I LOVE THIS BOOK. I know that's a big lead in, but hear me out.
I did read the advance reader's copy of this book even though it was published on September 24, 2019. Undoubtedly there will be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.
I need to say that this book tackles a lot of hard conversations about race, racism, and it does specifically speak of black culture. If that doesn't appeal to you for any reason, perhaps it's best not to read this book.
An amazon summary, "By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”
But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”
Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?" AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
To be clear, I think it's beneficial for me to say that I am a white person. There were many things in this book that I've never heard of before and this read has been a very enlightening experience for me. However, as a white person, I think there are many nuances and aspects that I lack personal experience with black culture that my appreciation and even understanding of the book can only go so far. I'm going to do my best to discuss the subject matter, but I'm a human without personal experience in this realm, so I apologize if I stumble through some things, or if my revelations seem lacking in any manner.
Anyways.
Kiera is a bonafide badass. By day, she's an honors student, math tutor, and has a boyfriend who she's pretty serious about. After hours though, Kiera is the creator of Slay. A game designed to celebrate and create a space to be prideful about many different aspects of black culture from all over the world. She's created a way for players to customize their avatars in ways that other games simply can't or won't. The game is also designed for black players to be able to share a passcode with other black people, to preserve the integrity and space of the game. Plus, it's fun! Like most games, the online massive multiplayer has many different aspects to play, explore, and especially duel.
So, during the day, Kiera is also one of the only black kids at her school. As such, her friends try to use her as the sounding board for all manners to deal with racism or being politically correct. But at home, Kiera is able to simply be in the most freeing of ways. She also has help creating and maintaining Slay from one other mod, so when one player gets killed over their Slay account, Kiera is at a loss for what to do. Especially when the world seems to suddenly be out for her non-virtual blood. However, Kiera and the other mod have been very diligent in hiding their true identities so the media is an uproar trying to figure out who they are.
That's enough summary.
There's a lot to unpack about this book, so I want to start with one of the aspects I was more at odds with; Kiera hid her playing video games from her parents and sister. Period. Like, that she even has virtual reality equipment, that she even locks her door, locks her VR equipment in her desk, and makes sure she knows what everyone else in the house is doing before she plays. I'm wondering if I missed something within the book, but I don't understand why she hid all of it so well for so many years. Like.... what's wrong with playing video games?
Secondly, her relationship with her boyfriend Malcolm. Personally, I think the relationship was kind of a good depiction of how a relationship can be toxic at an early age in life. I really liked how the writing didn't shy away from his behavior, ideas, and also didn't hide how Kiera reacted to him in all senses. It felt very real (for lack of better wording) and I also had a real sense of Kiera through every scene with her boyfriend or when she was thinking about him.
Thirdly, what the hell is up with white people. I kind of adored to hate Kiera's white friends who seemed to be stumbling puppy dogs for personalities. They REALLY want to do the good thing, they're just not sure how to do the good thing, so they ask Kiera how to do the thing as if she's the resident expert.... Then they also clarify their lack of knowledge about doing the good thing and they want to do the good thing to be respectful. They were pretty clumsy as people, but it also felt like people I've encountered in my life.
Fourth....ly? SLAY THE VIDEO GAME SOUNDS AMAZING. SO. A-MAZ-ING. I wish it was real, and I wish people got to play it.
Fifth.....LY. I also really appreciated the relationship Kiera had with her sister, and well just Kiera herself. She got herself into a situation, and she was so relatable and honest about everything that was going on in a play by play situation that I found myself cheering for her throughout the whole book.
Finally (ha), there was a ton of references throughout the book that I had to google because I've never heard of them before (like the brown paper bag test). So, specifically for me, this was a really eye opening experience that gives me a better understanding on some level of my own privileges. One of my friends recently shared a post about how privilege isn't just about the things you were given. It's about the things you were never subjected to. I don't need to go on a big explanation of my own privileges, but I think this book really helped me better understand the kind of privilege I experience on a daily basis. I don't know.
I just really loved this book. Great plot, great characters, great progression of story/pacing, lots of great points about black culture, and I kind of really hope there's a sequel because I want to know how Kiera keeps slaying.
Happy reading!
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