Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

89 reviews

elizogs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

read this book for the first time in 2021

but it never fails to shock me at alllll. this book was so good because it touched on the real world impacts as well as making it a tad relatable. as well as the story not being typical -

aces not being one person but EVERYONE. (social eugenics) and it was so interesting and i love love loved the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, Blood, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Homophobia, and Suicide

if u read this book please be cautious, there are many triggers!!

moniipeters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Classism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Self harm

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was quite excited to read Ace of Spades and I was not disappointed. The story gets really disturbing and definitely has some Get Out vibes. Sadly, the setting and the characters couldn’t convince me fully. 

In this story, we follow Chiamaka and Devon, the two only Black students at their private school. They’re in their final year when suddenly someone named Aces starts to share their darkest secrets with the whole school. This general idea didn’t sound too innovative for me at the beginning and some aspects, especially the ones around

the girl Chiamaka and Jamie “murdered”

, were predictable. But soon, the story turns really dark and sinister. One of the reasons for this are the heavy topics that the novel deals with, like drug abuse or the death penalty, but especially the racism and the homophobia. Both of them are so brutal and uncomfortable that my heart dropped many times. The escalation of the situation is so terrifying as well, especially how the lives of the main characters slowly get destroyed. 

Learning the secret behind the Academy and Aces was so disturbing as well:

We learn that the whole Academy is part of a racist organization that practices something called social eugenics which was – I’ve mentioned it before – so shocking and disturbing as well

. There are also so many other shocking revelations that some people probably saw coming but I didn’t, like the fact that

Mr Taylor’s a liar, or that Martha is Belle’s sister. This made me really sad because I hoped that Belle would be a good person, but oh well

. My heart was just pounding so much while reading Ace of Spades, this novel made me so nervous lmao.  

What I didn’t like as much though was the ending which felt a bit anti-climactic to me:

It was quite obvious that the big reveal at the school ball would fail but these random protestors were honestly not an interesting solution. Suddenly, the school starts to burn without any explanation which wasn’t really satisfying as well. The only thing I really enjoyed about the ending was Chiamaka attacking Jamie and learning that they founded a new school after all. But did I understand it correctly that the Academy still exists? That’s quite depressing, honestly

. 

Another reason why I didn’t give Ace of Spades five stars are for me the characters. I have to admit that I’m not too fond of both main characters and I’m not sure if they’re even supposed to be likable. Both think that they’re something better and I sometimes struggled to understand their behaviour. This strong opportunistic orientation both of them had was a bit cringe, just like how Chiamaka sees everything as a competition. Still, they felt like real people right from the beginning and I felt so sorry for them, their situation is so unfair. Most of the side characters were unlikable as well, but I liked the development of the relationship between Chiamaka and Belle, and it was so great to see that

Devon’s mom accepted him

. Furthermore, it was amazing to see how Chiamaka emancipated herself from Jamie. 

Ace of Spades is all in all a great book that starts with a more basic premise but turns it into a disturbing story with a lot of social commentary which I always love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Outing, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime

Minor: Drug use

sierranorgan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

4.0

This one took me a little while to get into, but once I got into it I loved it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Outing, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Car accident, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

paulabekkerus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Homophobia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Bullying, Gun violence, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Stalking

maverique's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Car accident, Death of parent, Trafficking, Racism, Violence, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Slavery, Abandonment, and Suicide attempt

m0rdred_the_fallen's review

challenging emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Una novela debut estelar, me quito el sombrero ante la autora. 

Como alguien que pasó toda su vida escolar siendo un alumno becado me identifique con Devon en varios aspectos, incluyendo la relación con su mamá. Soy hijo único, pero igual tuve claro desde un inicio que debía hacer todo lo posible por mantner un buen promedio y sobresalir por cosas buenas; como siempre me dijo mi propia madre 

Mi niño, tú no estás en esta escuela porque tu padre y yo tengamos dinero, sino porqué te tallas el lomo todos los días. El día que dejes de hacerlo, todo esto se va

Es una cruda verdad que los problemas que enfrentan los protagonistas sigan tan presentes y que, parafraseando a Chiamaka, les molesta más que les digas que son racistas al racismo en sí mismo; y se puede decir lo mismo de la homophobia, del clasismo, de los juegos de poder enfermos de estos grupos de odio. Aún cuando se nota que muy en el fondo saben que lo que hacen está mal, es un pobre consuelo para cuando usan su poder y sus recursos para atacar a inocentes. Tristemente, cuando el virus del fanatismo llega a la cabeza no hay nada que pueda hacerse por esa persona sino huir, pues el fanatismo y la estupidez nunca afectan a los que lo tienen, sino a aquellos que les rodean. Y lo peor del caso es lo compenetrado que está el sistema de ello, este sistema que no sólo promueve y protege actos de odio irracional; los demanda para seguir funcionando. El mundo moderno está construido sobre la sangre de generación tras generación de inocentes para el beneficio de unos pocos que se creen con derecho a todo.

En esta lectura sólo hubo una cosa que me dejó con ganas de más: 

El arrepentimiento Belle se me hizo que llevaría a un arco de autorreflexión y luego de redención en el cual Chiamaka y Devon le dicen, tal cual, que no pueden perdonarla, no después de 4 años planeando destruirlos, y Belle aceptándolo.

Que haya sido un grupo de manifestantes quienes los salven al último tiene mayor peso porque es una comunidad que los acoge y protege, en lugar un individuo de una clase opresora que tuvo una crisis de conciencia. Eso, estuvo genial.

Lo que a mí gustaría haber visto es Belle recolectando información de Ases, delatando a la periodista y exponiendo a todos los integrantes en Niveus, y quizá algunos de otras escuelas como es que haya conocido por cualquier cosa. Pero que aún así Chiamaka le diga que no, no es suficiente por todo lo que le ha hecho. Incluso cuestionarla sobre su cambio de corazón.

¿Y si no se enamoraba de Chiamaka? ¿Se le opone a Ases porqué es lo correcto o porqué están agrediendo a alguien que quiere como pareja?

Lo recomendaria 10/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Bullying, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Racism, Death, Physical abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, and Outing

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Body shaming, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

mozimmerm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I found most of this book very interesting! It reminded me of Pretty Little Liars, but it added the twist of the motive being race. I liked the dual POV, as it allowed two perspectives from 2 different paths of life and how they reacted to the same discrimination. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending.

I found the ending too wrapped-in-a-bow. The resolution was all by chance. I did love how they created an organization to counteract the school’s injustice.

However, I found this book entertaining and moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Gaslighting, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Biphobia, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Death, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Death of parent

123urmom's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Outing

Moderate: Drug abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

capitaens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The last time I finished a book this quickly was probably 12 years ago. It's not an easy read in the sense that the content is hard to stomach, but it is so well written, the characters are incredible, and I simply couldn't put this book down. Highly recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Medical content, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship