Scan barcode
A review by hagiasophia
SLAY by Brittney Morris
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
read this for a book club, so my thoughts may change some after we meet, but these are my current thoughts:
- the premise of a 17-year old running a game with only one other mod and apparently doing it without paying for pretty much anything is so unbelievable. i could not suspend my disbelief at all. this book should have either been more realistic (older characters, a larger group of people running it) or gone full sci-fi and taken place in the near future where we have the tech the story describes.
-Writing is incredibly bland and simplistic and the characters are flat. Malcolm is a caricature and all opportunities for interesting discourse are thrown away with how much of a stereotype of a "hotep" he is. The relationships b/w characters did not feel authentic at all. The plot twist was so predictable.
-This book spent way too much time explaining stuff. It is clearly trying to target both Black teens and non-Black teens, but details the details of near every aspect of Black culture introduced. It was tedious, especially since I was familiar with most of the terms. Kids can look up terms they're not familiar with, they don't need their hands held as they're guided through every word they don't know. And it tried to take a global perspective but failed to do so. It's totally US-centric, which there's nothing wrong with, except story presents Slay as a game that encompasses all of Black culture across the world.
-The book was pretty fast to read, and I am not the target demographic so I'm trying not to bee too hard on it. But not for me at all and just poorly executed overall.
- the premise of a 17-year old running a game with only one other mod and apparently doing it without paying for pretty much anything is so unbelievable. i could not suspend my disbelief at all. this book should have either been more realistic (older characters, a larger group of people running it) or gone full sci-fi and taken place in the near future where we have the tech the story describes.
-Writing is incredibly bland and simplistic and the characters are flat. Malcolm is a caricature and all opportunities for interesting discourse are thrown away with how much of a stereotype of a "hotep" he is. The relationships b/w characters did not feel authentic at all. The plot twist was so predictable.
-This book spent way too much time explaining stuff. It is clearly trying to target both Black teens and non-Black teens, but details the details of near every aspect of Black culture introduced. It was tedious, especially since I was familiar with most of the terms. Kids can look up terms they're not familiar with, they don't need their hands held as they're guided through every word they don't know. And it tried to take a global perspective but failed to do so. It's totally US-centric, which there's nothing wrong with, except story presents Slay as a game that encompasses all of Black culture across the world.
-The book was pretty fast to read, and I am not the target demographic so I'm trying not to bee too hard on it. But not for me at all and just poorly executed overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs