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Slay tells the story of a young Black woman and her experiences in the world of online gaming. There’s a risk that a review written by a middle-aged white male might fall well short of the mark for a book like this. There’s a huge amount going on here that I have never had experience with and can’t fully relate to.
Nevertheless, I can be affected by the character’s stories. I can draw some understanding of the multi-layered complexities of racism to perhaps better realize my own innate privilege. I can also enjoy what is a pretty great STEM-based story involving a Hearthstone–style game that draws on key elements of global Black culture.
Here are 5 Reasons to Read Slay by Brittney Morris.
1. The Game
The titular online game, Slay, is a digital card game where each of the cards is a representation of Black culture. It’s thematically a fascinating idea and in the novel, the game’s implementation sounds great. I would definitely like to play it.
The single idea to a card motif works very well too, giving an insight into many aspects of Black culture. Better still, within the game, cards interact with each other in a fashion that gives deeper insight into the cultural aspects they display. No feature of any culture stands in isolation, and how two things interact…
