Last Gamer Standing by Katie Zhao
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Last Gamer Standing,” by Katie Zhao is a middle grade RPG Lit novel about Reyna Cheng, a 12-year-old Chinese American girl who plays Dayhold, a virtual reality battle royale game set in a world inspired by various Asian cultures and folklore.
Reyna’s mother is sick with breast cancer, so she works her butt off to get a scholarship to Dayhold’s summer camp, so she can win their junior tournament and the $10,000 grand prize to help with her mother’s medical bills.
However, due to the misogynistic and racist harassment she’s received in the past, Reyna elects to play under an alternate account, TheRuiNar, using a male avatar. Things go well for her until another player reveals they know TheRuiNar is Reyna and threatens to dox her if she doesn’t drop out of the tournament.
Overall, I loved this book; it was funny, action-packed, and a quick read. Reyna was adorkable and I felt for her, having to hide who she was for fear of reprisals from white gamer guys. I also liked her friends, especially Nell who was TheRuiNar’s biggest fan and hype man.
I don’t usually read middle grade novels, but I loved this book form start to finish. Though, I did think the identity of Reyna’s black mailer was too obvious a choice. I also felt things got repeated a lot.
That said, I give “Last Gamer Standing” 5 out of 5 stars.
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