Brittney Morris

By and large I enjoyed this book; the audio performances were especially good. Kiera and her world are interesting, sympathetic, and authentic. About half-way through, though, my interest started to wain for two reasons. First, Kiera's friend realizes how much of a clueless twat she's been. That's good, and the conversation which follows is good, but I didn't see how she got there. It just kind of happened, and felt a little too convienent. Second, the stakes of the climactic show-down battle didn't really feel all that high. On paper, yes, Kiera has everything to lose, but I didn't feel her tension. I think it has something to do with a red herring involving the antagonist, but I don't want to say anything beyond that for spoiler reasons. Suffice it to say that the misdirection took more air out of the room for me than I think the author intended.… (more)

Kiera has a secret that not even her family and high school friends know about: She is the owner and creator/coder of SLAY, an extremely popular online VR role-playing game celebrating Black culture and, more importantly, a safe space free from racial "othering." But when a young teen is murdered in real life over in-game money, the media spotlight suddenly shines unfavorably on SLAY and harsh speculation ensues about the game and its perceived threats.

I loved this book most of all for clueing me in on so many not necessarily outwardly visible aspects of Black culture, which was both educational and a delight. Importantly, Black joy plays a significant role in the narrative, despite a tragedy being a pivotal plot element. As a lifelong gamer I was excited by the virtual world Kiera built and wanted to more about SLAY's origin. How/where did Kiera and Claire meet? How did their partnership develop? The technology-curious me also wanted to know more about the game servers, where they are hosted, and how that all came about. That said, there were some aspects of SLAY gameplay that I willingly suspended my disbelief in favor of pure entertainment. Recommended!… (more)