'Slay': Discovering the Power of Black Identity| BLK Girl Reads Ep. 3

Join us on the latest episode of Blk Girl Reads, a bookclub podcast, as we dive into the captivating world of the novel 'Slay' by Brittney Morris. In this episode, we explore the intricate layers of the book's narrative and discuss its profound exploration of black identity, representation, and empowerment.

As we dissect the themes within Slay, we delve into the portrayal of racial discrimination, the importance of community, and the power of embracing one's heritage. We highlight the author's skillful storytelling and her ability to seamlessly integrate timely social commentary into an engrossing plot.

Tune in as we engage in a thought-provoking conversation about Slay, celebrating the novel's contribution to the representation of black characters in literature. Our lively discussion will leave you inspired and eager to join the ranks of Slay's devoted fans.

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Transcript

Jann: 0:01

By day, 17 year old, Kira Johnson is an honor 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 do a worldwide as Nubian personas and the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game slay. No one knows. Kiara is the game developer, not her friends, not her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are a quote unquote distraction to keep the black man from becoming great. 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. Can she protect her game without losing herself in the process. All right. Welcome to the podcast this week guys, we are reviewing the book Slay by Brittany Morris. A beautiful cover, it has a lot of pinks and gold leaf, which shines when you twist the book. It's a really beautiful book. and stay tuned to the end if you would like a chance to win a copy of your own. I'm Jan, your host,

Joi: 1:14

And I'm Joi your co-host.

Jann: 1:18

and we're really excited to review this book with you this week. So we're gonna start off as usual with a rating. Joi, what would you rate this book?

Joi: 1:29

I'll have to go with the three for this book. Yeah.

Jann: 1:34

A three out of five.

Joi: 1:35

Mm-hmm.

Jann: 1:36

Okay. Okay. I'm a little surprised. I thought you were rated higher, but I'm right along with you. I give it a three and a half stars out of five. so I think we're are more on the same page than we have been in, in our last two episodes. This is only the third, but still surprising.

Joi: 1:54

We were

Jann: 1:55

so yeah,

Joi: 1:56

book, skin the Sea.

Jann: 1:59

very true. It was two star difference though. All right, so we're gonna get into why we rated, what we rated it. So for anyone who has not read the book so far and does not want any spoilers, you might want to skip to the end if you want a chance to get your own copy or read it and come back so that you can, hear the discussion. That's your warning spoilers from here on out. All right, Joi. So why'd you rate this book? A three out of five

Joi: 2:28

So it wasn't a bad book. I didn't hate it, but some of the references, some of the meaning it was just too much hitting the nail on the head for me. And it became a little cliche and it became oh, okay. yeah, like we get it. Like we get it and we get it. Okay. So it was

Jann: 2:45

yeah, I do.

Joi: 2:46

note constantly. So that's what kind of hit me. And then like I didn't, it really made me feel my full 29 years of age reading this because it's about like people who are younger, like who are in high school. So it was just like, I don't know, like something about the cadence of it. I just wasn't really feeling too much, Like I felt like this is a young person doing young people things and I'm not there anymore. And like the reasonings too, Like the whole time I was like, girl, if you don't leave this dude, like he sucks. I felt like she was

Jann: 3:21

I would say that, yeah, that's what it seemed like. Maybe it's because I have a younger sister that's, um, kind of hardheaded. That's a cute way too long to catch on to what I was saying by the way,

Joi: 3:40

the hell.

Jann: 3:41

but I don't think, I don't like the emotional maturity definitely was like an issue for me with the main character, but I don't think I like, felt super out of place. Like this is definitely a young adult novel because, and this is probably not a good sign. but I think it's pretty universal, like the discussion with black women and black men and the relationship between them. Cause that's exactly what I was thinking with her character, like she just gave him way too much grace, Malcolm. and that annoyed me a bunch, but it's also like, that's a narrative I'm used to hearing. so what, I don't think it's necessarily a age thing, I think it's just a maturity thing, is what I'm saying. Does that make sense?

Joi: 4:18

No, I completely agree. I feel like if someone was in the same exact relationship at our big age, it's possible, but I don't know. It was just like I wasn't feeling it too much at all.

Jann: 4:33

It just seemed like a girl who was trying to figure out who she was and what she would allow. And again, I feel like you're always gonna be going through that, that growth. if you feel like you're not growing, then that probably is a sign that you're stagnant. So yeah, I gave her some grace, even though I felt like she gave him way too much grace. but I will say that I do relate a lot to what you were saying about just being like, it wasn't subtle. That is not a word that I would use to describe this book and I will be honest with you. I thought you would rate it higher because when I was reading this book, and again, I was reading the physical copy, I did not even get through the first chapter and I put it down and I did not come back to it until two days later because I hated everyone. Like everyone was just such a stereotype. Like it was not subtle at all. And then I started to realize that like the more I read it, and granted I did not come back to it until you said that you were almost done and that it was good, which violates the rules of book club

Joi: 5:32

I lied.

Jann: 5:33

for,

Joi: 5:34

finished this damn book.

Jann: 5:37

I will say this. Everyone that's listening the only rule of book club that we have two rules, actually. The rules book club don't talk about the book before book club. And. There is no, did not finish in this book club. You gotta finish the book. So her telling me that she thought it was good was definitely a violation of book club rules.

Joi: 5:57

I just wanted to motivate you to read it some more, like, oh, just get into it. get past those first couple chapters.

Jann: 6:05

I was still in chapter one and I was about to violate rule number two because I was just exhausted. but reading further into the book, I started to realize that like the writing style that she chose was like using the characters as allegories rather than having a bunch of character development. Like the characters felt very flat, but it's because they were representing a concept that black people deal with on the regular. Like her friend asking if she could wear dreadlocks and then her brother, her white brother coming up and saying, oh, let me interview her for this. I wanna get your opinion for black people. And the fact that like they said, oh, we don't want your sister's opinion. We already know what her opinion is, but they were just looking for her to give an opposite opinion so that they'd be allowed to do it. Like all exhausting. All so exhausting. And I just had to put it down. And then of course, Malcolm coming up and being the Hotep that he was, I was just like, I can't take it right now. And I put the book down because again, I deal with that every day. And I think about how like black people as a whole don't have the option to not talk about race. We just don't have the option. Whereas white people do. And it was very interesting to me because I was reading reviews on the book and all the white reviews that I saw was talking about how exhausted they were about talking about race in the book. and they said it like she did such great writing, like you felt exhausted with Kiara. And I was like, I didn't even need the writing for that. Like as soon as I read the first chapter, I was like, oh, like I feel that all the time. So I don't know. On a certain side, I think maybe she did do really good writing for people who aren't black to understand what Kiara is going through. Does that make sense?

Joi: 7:47

No. Yeah. that's exactly what it was. And the thing for me, and normally I don't read books like this, that's like very close to like home or very realistic to y your everyday life, because I want. To read books for escapism usually. And so for me to read a book about the reality that I live, I'm just like, not only am I exhausted, but I'm not escaping into any kind of fantasy. I'm not escaping into a different world. You know what I mean? Like I just, and that's why I don't really read like historical fictions either. I'm just like I know this. Like it's very traumatic for black people and I don't wanna be traumatized further, you know? So I just, I don't care for books. I usually do stuff like this. it's just not, it's not for me. Not saying it wasn't a good book for someone, but it just wasn't for me personally.

Jann: 8:37

you rated it a three out of five for a reason though. Like it wasn't some, it's like an average. So what did you like about the book?

Joi: 8:44

so I would give this book to like my 12 year old, friend's, daughter to read, like it's not a bad book. I just think that my age and like where I am right now in my life, I don't need it. You know what I mean?

Jann: 9:00

So you didn't like even the like chapters where they skipped around to the professor at MIT talking about how he was going to like, or realizing the game was about black culture and wanted to share that with his nephews. Or more Maurice talking about his trips to Asia because we all wanna travel, right? That's relatable. Just going around and worrying about how you're gonna be received as a black person or even like, um, Claire and her experience and like people assuming that she's not from France, even though she's been there her whole life. And then feeling excluded from black culture as well because she's mixed. Like I agree. There are some things that are like, again, about my emotional maturity, like her relationship with Malcolm, but I feel like there was some things in the book for everyone,

Joi: 9:48

yeah, there's some things in the books for everyone, but it, for me, those different snippets, especially like the one where it's like the, the kid that, asked her to battle at one point in the middle of the night and it was like L G B T or something and the mom came in and beat him up or something. It was just like, it was like seeing what the different perspectives of the people who were playing the game. like I liked it, but I'm just like, I don't need a whole book about this and to see these perspectives, it's not a bad book. I don't hate it. I like how she did the different perspectives, but it was just like, it was a very average book.

Jann: 10:24

What did you think about that? Like having all the different characters, like I, I feel like she did a good job of doing a lot of different viewpoints and saying why this safe place was important to them. do you feel like that was legitimate, like having a safe place? Do you have a safe place like that anywhere or do you feel like if you were to create a safe space even, like what would you create? Would you create something similar like a game or will it be something else?

Joi: 10:49

I think so. For me, My, this sounds like, okay, so the game itself sounds really cool, but I was really impressed with the game and

Jann: 11:00

Yeah, I really wanna play that game.

Joi: 11:02

and the thing about it is like, the way that I play games, I don't really care about like missions or battling. Like even when we play Pokemon Go, not Pokemon Go, but like Pokemon on the Switch, I never actually play it to get the gym badges or anything. I just play it to get the different, Pokemon that I like and just to explore. And that's how I've always played video games. So when they're explaining it and it was like, oh yeah, this is just you can travel the world. And it's like one by one ratio of the world and you get like different animals and make a life out of it. Like people don't always go in there to battle. Just go in there and be like a shopkeeper. I'm like, that's.

Jann: 11:39

That seems so fun. Like the fact that there was something for everyone. Like they had the pets, the rhinos that they could ride.

Joi: 11:46

visiting the friends and their actual houses that they decorated. Woo. That was really cool. So

Jann: 11:52

Wasn't Claire's house that she built, like all the yellow, so cute,

Joi: 11:58

that's what I would do.

Jann: 11:58

like I love that. Or like people making their own clothes just seemed really cool. So that's one of the questions I had actually. What was your favorite card that you saw? I'll give you my favorite if you need some time to think about it.

Joi: 12:14

Yeah. Yeah. You tell me first.

Jann: 12:18

So one of my favorite cards was, the Twist Out card.

Joi: 12:23

Damn. I was gonna say that one too. Okay.

Jann: 12:26

So I love that one because first of all, twist out is life. Cause I was like my go-to hairstyle for sure. but also I loved how at the beginning of the battle it started off as two huge twists that she said was the size of like dinner plates. And then as she went on, she did like smaller ringlets and things like that because there's so many different ways you can do a twist out, so I really like how diverse that card was. And just in general, I love how diverse all the carts were because they're like, when she assumed that, what's the boy's name? the brother Wyatt, when she assumed Wyatt was, dread. It just annoys me even saying that name right now. When she assumed it was Wyatt, she was like, he might have studied the cards and memorized them, but he doesn't know how versatile all these cards are because he doesn't understand the culture. And she was using cards that like, in a way you wouldn't have expected to use them. So I really liked that all of them had a double meaning because I feel like African-American vernacular and just our culture, you can't just decide. You wanna look on the outside and take something and then fully understand it. That's just not how it works, which is the danger of cultural appropriation with everyone. you assume you know how something is or what it's about and you really don't. so yeah, that's definitely something I liked about the game in general, but, all right. You had enough time. What's your favorite card? I have more favorite cards by the way. I'm gonna say you another after you tell me yours.

Joi: 13:54

so I really liked the, purple haze cart. It would've made it follow you with the purple. And then when she explained it, it was between, the one that it was, I can't remember what it was, but, that one or Purple Rain, I was like, damn. Like it was Prince.

Jann: 14:10

Yeah.

Joi: 14:11

That one's cool.

Jann: 14:12

she was talking about, she didn't know which way to name it.

Joi: 14:15

And the other one was the, Satchmo card. And the only thing I could, cause when he was explaining it too, to his nephews, do you know who Satchmo was? Like, the Louis Armstrong? And I was like, I didn't know, honestly. I was just, I immediately went to Rugrats when they're in the backyard and they go through Satchmo

Jann: 14:36

Like when does that have to do with black old.

Joi: 14:40

rugs. What? But yeah, what's your other fair, right?

Jann: 14:47

So even though I'm not very religious, I love the black Jesus card where she said, it's pretty much everything awesome I could think to put in a card. I was like, that's freaking hilarious. It's like such a op card in my opinion. And I think about it too, from like a gamer's perspective and that I play, I played Magic, the Gathering. I have gone to drafts. I've played other, like card games especially, mean, not especially, but including like Slay The Spy, I think the card game is called. I've just played a lot of them. So I'm like reading these descriptions like, oh, that would go really well with this one. And,

Joi: 15:22

thought that was so interesting that she was able to write a book while also creating a game so cool. what's your perfect game now? Write a book about it. It's really impressive. That's why I was thinking the whole time, honestly. It's wow, she wrote a whole game.

Jann: 15:37

I feel that way whenever I read a fantasy novel where they did a lot of world building.

Joi: 15:42

I think it's funny how no one knew who she was this whole time, like when she said her IP address changed every few seconds, and so she couldn't be traced. The way that my ego was set up though, like if I managed to write this whole successful game, everyone would know it was me, and especially got like this badass character, they call her queen. I'm like, yes. Fish gravel as I walk past.

Jann: 16:06

But that was her escapism though, like that was where she escaped to do the stuff that she wanted and it seemed like everybody in her life would've had an issue with it, because of things they would say, like the Malcolm obviously, and her mom like. Trying to steer them away almost from black culture. Like anytime they said something, it seemed like on the outside, like people wouldn't be receptive of it. And she didn't want it to be a thing she had to struggle with. It was a way for her to

Joi: 16:33

I think it's very important too for that to be included because, something that I'm very well aware of, especially with kids coming up nowadays is that they won't be open with you or honest with you if you already show them. Your cars as their parents or as their guardians? if you happen to say some off key stuff about the L G B T community or like literally anything, they'd be like, okay, so we know that my parents aren't cool with this, so if I happen to come out on my friends happen to come out, they can't know about it. And these little things that you like tell them or just do or say around them, they'll pick that shit up and they'll carry that with them. Cuz then they know you're not a safe person to explain these things to. And it can be as amazing as having a whole video game world that you created, you wouldn't know. And I kinda broke my heart a little bit. Like I would never want to be a parent and feel like my kid couldn't talk to me because I was trying to like obviously do better. But sh the way the mom was doing it too was weird. I don't know, like we've always had like different adults telling us to, don't say your pants or don't say, my bad, or things like that. And you just don't know how damaging it is to a relationship that you didn't realize, So I think that's like a good message also for the adults.

Jann: 17:52

I agree. And that's what I mean by while the main character like had a lot of questionable judgment because she was like a young girl, which really drove it home. The fact that she went to the lawyer with a jar of change. that really drove it home for me. oh yeah, she's young. Like it still has something in this book for everybody, including parents. Like that part at the end where her mom was crying and trying to figure out why she didn't come to her. And she very clearly laid it out like, this is why, these are the things that you do that you thought would help me, but in reality, you were distancing yourself from me. So yeah, there's definitely something in the book for

Joi: 18:27

Speaking of the lawyer who I had like a girl crush on the lawyer,

Jann: 18:31

Yeah.

Joi: 18:32

like the lawyer and the secretary. They're both so nice and so open to her and go she's here for a reason obviously. And then when she just real oh yeah, I played the game too. Like she's obviously she would know by that point. But they were just like so sweet to her and I really appreciated that too. Cuz she's scared she's looking for a lawyer. I don't know, it was just nice to see, and not like waving her off or just like actually listening to

Jann: 18:54

I agree. They didn't make her feel bad for having that jar of money instead of using a card like a normal person. Like they didn't belittle her at all. Yeah, they did write by her. I was very surprised by how professional they were. Cuz that's not a situation that you see often with black

Joi: 19:12

Exactly.

Jann: 19:14

it's always like, if you're not coming, the way that we expect our customers to come, you're here to make trouble. And people talk down to you and people want you to just like, Not get in their hair. And yeah, they definitely did right by her. And I love that she waived the fee and thanked her for the game. There was no like disbelief, like you didn't create, it was just, thank you. I appreciate this.

Joi: 19:36

Yeah,

Jann: 19:36

Gave her a little bit of advice. I feel like she could have gave her a little bit more advice. Like she kind said this is the type of lawyer you might need. If I were her, I would've been like, let me get you the name of a lawyer. You might,

Joi: 19:49

but then at the

Jann: 19:50

hey, that might have been a boundary.

Joi: 19:52

it might have been a boundary, but also it's just like this young girl is coming in here with the jar full of coins. there's no way she could afford a lawyer anyway, if that was the case. So it's just it kind of sucks,

Jann: 20:02

she said though, you might need this for your next lawyer. that doesn't mean like she, there wasn't another civil rights lawyer that had the same fee. like maybe she knew some names or she couldn't even say Hey, You might, this might be a bigger deal than you think. Like I would've suggest you like, get your parents involved something other than sorry, I can't help you, but keep the money. not to say she was wrong, I'm just saying what I would've did in that situation. But then again, I am very overprotective,

Joi: 20:29

I think it's

Jann: 20:30

yeah,

Joi: 20:31

I think it's interesting because she's obviously so very smart. Then you had to write a game code, a game. She's a math tutor and all that. But it was one of those things I'm just like, how did you overlook that she wasn't a civil rights lawyer? And it just reminds you that even though you're smart, you're not smart in everything. You didn't think, oh yeah, Don, I forgot to look that part up, Yeah.

Jann: 20:52

And that's another thing I picked up, like why I gave her more grace. The girl obviously had some like issues going on, like she was so neurotic about her shoes and I feel like that was definitely like a lot of anxiety. They went into more details about her cleaning her shoes than the entire fallout of what happened after she was outed, even though that's what she was worried about the whole book,

Joi: 21:15

I didn't go deeper detail into what happened after with her picture on Instagram and like, how was it at school and like who, who approached her, you know? But just said she stayed home for a week from school or something like that. And that was it. And then everything was fine. It was weird.

Jann: 21:33

Which is one of the reasons why I didn't give this book, like higher marks. not one of, not a major reason, but the fact that she was worried about this, the entire book, like getting sued and having her name come out there. And then once it was done, it was like not a huge deal, which was weird to me. Um, But let's get into the real reason. Why didn't I give this book higher marks? And that is because of Malcolm, how much he irritated me and some of the twists that his character development had taken. So let's get the Malcolm like character situation out into the open. Like he was an annoyance to me from the beginning. And I'll go into why, but I'm curious because I might be a little long-winded. did he annoy you from the beginning or I assume that he annoyed you.

Joi: 22:26

absolutely. Absolutely. He

Jann: 22:28

That's just an assumption, but like what are your feelings

Joi: 22:30

I'd much rather deal with last week's Drew Nichols than I would with Malcolm.

Jann: 22:38

But you did rate this book higher.

Joi: 22:40

I did. I don't know, it was just like the way, not only he was like so belittling to her and then like the way he spoke to her and then she was just like, it just annoyed me all, all around, like it seemed very toxic, almost abusive a little bit. It was just like,

Jann: 23:02

Definitely

Joi: 23:03

it was just like, I didn't care for it. I didn't like it at all, and I just, I felt like her parents. Knew this guy, you know? And they even said that they knew they'd rather have sex in their house. You know what I mean? It was just like, so they obviously knew who he was, how he is. They were together for a long time. Why didn't the parents ever say anything about that? You know what I mean? I just, I don't get it. I don't get it.

Jann: 23:29

It's it's interesting the dynamic. Like a lot of the time when she was talking about her upbringing, I'm like, yeah, I know what that's like. like you said, we weren't allowed to say my bad growing up. Like she couldn't say ain't, so a lot of it was like, yeah, relatable growing up in a black household. But the whole thing she talked about with like her parents being okay with them having sex in the house. Like what? That don't sound familiar. that sounds crazy. Especially since they didn't realize how controlling he was since he was very controlling and there were so many times where he said something so off color to her. Like when she said that she felt sick and ran

Joi: 24:04

Yeah.

Jann: 24:05

and the only thing he screamed with, you better not be pregnant, what? What'd you say? that would've been a fight in his itself. And she said oh, I can't believe he would say something like that. I'll talk to him about it later and then never talked about it. Or, what's the other thing I better not

Joi: 24:23

be playing that game. Right. You better not be playing

Jann: 24:27

Like, what are you talking all these better nots?

Joi: 24:29

she was said or what, and then she never brought it up again. And I was like, that's right, you say, or what? But then you gotta tell him that girl.

Jann: 24:37

through,

Joi: 24:38

Or like when she was like,

Jann: 24:39

It was

Joi: 24:39

was like, he said something to her and she's I'm not gonna talk to him for the rest of the weekend or whatever like that. And then she did anyway.

Jann: 24:46

Because he said, sorry, like he was obviously okay, there's so many things to go into here and he was obviously unstable is what I'll say. Because he would like, even to her friend where he was like, f you then, and then two hours later was like, oh, I'm sorry, can you gimme some more information? The fact that she saw that he was texting her friend like that, and then her reaction was to go and appease him, rather to confront him, like, why would you ever reach out to my friend and talk to her like this? That's a clear boundary for me. don't you ever in your life. But she was still trying to calm him down, which is crazy to me.

Joi: 25:25

What was the Because she kept checking them every time. She was like, I hate him.

Jann: 25:31

when she said she brought that coffee over and was like threatening to throw it, you better not yeah, that sounds right.

Joi: 25:40

What was that one? TikTok. I was like, ah. Alright. that was her. That was her. The whole book. It was so funny. I loved her.

Jann: 25:49

I will say Steph annoyed me too though,

Joi: 25:52

I lost step. I was like, this was Steph. She cracked me up. She was like the golden ray of this book for me.

Jann: 26:02

She, okay. That's your favorite character then. Safe to say, Malcolm is your least favorite.

Joi: 26:08

No, actually I really didn't like him, but my least favorite was probably on Wyatt. He was fucking annoying. Like the whole time. I'm like, why are you here?

Jann: 26:21

he was so annoying. And that's perfectly fair because I feel like I didn't like Wyatt a little bit more than, I didn't like Malcolm, because I could tell Malcolm was going through things, whereas Wyatt just seemed like a brat.

Joi: 26:30

Yeah. And even with Wyatt too, like at least with Malcolm, I'm like, okay, he's a hold up. Like I know what to expect from this. But with Wyatt, obviously I was just like, he just kept getting worse and worse. And for it to be your best friend's brother, I'm just like, what are you doing? And that for them to be best friends for so long, and they treated her like that all the time, like how I didn't like that at all,

Jann: 26:53

let's break white down because he did get progressively worse. First, is that when we first. Introduced him, he was being pushy and saying he wanted to get the real opinion for his interview, but he didn't wanna interview Steph because he was definitely looking for someone he could bully, is what I got from that.

Joi: 27:11

That he could bully and that he also knew was just like, we are gonna get A different answer from you than from Steph or something I can twist, to say that it's okay.

Jann: 27:20

so yeah, someone he could push to the answer that he wanted it seemed like is what he was looking for. Steph was sitting right there saying, I want to be interviewed, but it wasn't the opinion that he

Joi: 27:30

Yeah.

Jann: 27:31

And I feel like that's a huge thing with like white culture right now is they feel like if they wanna do something instead of listening to the majority of black people, they're gonna pick out their one black friend who said the opposite, which is something that she went into in this book as well.

Joi: 27:45

Yeah.

Jann: 27:47

And that kind of drives me crazy. so there was that, the fact that he showed up at her house to do this interview, even though she like, made it clear she did not want to do it, and then went off about how the game was racist and even though they're like explaining why, like they feel like it's not racist, he like pretty much said, I don't care about any of that. This is what I think, like to the point where Steph, who was very outspoken, was like, let me give you a moment because this, I can tell that you're not interested in listening. let's go get a snack.

Joi: 28:16

after she told him though, just it is not racist. We need, we all need our own spaces and this is why, but she had a whole essay for him ready to go.

Jann: 28:26

he, yeah. And instead of listening and like thinking critically about it, he just got loud,

Joi: 28:32

tracks, I don't know. And that's another reason why I just like Stephanie. she was there constantly for her sister. Like she took the parents outta the house during the competition. she knew, like when she found out about her sister writing the game, she was like, oh, all right. like she was just there all the time and just so excited. But I knew I would like her from like the beginning because, I think it was the first night when they were having dinner with the family and then they went upstairs and they were getting ready for bed or whatever, and she was just talking like Stephanie was talking and Key was in her head just like thinking about stuff. And she goes, oh, I wasn't listening. Lemme tell you. Let me ask her what she said. And Stephanie, she was like, I don't know, I forgot.

Jann: 29:17

I was just talking,

Joi: 29:18

like that,

Jann: 29:21

I don't know what I was talking about Anyway.

Joi: 29:24

I dunno.

Jann: 29:26

Yeah.

Joi: 29:27

Yeah.

Jann: 29:28

She was definitely relatable. And I'm not saying I didn't like her, it was just that like she was pushy on a lot of things where I felt like she could have stopped and listened. Like she was just too outspoken. in some cases, I'm not saying she wasn't, didn't have a valid opinion on everything that she said. It just also seemed like she was one to railroad. Kiara a little bit where at, I don't feel like it's completely her fault either, because even Kiara said during the book, like she let Steph talk for her. So it's like a dynamic they got used to and grew into. But I will also say that I feel like their whole sister dynamic was off. Like it just seemed weird to me. And maybe it's because we have two other sisters and we're all very close. So like it got to the book part in the book where she was like excited and squealing in her room and Kira was like, be quiet, like mom and dad know we don't have enough in common for you to be happy in my room. Like, what? I don't get it.

Joi: 30:24

that was weird. That was super weird.

Jann: 30:28

it was very weird, especially since this whole book, all they're talking about is experience that they have in common from being the only like of four black people in this high school. like just the black experience gives you like, like you a lot in common, let alone being sisters growing up together and all of these things.

Joi: 30:47

It was

Jann: 30:47

it just didn't, I didn't get it and it threw me off. I didn't actually like Kiara or Steph as the main characters. I will say that I was absolutely in love with Claire, like Sakata, like her online persona and her as a person, both flawless and I feel like she wasn't perfect, but her apologizing for everything like, As much as it annoyed me, I was like, yeah, I need to work on that too myself. like her knowing four different languages, her going to school for computers, her like having a very clear boundary with her father, like just because he had issues, he felt like she shouldn't have work on computers. And her standing her ground and saying nah, like if you can't accept me, then we're just not gonna have a relationship. that was impressive to me. And I would say even her, like her gratitude towards other people, how she kept saying Kira is such a strong person or not Kira at the time. Emerald is such a strong person cuz she didn't know the Kiara's real name. I was like, I don't see that.

Joi: 31:49

Yeah.

Jann: 31:50

I don't see what you're talking about. she does not seem like a strong person to me. but I don't know, it just seemed like she saw the best in everybody, which

Joi: 31:57

it it was still, she only knew the online persona for the most part, and know, knew that she made this game.

Jann: 32:03

it seemed like they didn't know a lot about each other's, like personal life, but they still, it seemed like joked around and discussed things and maybe Emerald Kiara, was more forceful while she was talking about the game. But man, she just seemed like everybody railroaded her in real life.

Joi: 32:18

For sure. She's very much late. It came off as, she's not very like forceful at all, and it's not a character flaw or anything that's just if you're more laid back and let people take over conversation. I know people like that too, and they're chill. It's just whatever,

Jann: 32:34

But it seemed like she had opinions that she wasn't really sharing. Like at the beginning when Harper was asking her about dreadlocks, she immediately was like, Ugh, I don't wanna say it. I don't wanna be the opinion on Blackness and tell you what you can or can't do. And even her mind, she was like, I don't really care. I don't think it's right, but I don't really care. I'm like, wait, what? And then she was like, other people might have a difference opinion. And I'm like, just tell her like what you think and then tell her I'm not the authority on all black people. Like, why don't you just say that? And it seemed like Harper kind of came to that on her own, but the way she came to it on her own made it seem like Kira has never said that to her. like it was never mentioned before. It was just something she was thinking in her mind, which was crazy to me. you would think if this is your best friend, I have no problem telling my best friend. that's a stupid question to ask and maybe I'm just too blunt.

Joi: 33:25

ever

Jann: 33:25

Yeah.

Joi: 33:27

Yeah, and that's what I was

Jann: 33:29

what I was even talking about.

Joi: 33:30

best friends too. I'm just like, has this always been the way that it was? Like you guys are just, or is it getting worse in like certain like situations? You know what I mean? I don't know. It was a

Jann: 33:40

Even their reconciliation when she was like, I don't mind talking about this stuff, but it seems like that's all we talk about lately. while I understand that like you can't discuss their whole history in this book, especially since that wasn't like the point of the book, I feel like we got no indication that the relationship was anything different ever.

Joi: 34:00

weird. I would not put those two together in a room, say that they were best friends. It's weird.

Jann: 34:07

Yeah. Especially since, especially since it seemed like Steph and Harper had more in common since they were in that sorority together.

Joi: 34:16

believe that they were best friends and kiara's just tag honestly. You know what I mean? Like they just know each other by association, not them being best friends.

Jann: 34:25

Or even when she offered her money for a tutoring session to hang out.

Joi: 34:28

Yeah.

Jann: 34:29

It ain't weird. And then especially since later in the book, she was like, she's never made me feel weird. offering to foot the whole bill for pizza about her money. And I was like, but she offered you money to hang out.

Joi: 34:39

Yeah.

Jann: 34:40

that seems weirder than saying, Hey, let me get the pizza this

Joi: 34:43

Yeah. I don't know. I don't, I haven't, I never had a extremely wealthy best friend like that before either, so I don't know. I don't know what the dynamics are. It's weird.

Jann: 34:56

That's fair. All right. I feel like I'm skirting around. The hotep

Joi: 35:01

Me too. Like

Jann: 35:02

majority of this book because it's just exhausting to even think about.

Joi: 35:06

it's, can we just say he was horrible? Okay. So like I do like how the author did write it to make it seem like, I didn't really believe it was Wyatt. I was like, you get into certain white forums and they all say the same shit. like they're like Parrots of each other. So when he said it's a free country, I can play whatever game I want. I'm just like, he's just in some chat or some forum that said that. And maybe that other person was in there too, saying the same shit. You know what I mean? And that doesn't make me think that it was Wyatt. I didn't think it was Wyatt the whole time. I thought it was just some random, so I didn't think it was Malcolm,

Jann: 35:40

you guess that it was Malcolm?

Joi: 35:42

No. I thought just Malcolm was a piece of shit on his own.

Jann: 35:48

she just has a lot of shitty people around her, which to be fair, I feel was honest. but I figured The morning where she said it was like in rapid succession when she said, you're lucky, why is not here today? And then she also said like in the next paragraph, it seemed like, oh, I haven't seen Malcolm all morning. I was like, oh, that's Malcolm.

Joi: 36:08

I didn't even think about it.

Jann: 36:09

at the same time I was like, in my head, I still feel like that was an unbelievable plot twist for me. and I will say Malcolm was horrible the entire time, but I don't see in real life him going in the game being a white supremacist. I would've saw him going into the game being the hotep that he is like, it doesn't make sense to me that he would disguise himself as a white supremacist. what was the point of that?

Joi: 36:33

I don't get it

Jann: 36:34

I don't get it. if anything, I feel like he would've went in there and been lecturing people about how games are wasting their mind or whatever. Hoteps say,

Joi: 36:45

And then,

Jann: 36:46

Having a flower on his forehead to be a swastika and then doing blackface and even to name himself, dread. Scott, are you kidding me?

Joi: 36:55

Yeah.

Jann: 36:55

Like, so disgusting. I just didn't see it. I didn't see it.

Joi: 36:59

It was like he just lost it at the end. And then he had that whole thing on the, internet to say basically just threatening her life, pretty much. Your girlfriend that you've been with for years, I just don't get it.

Jann: 37:12

There was a lot that I didn't get including like how they like made an allude. They, Brittany, Morris, like alluded to the fact that he got into a fight to defend Kiara, but never really said why he was defending her or what the circumstances were. I feel like that was weird that she never flushed that out because the way they alluded to it seemed like they would eventually, or the fact that all three of them went to the same school after, was this like a recurring or still present threat at that school? Like I don't understand the circumstances of how they ended up in Jefferson Academy, even though their main gripe the whole book was that they hate being the only black people in this school, even though he was the only one that was expelled. I just don't know if I understand completely.

Joi: 37:54

Me either. it was weird about the fight. It was weird that she and her sister went to a different school because he's going to a different school, but then your best friend and her brothers going to this school to like, none of it made sense. When you guys were all were friends since you were kids, right?

Jann: 38:11

And they waited until the end to explain that. oh, we were friends from something else and then we just like her and Harper and then we just ended up both at Jefferson Academy. Even though they didn't explain it well, they still alluded to, oh, this is how it happened. We met at some carnival or whatever they met at, and I bought Afu cake. Doesn't really wrap up in a nice little bowl, but at least they addressed it, I was very confused. The whole book, if you moved here, how is this your best friend for life? like it, it didn't make sense to me. And I feel like a lot was left like just vague like that. And like they explained it off in a very coincidental way. The same way she was like so concerned about lawsuits, but the only threats, like once she figured out it wasn't Wyatt and once she figured out that, like Malcolm not figured out, but Malcolm said there wasn't a lawsuit, all of a sudden she wasn't worried about lawsuits. these are two people that you know, how do you know there aren't other peoples planning on suing you? And they addressed it at the end where someone else solved it for her. oh, let's go under this company. And they were covered. But as far as her, it seemed like she just didn't have a concern about it at all

Joi: 39:13

Especially like once your real identity was out there, I would be more concerned. Like now they can dox me. what? It doesn't make any sense. And I feel like the whole time too, like this whole thing about the game being racist and it's being on like the news for like days and weeks, that wasn't believable to me either. I'm just like,

Jann: 39:35

The news cycle is very like, as soon as they can't figure out who the developer is, they're like, oh, whatever.

Joi: 39:41

even with it too, and then it wasn't even just like a black kid killed a white kid or anything. Like more sensational than just being over a video game. I feel like it might be

Jann: 39:50

you also have to think I do agree that when it's about black people having their own space, it is made a bigger deal because people love to call reverse racism.

Joi: 40:00

true, but I don't think they would bring a whole professor from MIT on to talk about it. I think Fox News might go off on it for a little while, but then that would be it. I don't think it would be this whole national scandal that they made it out to be,

Jann: 40:15

Yeah. Yeah.

Joi: 40:18

because it is basically just like if someone had the same size, if someone had like a game just like that and only 500,000 people technically use it, but only 300,000 use it all the time, like constantly. That's a very small amount of people. So it's just I don't see it like being that big of a deal.

Jann: 40:38

So quick side note about it being like an international game. I appreciated that they had so many people from all over the world and it's like the whole African diaspora being represented, but it took the last battle in the game for them, it seemed to introduce a card that wasn't about African-Americans. the fufu card with the cuisine from Africa. I think she said Nigeria. It was from, but that's the only card that I saw that represented anything other than African-American culture, which is like a very small subset of the African diaspora.

Joi: 41:10

And she I don't wanna use certain cards that other people wouldn't know. That's not like African American.

Jann: 41:15

Exactly. But then it was all like African-American experience, which I get because she's African-American, but to say there's so many, I don't know a lot of cars that represent all of us and it has to be inclusionary, but like all the cars that we knew were very exclusionary to anyone not in the us. So

Joi: 41:33

honestly, generationally too. Cuz like I said, the Satchmo card, I was like, So I was like, It was just, I don't know. It was weird. Her reasonings are still very much the mindset of a 17 year old, I think,

Jann: 41:47

I don't know if it was like age based reasoning that was the issue. I think it was just like her, I don't know if it's the cars that she chose to represent and I, when I say her, Brittany Morris, like maybe she had different cards in mind and just didn't bring those up because she's also. African Americans. So those are the cards that she felt like her readers would relate to. I don't really know. but I feel like they could have added some more cards in there that were not just based on the African American experience.

Joi: 42:17

Malcolm sucks. I just got annoyed

Jann: 42:20

I, I still feel like, I still feel like I'm dancing around what we do. What we need to do is discuss hoteps in general, because I feel like Malcolm was not actually a character. He was a concept of this hotep like kind of person who. Believe in only the advancement of black men. And you can't be like in the L G B T mafia, you can't be a woman. You can't be even like mixed or have different interests other than learning about like black culture and black history and it's definitely a concept and it's like category of people. And yeah, I do feel like they're running rampant, especially right now with this whole Alpha male podcast pandemic that we're experiencing. And again, it's just so exhausting that I feel like I'm tiptoed around and like I'm just so done of hearing this conversation. yeah, we kinda have to talk about it

Joi: 43:14

No, we don't. Don't bring it to the light.

Jann: 43:19

There were just so many red flags where I like, and this is where I feel the most disconnect with her. there were so many things that he said that I'm like, girl, hotep, run. including Steph saying that he had ashy ankles.

Joi: 43:32

Steph is my girl.

Jann: 43:34

but there's definitely like a dynamic or like maybe a subset of African-American women who are like always making an excuse for, black men because they experience so much in life and they need to have a break and they are old this or old that. And like we put ourselves on the back burner and just take it for the advancement of the race even though they don't reciprocate. And again, I'm not saying all black men, but there's definitely that whole type category. Whole type. That whole type category, who, that's what they believe. And it's tiring. It's

Joi: 44:07

I think it was like that for a long time up until like recently. we just constantly fought for black men, and black men just dogged with us constantly, the majority, not majority, but a good number until, there was like a, that one, situation when the guy, he was talking about, like how much he hates black women, and then he was murdered by his white girlfriend, and then people were like, why aren't you marching for him? I'm like, we ain't, and we're not gonna do it. So it's just it's one of those things where I think a lot of people are starting to realize, like reciprocation is good. Like, yeah, everyone has a fucking tough, especially here, and you can't also be the harm that we're trying to get rid of in other communities harming us. You know what I mean?

Jann: 44:47

I do know what you mean, but I also feel like, It's a different, there's a lot of different, like annoying and exhausting like people out there in general. But I feel like the type that you're talking about who like constantly is dogging out white or black women is different from the hoteps because the hoteps are always talking about how you are my queen, this queen, that black women are so beautiful, like the exact opposite of what you're talking about. But at the same time, they are still standing for the patriarchy, just not white patriarchy. It's like black patriarchy. So it's two different, like people for sure. And I feel like they're both equally exhausting. But even with that, and I do feel like I agree with you, there's a revelation that's we're not gonna put up with this anymore. But it's not like it's still a lot of black women who put up with hotep behavior because it's better than the opposite, which is the type you're talking about, which is, black women. Are inferior to any other race of women? Pretty much

Joi: 45:49

And I disagree.

Jann: 45:52

I think we all would. We all would. yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot for sure. Yeah. But even with that said, again, I feel like it's unbelievable that these were the only two threats of lawsuit is the two like boys her age that she knows out of the whole international world of 300,000 players that are playing actively, 500,000 that are registered. And all of the people who saw that news segment, like if you're really worrying about lawsuits, just because these two boys that you know aren't gonna sue you doesn't mean your fear of the lawsuit is just going away. That was unbelievable.

Joi: 46:32

that whole thing with the

Jann: 46:33

It's unbelievable. Oh yeah. What about

Joi: 46:36

Wyatt was like, yeah, I got a password for the game. it's not that exclusive, like

Jann: 46:42

that was, yeah, we get it. It's easy to get a passcode. my thing is, I feel like, I feel like once you get the passcode, if you're a white person going into this game and it's all about black culture, like that's what a lot of people who are like racist, run away from. they be bored. I don't wanna learn about anyone that's other. Which is why every, like, all of these people have a issue with all the new Marvel movies that are coming out. and I can't even say all, it's like a handful, maybe five Marvel movies are series that's not about white men. And they say oh, I'm done with Marvel because of this. they want nothing to do with anything. That's not them being the center character. So if they have a passport or not, I don't feel like they're gonna stick around,

Joi: 47:22

So you're telling me representation does matter, right?

Jann: 47:26

I'm right. You have five movies that aren't about you and you are like livid. Even the millions that we saw, and it's perfectly status quo, you should learn

Joi: 47:36

All right.

Jann: 47:37

Why? Why

Joi: 47:38

What? What is the issue? I don't, know what's not clicking, Steven.

Jann: 47:45

was another cool card, I thought was a representation card, by the way. Just fyi, I really wanna play this game. It seems really cool.

Joi: 47:52

I just wanna play the game so I can have a shop, I'll have a flower shop.

Jann: 47:58

Yeah. My favorite thing to do in games, because I'm not really a battler either, unless it's a card based battle game because I'm a nerd like that. but normally in games, I like to collect things. So the fact that you can collect stuff and make different cards, I collect everything, or even make stuff like they said that they thought the one person was collecting things. And like for forging in the desert with all the sand and then selling the objects, that'd be me all day. I wanna make stuff and collect things. That's all I wanna do. I spent weeks on Sky Room, just pickpocketing everyone that I could, did not finish the story, did not do any of the storylines. I just forged and pick-pocketed. That's all.

Joi: 48:41

what I did at Red Dead. I just, I didn't get past, the first chapter. I just hunted. Cause I like the way that it was like set up and I just like live the life.

Jann: 48:51

Yeah, I didn't get very far on Red

Joi: 48:53

Yeah. I didn't do much. I didn't do the story. I didn't do gameplay really. I just went on like trips to go see the giant animals. Like you're supposed to hunt though. I'm like, I ain't hunting that shit. And I just looked at him like, laughs

Jann: 49:06

She, I, yeah, that's exactly how it was for me and Skyrim. Like anytime I saw like a mammoth or a giant, I was like, well, I guess I'm gonna go the opposite way.

Joi: 49:16

I seen what I had

Jann: 49:17

I wasn't heading anywhere in particular.

Joi: 49:19

I don't play games like you're supposed to. And people get so annoyed watching you play games. I'm like, oh no, I don't wanna do that. I wanna go over here. Follow the story.

Jann: 49:28

No, I'm good. I'm doing what I wanna do.

Joi: 49:32

And that's why I like Stardew Valley. The Sims. What else? What other like basic like game, like super easy.

Jann: 49:41

Okay. So I did Zelda Breath of the Wild for quite a while, but it got so hard, like I couldn't go to some of the areas because the enemies were too high without doing the storyline. And then I quit like, nah, I wanna just explore the map. If you're gonna make it this hard for me, I'm done.

Joi: 49:57

Yeah. I tried it. I played for like maybe 30 minutes. I was like, no, this was

Jann: 50:04

I wanna go back to it eventually, but it was a pretty game. I just couldn't get into it at the moment.

Joi: 50:10

Even with, animal Crossing, I had to stop playing it because I felt like it was too much pressure to make your island pretty. I was like, I can't live to your standards.

Jann: 50:22

see, for me, it was like the charm of the competition. once I got a five Star Island, I was like, all right, I'm done.

Joi: 50:28

Complete it.

Jann: 50:29

I definitely made sure to get that five Star Island first.

Joi: 50:32

I think mine is the little four four star,

Jann: 50:36

okay. So another quick question. Have you seen or read Radio Player One?

Joi: 50:44

I seen the movie.

Jann: 50:46

Okay. What'd you think about the movie? Because there's obviously a lot of similarities.

Joi: 50:50

Oh, okay. So I liked the movie cuz I liked how like the technology worked, how you're like, on a treadmill. And that's why I was thinking too about like the gloves and the, socks and stuff like, that's so cool. Is that like a basic thing or did you create those too? Like, I was really confused I was like, if you created all this stuff, how are you broke? what's going on?

Jann: 51:12

Yeah. No, she did not create the gloves.

Joi: 51:15

was very confused.

Jann: 51:16

That's funny though. But it was a free game. I was thinking that too. Like how do you not have more money? But it was a free game and like the couple profits that they got, I have no idea how they said they got it. but they were putting into like the game, like getting more server space and stuff. so that makes sense to me. It's crazy that they never put like any kinda ads or anything to monetize in it, but if they were trying to stay under the radar, I guess that makes sense. Still a lot to manage, A lot to manage for two people. But I think it's interesting. I like the game ready player one, not the game, the movie. And I was asking Jax about it. Jax is our brother, um, and he was just talking about how the whole game or movie, why do I keep saying game? The whole movie seemed about gate keeping of like geek culture. Like you can't, it seemed like you don't know about this really. Oh, obviously like you're a new or it's like giving off those vibes. And I didn't really see it until I read this book and was like, oh, not to say that they were gatekeeping, but it's very interesting, like out of all those things and Ready Player One that like, you had to get the clue to find the secret. It was all about white culture, And they didn't see that as exclusionary because we're expected to know their culture, whereas if they were to come to this game, they wouldn't have gotten any of them. like any other clues, any other references. and it's just interesting how like black culture is not really American culture,

Joi: 52:41

Yeah.

Jann: 52:41

or African American culture. and I say black, that's what I mean, because again, most of these cards were related to African-American culture and not just the African diaspora, as if, as they represented it in the book.

Joi: 52:54

What?

Jann: 52:57

Nothing. Nothing. Do you feel like, I know we moved off the topic and I lost train of thought, but do you feel like it was outta character? I felt like it was outta character for Malcolm to go in there pretending to be a white supremacist.

Joi: 53:11

Yeah, it was completely outta character. it turned from him being like, regular ho hotep. annoying to, abusive to being just like a caricature, I feel like,

Jann: 53:21

I feel like he was a caricature the whole time, but like for him to completely change this extreme personality and go to the opposite extreme, I don't understand that,

Joi: 53:29

don't get it. I didn't understand that at all. what was his motivation behind doing all that? And then if he were to get the game in his possession, which just shut it down, I doubt you know how to actually run it. You know what I mean? I just, none of it made sense. I didn't understand his motivation for it. I just feel like he would try to tell her like, once he knew it was her, that he would just be like, stop fucking playing it. Or take her like headset or something. Like I just,

Jann: 54:00

Yeah, you would think he'd try to be controlling with her somewhere like he had been. I don't understand why he would post her picture when his whole goal up until this point was to protect her. but even just the, like I said, the motivation for him, like wanting to break up the game, I don't understand why he would go on cover as a black sup or a white supremacist.

Joi: 54:19

Yeah.

Jann: 54:21

It gave me like, in the Game of Thrones vibes, where like ksi did a 180 and was just crazy all of a sudden. Like that's the kind of vibes it gave me. that's a huge leap.

Joi: 54:32

Yeah.

Jann: 54:32

It's a huge leap.

Joi: 54:35

I like how Stephanie called the cops on them too.

Jann: 54:39

Yeah. And that's a whole discussion in itself. should you call the police on a black person? I feel like if they do directly threaten you like that. Yeah.

Joi: 54:51

Absolutely.

Jann: 54:53

The issue is when they're not threatening you and they're minding their own business and you take you, them telling you to get out of their face when you're bothering them as a threat, like that's an issue. leave people alone

Joi: 55:05

yeah. I feel like a lot of black people, they put up with a lot of shit so they won't have to involve the cops until you have to, Cuz I, they don't always make things better. They usually make things worse, but that was so black and white that it was just like, look, here's the evidence. Get him away from me. And even then, I don't know if they would put him in cuffs. I think they would do like a restraining order, honestly.

Jann: 55:28

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure where they said they arrested him just to put a restraining order on him. Like I would've just went and got a restraining order. they do like to arrest people. people. okay, final thoughts. What do you think, did discussion make you change your rating at all? Or what other final thoughts do you have?

Joi: 55:46

no, it didn't make me really change my opinion. It's just more just I'm glad we were able to talk about it a little bit. I'm glad we were able to like work through why we had these thoughts and like different, how other people could read it as, I don't know. I just don't think that's another book I would go back to.

Jann: 56:05

You say that with every book? I would say that it is very exhausting book to have, right? Not that it's not good writing, it's just it's so real. And it's interesting because it, it seems so exhausting because again, each character wasn't just like one comment here or there. Like they're an allegory for like bullshit that black people have to deal with all the time. So every sentence out of their mouth was like something that exhausts you. And while I feel like people who don't experience this was helpful for them to like get into the character, it was just extra trauma and exhaustion

Joi: 56:38

I did not expect this book. Okay. So it's not my cup of tea kind of book. I don't let technology, I'm bad at it, my video games are very basic that I play, and then it was just like, I thought it would be more of like a murder mystery almost, because I thought it was, she was trying to figure out who killed this kid. and why instead of her like, oh, someone killed this kid. Here he is. Now I gotta deal with backlash people trying to figure out who I am and all of my issues. I didn't expect that from this book at all, from the synopsis of it. You know what I mean? I don't know.

Jann: 57:10

yeah, I can see that.

Joi: 57:12

Yeah. That was my thought behind, I was like, oh, this is not the book that I thought it was gonna be.

Jann: 57:17

I feel like in the synopsis when she was talking about how no one knew she was the developer, I figured it would be her trying to keep her identity secret. but I can see how you would've thought, like it was about figuring out who killed this kid For sure.

Joi: 57:30

And honestly, that didn't make much sense to me either. Just like over money, like I just, I over gave money. Like it just never made

Jann: 57:37

From what I understand though, like the, what is the, what is his name? Who died? Jamal. Jamal was working with two other people, his brother and the guy who killed him, and they all gave him the game money. and they were supposed, he was supposed to buy stuff for them to share, but before he actually bought stuff, he changed his mind and said, I'm not buying it, and if you want your coins back, you have to give me real money. That was the issue. So the guy who killed him got pissed about that and killed him. That's what happened.

Joi: 58:11

That's such a huge escalation. Like why not just report him to the mods?

Jann: 58:15

because people are crazy. Yeah.

Joi: 58:17

It's crazy. I don't know. It's weird.

Jann: 58:21

Yeah, for sure. yeah, I don't think my rating has changed from the discussion. I still give it a three and a half stars. again, I thought it was a cool book. I would recommend it to people. I would definitely let them know what it is upfront. Like you are gonna be a little bit exhausted if you're like tired of talking about race, like a lot of us are. And I will say too, some of the slang that they use, it's just a little exhausting after seeing like Gen Z try to claim all these like AAV terms as Gen Z generation, like terms, that's already exhausting in itself. And then to see some of these words like use over and over again, added to that. But then I did see that this book came out three years ago, right at the end of 2019, where some of them were still new-ish. So yeah, while a lot of the language was a little cringy, I can see it being like more relevant then, That Yes. Card or YA card. So annoying. Like it didn't make any sense to me. And I will say that too, like that was my big issue with Steph is like, they went from never talking. I don't understand why Steph didn't tell her that she was playing Slay if it was never a secret for her. It was just like, you have this huge expensive, like VR set you just never told anyone about. Like why wouldn't you have mentioned it at least once? That was weird to me. And then the fact that like now she's flying to France to talk about the business as well, like, how did you get in on this? Like, why are you arranging this?

Joi: 59:46

she became a moderator at

Jann: 59:48

pushy the whole time. Yeah. She became a moderator.

Joi: 59:52

You can't dog my garage,

Jann: 59:53

Um, okay. So yeah, I don't think there's anything else I wanna say about it. I think that's all of my feelings.

Joi: 1:00:04

yeah, I think so too. Like you're right though that Yes. Yeah. Like I was listening to the last like few minutes of it. I'm just like, stop.

Jann: 1:00:13

The whole fight between her and her sister was just like lame and cringy to me. Especially when they started like saying that Long live the queens. Like you literally came, you've been playing this for a couple months and now you're like one of the main mods of the game. Like you would think she'd at least start her off kind anyway. It's her sister. I'm not gonna,

Joi: 1:00:34

I'm just gonna say,

Jann: 1:00:35

not gonna shame, nepotism

Joi: 1:00:37

that's what I'm about to say. if you created a game and you're queen in it, I'm like, Jan, come on now. At least make me a princess, please. A duchess conscious.

Jann: 1:00:47

princess,

Joi: 1:00:48

I'm fine with that. come on, a little bit of nepotism.

Jann: 1:00:51

no way like, could you like, imagine like two weeks into you finding out that I like did this whole game, you're arranging business meetings for us to fly to Paris and get a business deal. No, that's not something you surprised me with. That's something you talk to me about, like what is happening anyway, like I said, they're sisters. what, even though they said they're not even close enough to laugh in the same room without their parents being suspicious, whatever,

Joi: 1:01:17

right? Although they hung out with each other at school all the time. That just didn't make sense to me. I dunno.

Jann: 1:01:22

it didn't. Yeah, like I said, I dunno. But, we're really interested to hear what you all listening think about this book if you agree, if you disagree with anything that we said. So if you stayed long enough to hear about how you can reach or get a copy, of this book sent to you, we will be having a drawing. All you have to do is go and leave us a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. give us a book recommendation for something that you think we should read, in our book club, and we'll pick a winner from everyone who left a review.

Joi: 1:01:57

That's right.

Jann: 1:01:58

Anything I left out, joy.

Joi: 1:02:00

No, let's hear next week's synopsis.

Jann: 1:02:07

All right, so next week we will be, reading our first book of October. so we're gonna be doing a horror slash thriller slash mystery theme Our first book, that we're going to be reading and reviewing, is called Ace of Spades, and I'm going to butcher this name, but it's by Farida Abike, LAE. I'm not sure, but I will figure that out before we review the book. All right, so here's a synopsis, welcome to NI's Private Academy where money pays the hallways and the students are never less than perfect until now because anonymous texture ACEs is bringing two students dark secrets to light. Talented musician Devin bur himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the spotlight when his private photos go. Public head girl, chia Maka isn't afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. Someone is out to get them, both. Someone who holds all the ACEs and they're planning much more than a high school game. So that is also a young adult, but kind of mystery, genre that we'll be reading next week. it sounds exciting. It's very interesting that it's, we picked another young adult novel, that has to do with a rich kind of academy,

Joi: 1:03:34

think it's interesting that like all these high schoolers have these crazy like experiences. Like I just remember throwing on a sweatshirt and going to school and going home, going to sleep. Like

Jann: 1:03:46

Reading my Harry Potter books, pretty much,

Joi: 1:03:48

can you imagine like being a background character, like any of these movies or shows or anything, just what are y'all doing now?

Jann: 1:03:54

right?

Joi: 1:03:55

what are you

Jann: 1:03:55

It is pretty much oh, for real. That's crazy. Anyway, so I was at home, getting some cereal and we were outta milk. Can you believe that?

Joi: 1:04:03

this is the third time this week I locked myself out of the house and my mom's going to kill me.

Jann: 1:04:09

Yesterday I forgot to put the laundry in the dryer and man, was my mom pissed?

Joi: 1:04:14

listen, do you have to hug from last night? I just went to sleep a nap turned into like bedtime. Like I don't,

Jann: 1:04:22

exactly.

Joi: 1:04:24

I

Jann: 1:04:24

I don't know, maybe it's something in, we probably shouldn't be at the other extreme, but whatever. That's what life was. so anyway, let's, wrap it up for this week. Joy, do you wanna let them know where they can, leave comments, let us know what they think, or just reach us

Joi: 1:04:37

Yeah. And the comments I section? No. Was kidding. You can find us at Black Girl Reads, podcast on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. The black is spelled b l k cuz that's probably cool. Kids do it Dan.

Jann: 1:04:53

YouTube as well. right. that wraps it up for the week. We can't wait to see you next week. Bye.

Joi: 1:05:01

Bye.