Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

45 reviews

alexxm13's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I LOVE THAT SO MUCH *screams* i did not think this would end up being a cult to attack on black people in a white supremacy high school and the rest around america but here we are. a clear 5 star from the beginning with devon :,) and his sexuality and family problems and growing up in an area where he was poor and thought of as a criminal contrasted to chiamaka’s rich life but surrounded by toxic people in her life. the premise from the beginning was interesting enough with “aces” and exposing devon/chiamaka’s dark secrets and constantly guessing who it was…which i was wrong it was the whole school…chile… but the huge part with racism/class and context which just made me sure the 5 star rating. i liked belle till her betrayal (alexa play traitor by olivia rodrigo) and terrell sweetie :,) and jamie burn…quite literally…even though i will never fully understand what these characters and black people go through everyday, being a poc this whole scenario would scare the shit out of me, relating to elements about these characters especially understanding white privileged i was screaming majority of every chapter and annotating so many quotes i related to so much. another fantastic recommendation even though it tackles through very serious topics that black people and poc still go through to this day, which in the book with 16 years later devon and chiamaka are still fighting for justice and to take down these schools/companies who treat people like slaves/worthless which is the undertone throughout the book, anyways 5 stars! finally a book i enjoyed after 2 months? of struggling to enjoy books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

rufaro's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

caseythereader's review against another edition

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? No

3.75

 - ACE OF SPADES is a page-turning YA thriller, with plot twists and revelations unspooling just fast enough to keep you hooked.
- Devon and Chiamaka are such wonderful, layered characters, and I was deeply invested in their stories.
- However, as quickly as I tore through this book, I do think some of it doesn't really hold together (SPOILERS from here on out!) Like, I really didn't buy that it would take 2/3 of the book for the only two Black students in school to realize they were being racially targeted (and they didn't even consider that it might be due to their queerness, either. This book also had the same unclear framing as SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY where fear of homophobic repercussions is held over a character to drive the plot but also no one seems to care? At least not in the white part of town, because for some reason only the poor Black people were homophobic? Pretty sure even given the rigid directions they were following, some of those rich white conservatives would have let that slip through). And I didn't believe that after everything they went through and everything they learned, they would even attempt to trust a white journalist at the end. I dunno, maybe all this is just because I'm an adult reading YA. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

readandfindout's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

ariam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

 

This book just kept getting more complicated and darker. I really got whiplash as everything was happening. I like don't know how the second half could be so tumultuous, but it worked to reveal all the hints throughout the first half.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Slavery

giannaroberts's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Slavery, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

Edited after reread:
One of the best thriller novels I have ever read. I would recommend to anyone (after checking the trigger warnings-since themes are extremely dark/graphic). With the rise in popularity of dark academia novels, this book is beyond important in highlighting the discrimination in higher institutes of learning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Classism

li_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

moonlitreading_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Stalking, Car accident, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide attempt

loony_lucy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This book is impeccable. I don’t think I have anything constructive or negative to say. The twists and turns were amazing and highly shocking. Chiamaka and Devon as main Characters was brilliant! 

The epilogue tho… 🤭

TW: Racism, Homophobia, White Supremacy, Suicide, Prison and death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship