seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is one of only a handful of black students at her high school.
No one - not Kiera's boyfriend, sister, parents, or friends - know that Kiera is the developer behind SLAY, an online multiplayer game that Kiera created as a safe place for black gamers.
Previously little known, SLAY is suddenly in the limelight on the news and facing backlash when a teen is murdered over an in-game argument.
The media and internet trolls are demanding that the developer of SLAY, known only as Emerald, comes forward.
Is this the end of SLAY?
Will Kiera's identity be revealed?

I love reading diverse books and books about video games, so SLAY was high on my to-read list.
The concept of SLAY really intrigued me and it made me think more about non-white gamers and their experiences when gaming.
SLAY sounded like a fun game and I liked the cards - I thought they were an interesting and cool idea.
I liked Kiera as a protagonist, but Claire and Steph were my favourite characters.
The plot was good overall, but it did drag a little in places for me. I felt that not much really happened plot-wise, but SLAY did raise some interesting and important questions/themes.
The writing style was engaging and easy to follow most of the time, but there were a couple of occasions when I had to go back and re-read a page because I had missed something.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Honors student Kiera Johnson - along with her sister Steph, one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy - is hard-working, helpful, and hiding a big secret. She's the developer of SLAY, an card-based VR MMORPG for Black people which she created after being sickened by the racism she faced playing similar games. In her virtual world, as Emerald, she's beloved by other SLAYers, and she's proud of the work she's put into making a space to celebrate Black excellence. Then a SLAYer misses an important match, only to be found dead in real life, and the game is all over the news - with white people screaming about how racist it is not to let them play, and a troll bullying SLAYers and taunting Kiera. Can she deal with being under attack from what seems like all sides?

This sounded like a really unique idea for a book and Brittney Morris definitely delivers that. I love the care that's gone into creating the world of SLAY, with every card a nod to Black culture and history - the love that both the main character and the author clearly have for the subject of each and every one of the cards shines through. A+ world building for sure! I also really liked most of the characters; Kiera's a great main character who's done an incredible job of creating this world and now has to deal with the possible ramifications, while her more hot-headed sister Steph is wonderful and I love the way the relationship between the pair of them changes throughout the book. Another major relationship is with her co-mod for the game, who she initially knows only by a username, but finds out more about as the novel progresses; I really liked this one too. In addition, the relationship between the two sisters and their parents, who are relaxed about boys but strict about spending time as a family together, and hugely supportive, is a very well-portrayed one and they're more present than many YA parents are. It's also intriguing to compare Keira, who has built the SLAY community for Black people but who has white friends, with her boyfriend Malcolm, who hates video games and is far more anti-white than she is, constantly reading in an attempt to decolonise himself.

I thought that for the most part, the book was very well-paced - indeed, my one of my complaints was an incredibly strange one for me; it felt slightly too short if anything! We got to see a few one-off chapters from the POV of other SLAYers and I'd have been really interested in either seeing a few more of them, or returning to those POVs later in the book as well. In addition, while the book builds to an superbly exciting climax, the resolution after the climax feels kind of rushed. My other complaint is VERY spoilery so I'll try and be vague; I felt that as jaw-dropping as the climactic scene was, a major part of it didn't quite work for me in the context of the story.

Despite these slight misgivings, this is so exciting that it's a definite recommendation. I love Morris's action-packed writing style and I'm super-excited to see what she does next.

There were so many great things about this book - girl gamers, issues of racism and sexism and of elitism within particular races - but what stood out especially was the inability of one person to speak for an entire culture, no matter how well-read they are. This was a strong and powerful story, that spoke of a great deal of pain, of the power of cultural heritage, and the fear of misrepresenting it. The main character was frighteningly wise beyond her years, and the actual gaming mechanics were quite simplistic, but the message itself was so important.

Kiera is a 17-year-old honour student, and one of the only black students at Jefferson Academy. But outside of school, she joins thousands of black gamers who duel in a secret online role-playing card game called SLAY. Thing is, Kiera doesn’t just play though, she developed it. No one in her day to day life knows she is the game developer, not even her boyfriend. When someone dies over a dispute in SLAY, the media brands the game exclusionist and racist. Kiera must now do her best to save the safe space she created.

I’m a fan of a good RPG game, so that was probably one of the main reasons I requested SLAY from NetGalley, and I had heard so many good things about it too. It was an interested and unique read and definitely a book i’d recommend if you are looking for a contemporary that is a little bit different.

Kiera is a fantastic protagonist – smart, kind, intuitive, patient, passionate, and loving. She has a great voice and she is a really engaging and intersting character. She wants so badly to save her game that is a safe space for black gamers that just doesn’t exist anywhere else. For anyone who is involved in the gaming community in any way, it’s hard to miss the blatant racism and misogyny and I think why this book is so great because it really tackles those issues. SLAY is deemed discriminatory, exclusionist, and racist by the media because it was created for black people and I loved how these dicussions were handled, and how is shows how important the game is for black gamers.

SLAY is a book that really explores Black culture. In the game, they duel with cards and each card explores an element from Black culture. It’s celebratory and unapologetic. SLAY has a lot of cultural discussions that is handled with nuance and care.

I really loved the dynamics between the characters too. I loved Kiera’s relationship with Cicada, a girl who helps run the game. I also really loved Kiera’s relationship with her sister too. I just really loved that Kiera had such a supportive network of people.

One thing that I did struggle with about SLAY was the actual gaming process as I don’t think it was explained very well. I think it was VR but it seemed a little advanced and sometimes that actual gameplay wasn’t explained well. But, that was a trivial thing and didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the book.

SLAY is a book that is a really important and nuanced book for teens. It is engaging and entertaining with heartfelt and tender moments too. A book that I highly recommend and Brittney Morris is an author I will keep my eye on!

Before I get into this review properly, I want to put in the caveat that this book wasn't written for me. I'm an English white woman from a reasonably privileged family, I can't know what it's like to be a black teenager in America so I won’t pretend that I can understand a lot of the cultural nuance in this book. That being said, I still found this book to be super engaging and very accessible.

I think this book is important on so many levels. It's unapologetic in the way it celebrates blackness and black identity, and it also handles the difficulties of relationships at seventeen so well. It shows her struggling with her boyfriend's opinions differing to hers, it shows her handling her family's expectations of her, and it shows her handling the world's expectations of her as a black woman. There were dialogues in this book that I might not personally agree with but I fully believe that all of them are super important and that this book is a love letter to young black women who want to challenge the world they're living in.

I also particularly loved the way that Brittney Morris called out not just the racism that POC face on a daily basis, but also the racism that can exist within POC communities. Keira is torn between being not white enough and not black enough, and has to find her own identity and how she relates to her culture. There's a twist in the book that I think is really well done. I was surprised but also felt really vindicated for some of my earlier misgivings about certain plot points, and the moral lesson of this book ended up being impressively lightly-handled for a heavy topic and didn't drag the book down from it's pop-culture packed, fast-paced tone.

This book was fantastic! I'm not the target audience but Slay hits the perfect blend of fun and thought-provoking.
Kiera has created this entire masterpiece of a world, but now it's in danger. She feels guilty for what happened (a teenage boy was killed over a Slay-related dispute) but there's also the fact that once white people find out about the game, there's a lot of negative feelings that there's one space that isn't for them. There's also the fact that Kiera's boyfriend is pretty horrible.I love Kiera and her family, and I love everything about this book. I am interested to see how this author’s career progresses.

By day, Kiera is a 17 year old honours student and one of the few Black kids at her Academy. By night - or late afternoon, at least - she runs the secret multiplayer RPG game SLAY, bringing together 500,000 Black gamers. No one knows it's her creation. When a teen is murdered in the real world based on a SLAY dispute, the game is launched into the news, deemed racist, exclusionary and violent.

SLAY follows Kiera as she tries to preserve her secret identity and protect her game, all while dealing with a variety of emotions in the shadow of the news - the book is a celebration of Blackness and a great book built around a love of gaming. A quick but good one.

I so wanted to love this but I kept zoning out throughout this and did not really care about what was happening. This was a shame as I liked the premise and how it was explored it was just not aablle to hold my attention fully.

At first, this book was interesting enough for me to read 50% in one sitting. The moral dilemma at the centre made for an initially intriguing premise, but it never felt resolved. It's certainly made me think about what our definitions on discriminatory behaviour are and how that would apply to the situation.

I'm not a gamer, so I didn't really connect with the passion that fuels to many of the characters.  I struggled too with all the cultural references as a non-gamer and as a Brit, but this is a problem I have with many contemporaries. Cultural touchstones build our point of reference, and mine is so different. Having to constantly stop to work out the significance of keds or google what saltines are throws a barrier between me and the characters.

Then I hit about the 65% mark.

Keira makes a very stupid decision, and it made me want to chuck my kindle across the room and shake her. She risks everything . It reads almost as hotheaded, despite the fact she's been mulling it over for at least a day - and hasn't taken any advice over it.

It jerked me right out of the story because I was so irritated. Normally, if I'm engaged in a story, foolish decisions simply set up a sense of tragedy, but I wasn't engaged enough with Keira, it just made me want to give up.

The two people who knew about her role as developer didn't even get her to see how foolish it was. She has a screaming match with her sister, which they resolve without ever talking about it, and the co-developer almost encourages her, saying that they'll win either way?

I skim read the final battle, because I was so irritated with her that I just wanted the bare bones outcome.

Then came the big twist, and it... seemed very counter intuitive. I've seen some reviews which were saying the opposite. After reading a few, I think I'm starting to understand the point that was trying to be made, but it doesn't feel rational to me. (Yes, the character is a psychopath, but it's taken me about 10 reviews to even start to start to make sense of it.)

Also, for a book set in the modern day, the technology of the game is incredibly implausible. Two teenagers have built from scratch a VR game so photo-realistic you think you're actually there with very little money? Yep. No. I might have been able to buy the quality of the game, if it had been set in the near future, but there were no hints that it might be anything other than contemporary. For all the main character's talk of being a good coder (etc) there is no proof of it anywhere.

The promotional material for ‘Slay’ describes itself as “Black Panther meets Ready Player One”. That’s a statement that is superficially true, but also misleading. What’s worse is that it sells the book short. I don’t know if it’s quite as good as MCU’s ‘Black Panther’, but it’s certainly better than ‘Ready Player One’. It has what that book, for all its thrills and nostalgic fun, lacked: a heart and a purpose.
I’ll confess I started it not expecting too much, partly because of that promotional tagline, which suggests a novel that is like other things rather than a piece of art in its own right. My expectations were low because of my own personal prejudices. You see, the book is marketed as Young Adult, that weird modern literary classification that tells you nothing about the book other than the fact that the publisher doesn’t think it is good enough for adults. In this case that’s a crying shame as ‘Slay’ is truly excellent.
It tells the story of an African American teenager, Kiera, who has secretly created an online virtual reality game that celebrates black culture and is exclusively available to black players. So, ‘Ready Player One’ meets ‘Black Panther’, only not at all really. Much of the book is actually about family and romantic relationships, and the challenges of growing up black in a white world. It reminded me much more of Angie Thomas’s ‘The Hate U Give’ than it did either of the other two works. In fact, it’s arguable whether it’s science fiction at all, as it takes place in the present day and all of the technology on it is currently available.
The book covers the themes you’d expect it to from the premise and manages to do them all justice. Identity, racism, the struggle for fair representation, the need for safe spaces. All get a discussed in a way that is never overblown or patronising. There aren’t necessarily easy answers to some of the questions it raises, but there is throughout a heartfelt passion that is impossible not to connect with.
The book works as well as it does because the author’s message is strong but told through believable characters and a gripping plot. The story itself is relatively simple, but Brittney Morris packs in enough twists and (virtual) action into it to make it extremely compelling. Kiera is a great character and the examination of both black and gaming culture is insightful. I read ‘Slay’ it in a couple of days and finished it feeling thoroughly entertained, moved and more informed than I was before I started it. I can’t think of higher praise for a book.

Here's a book I was really unsure and went for it because it sounded really different. I'm so glad because I liked it a lot, so that's a nice surprise :)

I'm not a gamer as well, but Morris' writing completely captured me. It's a plot driven book, which I love and I really enjoyed discovering this world of game too. Kiera was a great character to follow along with others.
Overall., I really enjoyed it and if you're interested in the premise, you should get it because it's executed really well.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Obvious disclaimer here: I'm a white lady who can in no way comment with any authority on this book which has been written with teenagers of colour in mind. Seek out own voices reviews if you can because they will have captured a much more nuanced view than I could ever hope to. 

Overall, I think this book is probably one of the better video game focussed books to have hit the market since the success of Ready Player One (I hate RP1 but that's by the by). This book is intersectional in a way that other books just haven't been, choosing to centre a black, female experience instead of a cis white male experience - basically I am HERE for this concept it made me incredibly happy. 

This book hooked me with the mystery aspect of the story, working out who it was targetting Kiera kept me reading even when other things frustrated me (I'll get into that below). In addition to that storyline, this book tackles huge concepts and encompasses massive debates all while still (for the most part) feeling true to the experience of a marginalised teenage girl. 

The thrilling parts of this book, the danger, the online battles, the high action aspects are all great, but there are also softer moments that fill out this story into something so much more than just another video game book. Kiera navigates a somewhat abusive relationship, difficulties in friendships, sibling relationships, long-distance friendship. Those 'human' moments are, in my opinion, what makes this book exceptional. 

Now I have to mention the parts that I was not so keen on. To be totally fair, I have, perhaps, a bit more insider knowledge into video game technology than some readers might - my wife is currently an AI programmer in a small game studio and the parts of this book where it tried to delve into the code and the running of such a huge enterprise just didn't feel entirely believable to me. I didn't get a sense of how and when Kiera had learned to code so well, beyond a couple of vague anecdotes. Knowing how much it takes to make a game I was just finding it a little hard to suspend disbelief here and it was frustrating me! 

The only other thing that annoyed me was that this book tends to tell rather than show - which I know is often a personal preference thing, I felt like this book was explaining a lot to me in quite a stilted way, that might not bother you but it cut into my immersion just a tad. 

Overall, I thought this book was great, and a great thing to have published and available for young girls interested in getting into STEM and video game programming. I think teenage me would have loved the plot and this book certainly gives food for thought as to the value of safe spaces in a digital age. 

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

SLAY is a brilliant and insightful book - so much so that it is difficult to believe it is a debut. I'm not very big on gaming, which is at the heart of Keira's story (my knowledge is dated and limited to Mario Kart and a cursory knowledge of Pokemon), but it didn't matter, because Morris' tech-loving novel completely sucked me in.

The story is about Keira, a college student who is secretly the developer of SLAY, an online fantasy role-playing game. SLAY is a place where she and other black gamers all over the world can escape the racism of other online gaming spaces and proudly be themselves. But when someone in the real world dies as a result of a conflict in the game, SLAY is labelled as dangerous and racist. Confronted with this tragedy, Keira is forced to navigate her personal and online relationships to protect the safe space she has created for herself and so many others.

As I mentioned before, I am not a gamer. I know a bit of D&D, and Keira's game had those vibes, but techy stuff goes completely over my head. So trust me when I say that you don't have to understand anything about the game in this novel to find it a thoroughly enjoyable read. What made me care about Keira's game was not the way it was played or the accuracy of how it was developed. I cared about SLAY because it meant something to people. That's more powerful than any magic a game could conjure up.

The characters were distinct and relatable. Keira is quiet, intelligent, and passionate about her game, and throughout the novel, it becomes increasingly clear that she is incredibly resilient despite the huge toll SLAY's controversy has taken on her. Meanwhile, her sister Steph is more bold and outspoken, and unafraid to address people when they're being ignorant. There is a scene where Steph calls out Keira's friends in the most collected and calm way and I was shaking at how powerful it was. But we also see Keira experiencing immense grief for the child who lost his life over her game in that same scene. She is unable to be calm - and why should she be? I loved how Morris addresses the fact that both responses are okay, and that black women don't have to be constantly responsible for educating others.

I also loved the glimpses we got into the lives of the other characters in Keira's life, including Cicada - a biracial French gamer who helped Keira with maintaining the game. There were a couple scattered in there that I'm not sure brought a lot to the story, but I liked how it highlighted how there is no singular black experience.

Although this is in many places a fun read, it is also incredibly intense. The issues the novel deals with are very real - the lack of safe places of POC online, daily microaggressions, white supremacy, abusive relationships, misogyny and elitism under the guise of empowerment. It is difficult to read at times, but very rewarding.

This book affected me deeply and is quite frankly an essential read for its messages but also its thrilling storytelling and wonderful characters. SLAY is all about black girls in STEM elevating each other, and it should be on everyone's shelves.

Warnings: Racism, white supremacy, misogyny, video-game violence, murder (off-page), abusive relationship (non-physical), domestic abuse towards trans child (side character)

Thank you to Netgalley, Brittney Morris and Hachette Children's Books for arc of Slay in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Slay
Author: Brittney Morris
Format read: Ebook
Publication Date: 3rd October
Page Count: 336 Pages
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Genre: YA
Star rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis: Kiera is one of the only black kids at her school Jefferson Academy. By day she's an honours student, maths tutor and expected to be the 'voice' on anything relating to black culture, according to her classmates. By night she's the creator of a brilliant online VR card game called Slay. Nobody knows she does this, not her family, not her friends and not even her boyfriend Malcolm whose strong views include that video games contributed to the 'fall of the black man'. But when someone is murdered in real life as a result of the game, suddenly Slay is on everyone's lips, it's branded as racist, exclusionist and worse. Then a troll infiltrates the game threatening to sue Keira for 'anti white discrimination' and now she has to save her game while also preserving her secret identity.

What I took from Slay is how important a message it holds at its heart. I can't go into much detail without spoilers but I'd say that if you're a fan of The Hate U Give and Black Panther then you will love Slay. I enjoyed the learning element of it and loved Kiera's character. The only bit for me that I found quite boring was the game elements but that's because I'm not really interested in games. I reckon my partner would love that aspect though! And I can see that it does cater to the girl game nerds out there who've needed a book not aimed solely at the Male and usually white gaming community.
Saying that. Having read other reviews I feel like maybe the game elements were boring to me is because a lot of it is just description and watching rather than seeing any in game action, especially for a VR game. I expected a little more from that. I also felt the exclusivity jarred a bit but maybe that's the message the book was trying to put across. I totally get why safe spaces are needed but it's tough to exclude people who are mixed race, other races etc and create a purely 'black space' but as I say this could very much be one of the messages this book is putting across.
Overall I liked this book but found it quite a slow starter with boring elements (the in game descriptions) and I had a few issues as mentioned above.

Slay is just amazing. For a start the gaming and duelling are a nice addition to the core storyline that brings fun and high octane moments. And the main story really is fantastic. I love the way we get to see the black community - the way expectations and cultures mesh is lovely, but we also get to see when they clash in a way that is sadly rare. As this book proves - there should be no one right or wrong answer. And the game itself does sound huge fun.

I love Keira and Clare, and their care for their world was so clear. I did feel a little uncertain about the exclusivity element, but I definitely understood Keira’s point of view on it.

Malcolm was a harder character for me to like throughout, especially as the story goes on, but he seems to have a very specific view of how Keira should be and what she should do, which I really didn’t love.

Honestly this feels like a celebration of a book, despite the tough subjects touched on, and I am going to be passing my physical arc of the book on to an own voices reader. 💙💙