Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Slay by Brittney Morris

69 reviews

sophia_gs's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Death, and Racism

readtomea97's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I really wanted to like this book but it was so full of eye rolls and just trying so hard to stay engaged. It really doesn’t pick up until about 1/3 of the way in. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Death of parent and Bullying

auntieerrica's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

aalexander8's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

Minor: Toxic relationship

jennmichelle_otsr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is my first read by this author, and I devoured it in two days. I picked this book for the 2024 PopSugar Challenge for a book that centers on video games. This book is so much more than that. It deals with heavy real world issues (racism, loss, belonging, a trans character, and an abusive relationship being among them). I did not want to put it down when I had to go to bed the day I started it, and the next day I read it almost nonstop until I finished it. There were some surprises, and I really felt for these characters. They are richly drawn. I debated on the rating for this one, but since it was not predictable and because I could not put it down until I knew how it ended, I am giving it five stars.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Transphobia, Stalking, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Racism

There was a bit more profanity than I expected going in, but the teen characters voices ring as authentic. The various narrators helped keep me engaged throughout.

maralaene's review

emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This is an incredibly powerful story, with so many references to black culture in a ready player one style setting. My favorite parts about this story was the dialogue between characters, particularly between the two main game developers. 

While this wasn’t my favorite book, I do think it was worth a read. This book celebrates black culture and female empowerment and it is so awesome to read about a super smart, badass FMC (yay math 😁) in a book about video games! 

The narrators also did a phenomenal job for anyone who listens! The French POVs were awesome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Death of parent and Death

rhalpin's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a really compelling story! It felt very current and it’s cool to see a typically underrepresented perspective come to life in YA fiction. The writing fell flat for me at times and the first hundred pages or so kind of dragged for me. I also feel like I could have done without some of the minor character perspective chapters. Overall though I found the book enjoyable to read and I’m actually surprised I had never heard of it until it was given to me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

katelynprice's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I'm pretty sure that this book made me start playing video games again. The world-building in the game SLAY is immersive and truly remarkable. I loved this reading experience and the themes of this novel, but I had trouble setting aside some of my disbelief with the MC and her secrecy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

mythian's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder and Racial slurs

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Sexual content