Reviews tagging 'Violence'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

434 reviews

gabyspinktasticlibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

brimclala's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Murder

kdailyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Slavery, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

a_ks_bellemans's review against another edition

challenging dark funny inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

3.75 - 4 (tentative)

this book was equal parts horrifying as it was filled with drama and a very interesting look on systemic racism in education

even though i figured out pretty fast who was involved with aces, i genuinely felt fear for devon and chiamakas lives while reading

i really enjoyed the dialogue and i also think the flashbacks were really well done. i also love dual pov so that was another plus

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

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

kc_mellow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Review:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé has been widely praised ever since it came out, so I had high expectations going into it. Although it looks like a rather thick book, the text is not very dense, and it is immensely readable; I read the entire thing in an afternoon. Àbíké-Íyímídé has a talent for sweeping the reader into her story and keeping them hooked. 

 

According to the author’s note, Àbíké-Íyímídé wrote Ace of Spades as a way to capture the alienating, terrifying, and disempowering feelings brought about by living in a society constructed around institutional racism, and in that respect the book succeeds spectacularly. The targeted attacks by Aces are creepy enough on their own, and even more horrifying when their motivation is racism rather than the typical motivations for thriller villains. I appreciate how the story showcases how the feeling that “you can’t trust anyone” takes on another dimension when it comes to living in a white supremacist society as a Black person. 

 

As much as I found to like about Ace of Spades, the book failed to avoid some of the trappings I associate with young adult literature. The two main characters are interesting (I found Devon to be more well-developed in his backstory than Chiamaka) but lack a certain amount of depth. The plot is predictable if you’ve been exposed to a good amount of books and movies, and the logistical requirements of the twist require a hefty amount of suspended disbelief. Additionally, I found the conclusion to be rather rushed and underwhelming; it fails to give the main characters agency in their ending, and then tries to make up for this with an epilogue. 

 

I think that Ace of Spades is terrific for a YA novel (and a debut, which the author started when she was eighteen!). It has undeniable storytelling and thematic strengths but can never quite transcend the limits of the YA genre.  

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Ace of Spades if . . .

·      You like YA thrillers 

·      You like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, but wish they had more diverse representation

 

You might not like Ace of Spades if . . . 

·      You dislike YA books

·      You want to read an original plot 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

aubreygilmore's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Stalking

riverlasol's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

oh my goodness. how do i pull my thoughts together into a coherent review? this book was a WILD RIDE. I admit I saw a few of the twists coming but others completely blew me away and either way I know this for sure—this author is an extremely talented writer with a knack for foreshadowing, which is always wonderful in a thriller like this. This book hooked me from the first page—and not because of the mystery, though of course I wanted to know what happened—but both the main characters were interesting individuals, people who had so much conflict and complexity in their lives even outside of the mystery itself. I always find myself disappointed when thrillers are too much about the plot and not about the people and this book was not falling into that problem at all. I was rooting for these characters from the beginning and truly appreciated how we got a full picture of their lives. This book also was, I thought, a beautiful depiction of the intersection of queerness and blackness. 
Now…the emotional impact. This book was horrifying, not just because of the terrifying concept, but because everything the writer did made it feel so real. like this could literally have been a news story on tv. 
this was a complex, gripping thriller but also at its core a story about two people fighting to be empowered in a system that wants them to be powerless. i don’t want to go into spoiler territory so i’ll end this review here. i cannot recommend it enough and please check content warnings beforehand if you read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide attempt