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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
“It felt like a puzzle, mostly put together but with a piece missing, waiting to be filled. There were plenty of pieces to fill it- gay, straight, bisexual- but none fit quite right. Sometimes I thought I could make one fit if I pressed hard enough, but it would never lie flat. The word asexual took the puzzle piece and turned it, letting it click into place where before it'd been better to just leave the space empty. I wasn't broken. I wasn't empty. I wasn't nothing at all. Just a little differently shaped.”
Thank you to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review! The quotes are taken from the Arc and are subject to changes!
Aces Wilde was such a fun time! After loving Wren Martin Ruins It All, I was hyped to finally read the eArc of the author's debut, which I still had sitting on my Kindle. The story follows Jack, who hopes to save his arrested mother by taking down her biggest rival Peter Carlevaro who wants a monopoly on the Las Vegas strip. Desperate to do something, Jack enlists the help of his all-ace online friend group to plan a heist that'll take down Carlevaro. I loved the premise of an all-ace cast attempting a daring heist in Las Vegas! I've never been to Las Vegas, but the author described the setting in such a vivid way that it felt like if I was there. Jack's family business isn't exactly ... legal (apart from owning a hotel and casino, his mother was involved in criminal activity) but he's still proud of it and the sibling most invested in its success!
Jack's snarky narrative was such a delight. He's not good with expressing his emotions, but great at witty commentary. Back in his fancy boarding school, he didn't exactly have friends, and he ran an underground gambling club as a talented card player. I loved the complicated relationship with his family. He admires his mother and wants to follow in her footsteps, but she was always too busy to pay closer attention to him. His father is too chaotic and laid-back to be a proper parental figure, so it is up to Jack's oldest sister Beth to take care of everything. She doesn't want anything to do with the family business and tries to mother Jack even though he isn't thrilled. The middle sister K is less intense, but they don't see each other long enough to truly build a close relationship. Jack is a pretty flawed character, but he's so easy to root for, as he genuinely cares about what happens to their family legacy and even manages to ask his online friends for help with it! The writing style was so funny, so I flew through this book!
“Just don't look so hard toward the future that you forget the people you want in it.”
I also loved the online friendships! Jack's not exactly out as ace, but he's managed to find a group of ace friends online that he can relate to. They haven't met in person prior to this book, but he texts them almost every day and they're his biggest support network. I love how online friendships were celebrated and the book showed the awkwardness of meeting in person for the first time. The banter between Jack, Remy, Georgia, Lucky & Gabe was great! It was lovely seeing them connect via their shared identity (though there are differences in how they identify, e.g. Gabe is aroace, Remy is nonbinary and Jack is romantic ace) and support each other as asexuality is still not well known and understood by others. I wish Jack's friends had been a bit more developed, as apart from Lucky, they didn't stand out much! The pining between Remy and Jack was sweet but could have been better if Remy was more fleshed out. It also would have been great to explore the differences in their ace experiences by digging deeper into everyone's character!
I also have to admit that the actual heist wasn't as high-stakes and intense! Since I loved Jack's narrative and his dynamic with his friends, I didn't really mind it. However, I feel like I went into this book with the expectation that the crew would pull off an actual heist. Instead, Jack and his friends mostly run reconnaissance and try to solve the mystery of the Avalon Club. Things only heat up at the very end of the book!
“Just because you didn't experience sexual attraction didn't mean you didn't you didn't experience romantic feelings. But those romantic feelings didn't look like they did in the movies because, well, Hollywood didn't make movies about ace people. Period. So they could be a little hard to figure out.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Abandonment
erikagibson126's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
quel_g's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Explores different micro labels of asexual spectrum through main characters.
“Coaches don’t play”
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
maggies's review
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
2.0
This isn't a heist. And I could not figure out what the end goal was for Jack et al throughout like 90% of the book (tbh I still don't think I could explain it). The ace/aro rep was really cool/accessible for people who haven't previously been exposed to that facet of queerness, and I loved the poker element, but I just can't get over how much of a heist this is not. Plus, Jack was not a compelling or likable main character, and so the fact that it's entirely written from his perspective was not super enjoyable. I liked Lucky and Jack's sisters, though, so that's something!
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
space12133's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse
anna_wa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
- 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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit
oddduck's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
4.5
This book was literally tailor made for me. A HEIST pulled off by a friend group of aces? How have I been living without this book??
While I did end up adoring this book, I do have some thoughts on it. But first, let's look at what I loved.
I'm a big character person, and I loved these characters. The Shannon family is such a mess, but they still care about each other. Jack's friends strike a nice balance between "Are we sure this is a good idea?" and ride-or-die. And they're all so distinct from each other! It was a delight to meet them all and watch Jack bond with all of them. I especially love Lucky, but I've got a major soft spot for small, cute characters who will not hesitate to rip a grown man to shreds (literally or metaphorically). Beth and Kerry were also super interesting to me. Seeing how their personalities struggled to mesh for so long felt very realistic, as did Jack's realizations about why Beth and Kerry are who they are. When he finally got there and was willing to make an effort with them was a great moment.
The villain was pretty solid. I won't say that he's interesting, because I don't think he is, but I do think he's realistic, and in this book I'd actually say that's more important. He's very wealth and power driven, which makes sense for his goal, and is one of the things that make the twist at the end work. Not really much else to say about him, other than it was satisfying when he lost.
Speaking of the twist, I liked that quite a bit. I was expecting a different twist from very early on, but once the clues for the actual twist started to add up, I figured them out pretty quick. I think it worked well and definitely made sense with Carlevaro's motives, though I am still a bit disappointed that what I thought was coming did not end up being the plot (but more on that shortly).
Now obviously we've got to talk ace rep. As an ace starved for some good fictional representation, I'll freely admit that this was 50% of the sell for me (the other 50% was, naturally, the heist aspect). I was promised not just a main character who's ace, but a whole team of ace characters, and boy howdy did this book deliver. And it was good!! They weren't all the same and they interacted with their ace identity differently! We got conversations on what having a romantic relationship can mean/look like as an ace person. We got "hey they're cute - wait what?". We got "Hard pass, get that away from me please and thank you". We got "I'm out and proud" and "I don't really feel the need/want to tell people that I'm ace" and had those coexist without pressure or judgement! And!!! Jack describes learning about asexuality as feeling like a missing piece has clicked into place. Yes!!! That was the feeling!!! It was the "Oh, that's a thing?" moment! I nearly cried when I read that. Absolutely incredible.
Related, there's another scene that I really liked that centers on asexuality that I want to discuss. Summary behind the spoiler bar. After finding out how old Lucky is, Gabe asks how she can be sure. How maybe she'll change her mind when she gets older. He gets called on this immediately by the rest of their friends, and he apologizes to Lucky. This scene is so interesting to me for several reasons. First, because it shows how acephobia is so ingrained in our culture and how internalized these beliefs are for so many, without them ever realizing it. Second, because this is a conversation I see every once in a while in online spaces. In the part of the community I hang out in, the overwhelming attitude when faced with this is "So what?" So what if someone ID'd as ace before realizing there was another label that they like better? So what if they did get older and realized they aren't actually ace? At least they had something that felt right, for however long they needed it. They had access to a community that could support them. I personally find that attitude to be much more useful than any kind of gatekeeping nonsense. It was nice to see that reflected in this book. Third, it was nice to see that even though they're friends who have just met in person for the first time, they're still willing to call each other out when they say stupid shit. This was the scene that made me say, "Oh, this book is about being ace." And I loved that.
The heist aspect was fun, but, as is usually the case for non-Leverage media, not particularly elaborate. I liked the way blackjack was a recurring topic, especially for a character named Jack, and when Kerry showed up to distract Carlevaro with Texas Hold 'em I was so excited. Jack also really feels like he's grown up in this world, which is very important for me in terms of believability. In YA media, there's usually the question of "How did a bunch of kids pull this off?" which is fair, and I kind of like that the answer in this book is mostly "They didn't". Like, Carlevaro knew from the beginning what Jack was doing and what his goal was. He wanted Jack to do this. So at any point where we think the team should have been caught, or that it was too easy for them, and we wonder why things still turned out okay-ish, the answer is that Carlevaro wants Jack to come after him, so he's probably doing something behind the scenes to make that happen. We even see it overtly, when he sends Morgan to steal the chips. And this is what makes Carlevaro's arrest so satisfying. Because when Jack wins, he does it by actually out playing Carlevaro, and he does it in kind of a dumb way, which is totally believable for a teenager.
Now let's talk about the two things I wish would have been done just a little differently.
First, while I liked that Kerry is hard of hearing, I wish we would have known this sooner. I love that Kerry's not The Deaf Character, but the way we find out that she uses a hearing aid makes it feel like this was a decision that was made late in the game, and thus only for the specific reason of making people view Kerry differently/seriously underestimate her. Even just mentioning it when we first meet her - maybe she needs to replace her hearing aid soon and is wondering how she's going to pay for it or is just generally worried about access to healthcare, alongside her college tuition - would have eliminated this. I love how casual it is, and I do like the idea that Kerry knows people underestimate her capabilities because she's disabled and uses that to her advantage, I just don't like how it feels like this was solely done to make the Plan work. Like, it's already established that Carlevaro is sexist. The Plan totally could have hinged on that and it still would have worked with Kerry.
Second, while I did end up liking the twist, it was not what I thought was coming. On the one hand, this is good. It's a subversion of expectations, which are usually interesting. On the other hand, I feel a little dissatisfied. My prediction, from very early on, was that Carlevaro was not going to be the one who sent Jack's mom to prison. There was going to be someone else pulling the strings, and perhaps even controlling Carlevaro, or maybe they were working together. Either way, oftentimes, when a character becomes so hyper-focused on an idea, they fall into a pit of confirmation bias, and then are totally blindsided when their idea is wrong. Looking back at the clues though, we see how they were actually building to something else. I love this structure, so seeing Jack immediately pick out Carlevaro as the culprit made me think that this was the road we were heading down. And again, I'm not disappointed with the real twist. I just did not have my expectations met on this specific thing and I'm still trying to adjust from that. This might be rectified with a reread, but for now, I'm just a little dissatisfied, which is mostly on me.
Overall, I loved this book. I was eagerly anticipating its release, and was so utterly thrilled to find it while browsing the "new" shelf at my local library. And I really wasn't disappointed. This was such a fun read and a fantastic way to start off the year.
While I did end up adoring this book, I do have some thoughts on it. But first, let's look at what I loved.
I'm a big character person, and I loved these characters. The Shannon family is such a mess, but they still care about each other. Jack's friends strike a nice balance between "Are we sure this is a good idea?" and ride-or-die. And they're all so distinct from each other! It was a delight to meet them all and watch Jack bond with all of them. I especially love Lucky, but I've got a major soft spot for small, cute characters who will not hesitate to rip a grown man to shreds (literally or metaphorically). Beth and Kerry were also super interesting to me. Seeing how their personalities struggled to mesh for so long felt very realistic, as did Jack's realizations about why Beth and Kerry are who they are. When he finally got there and was willing to make an effort with them was a great moment.
The villain was pretty solid. I won't say that he's interesting, because I don't think he is, but I do think he's realistic, and in this book I'd actually say that's more important. He's very wealth and power driven, which makes sense for his goal, and is one of the things that make the twist at the end work. Not really much else to say about him, other than it was satisfying when he lost.
Speaking of the twist, I liked that quite a bit. I was expecting a different twist from very early on, but once the clues for the actual twist started to add up, I figured them out pretty quick. I think it worked well and definitely made sense with Carlevaro's motives, though I am still a bit disappointed that what I thought was coming did not end up being the plot (but more on that shortly).
Now obviously we've got to talk ace rep. As an ace starved for some good fictional representation, I'll freely admit that this was 50% of the sell for me (the other 50% was, naturally, the heist aspect). I was promised not just a main character who's ace, but a whole team of ace characters, and boy howdy did this book deliver. And it was good!! They weren't all the same and they interacted with their ace identity differently! We got conversations on what having a romantic relationship can mean/look like as an ace person. We got "hey they're cute - wait what?". We got "Hard pass, get that away from me please and thank you". We got "I'm out and proud" and "I don't really feel the need/want to tell people that I'm ace" and had those coexist without pressure or judgement! And!!! Jack describes learning about asexuality as feeling like a missing piece has clicked into place. Yes!!! That was the feeling!!! It was the "Oh, that's a thing?" moment! I nearly cried when I read that. Absolutely incredible.
Related, there's another scene that I really liked that centers on asexuality that I want to discuss. Summary behind the spoiler bar.
The heist aspect was fun, but, as is usually the case for non-Leverage media, not particularly elaborate. I liked the way blackjack was a recurring topic, especially for a character named Jack, and
Now let's talk about the two things I wish would have been done just a little differently.
First, while I liked that Kerry is hard of hearing, I wish we would have known this sooner. I love that Kerry's not The Deaf Character, but the way we find out that she uses a hearing aid makes it feel like this was a decision that was made late in the game, and thus only for the specific reason of making people view Kerry differently/seriously underestimate her. Even just mentioning it when we first meet her - maybe she needs to replace her hearing aid soon and is wondering how she's going to pay for it or is just generally worried about access to healthcare, alongside her college tuition - would have eliminated this. I love how casual it is, and I do like the idea that Kerry knows people underestimate her capabilities because she's disabled and uses that to her advantage, I just don't like how it feels like this was solely done to make the Plan work. Like, it's already established that Carlevaro is sexist. The Plan totally could have hinged on that and it still would have worked with Kerry.
Second, while I did end up liking the twist, it was not what I thought was coming. On the one hand, this is good. It's a subversion of expectations, which are usually interesting. On the other hand, I feel a little dissatisfied. My prediction, from very early on, was that Carlevaro was not going to be the one who sent Jack's mom to prison. There was going to be someone else pulling the strings, and perhaps even controlling Carlevaro, or maybe they were working together. Either way, oftentimes, when a character becomes so hyper-focused on an idea, they fall into a pit of confirmation bias, and then are totally blindsided when their idea is wrong. Looking back at the clues though, we see how they were actually building to something else. I love this structure, so seeing Jack immediately pick out Carlevaro as the culprit made me think that this was the road we were heading down. And again, I'm not disappointed with the real twist. I just did not have my expectations met on this specific thing and I'm still trying to adjust from that. This might be rectified with a reread, but for now, I'm just a little dissatisfied, which is mostly on me.
Overall, I loved this book. I was eagerly anticipating its release, and was so utterly thrilled to find it while browsing the "new" shelf at my local library. And I really wasn't disappointed. This was such a fun read and a fantastic way to start off the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Sexism and Abandonment
Minor: Ableism, Blood, and Alcohol
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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
4.25
An absolutely fun read, and so refreshing to read an ace-positive book, let alone an ace-centric one.
Protagonist Jack is a bit of an aspiring Kaz Brekker, though in personality he’s a bit more like Wylan. There is more of a “heist vibe” than a specific heist, and the vibrant setting provides all the highlights of Vegas without ever having to go to Vegas. Win-win.
Protagonist Jack is a bit of an aspiring Kaz Brekker, though in personality he’s a bit more like Wylan. There is more of a “heist vibe” than a specific heist, and the vibrant setting provides all the highlights of Vegas without ever having to go to Vegas. Win-win.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Emotional abuse
chris_reads's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
3.75
I never thought I'd see the day where we get media with not just an ace character, but the lead, AND multiple side characters. I loved the characters within the friend group, and the family dynamics stuck out as well. The main positive was the distinctive and humorous narrative voice. My one complaint is that the pacing could be better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking and Abandonment
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia
neglectlooseleafellie's review against another edition
When Jack Shannon’s casino-owner mom gets put in prison, Jack vows vengeance on Peter Carlevaro, the rival casino owner who ratted her out. Helped by the friends he met on an online asexual support group, Jack must find Carlevaro’s secrets and take him down.
This book was pitched as “modern asexual Kaz Brekker runs a Las Vegas heist,” and that’s a tough comp to live up to. It’s arguable whether the book actually contains a heist, but there was some fun espionage and gambling shenanigans. It annoyed me that much of the plot was made possible by one character being almost magically good at hacking, but that didn’t ruin the story for me.
Aces Wild has a focus on family and friendship, which was lovely to see! Jack and his friends disagree and make mistakes, but care deeply for each other. Jack also gains a newfound love for his complicated family. And there’s a cute subplot of Jack having a crush on his friend Remy, and having to navigate what that means as an asexual person.
I think it does Jack a disservice to describe him as Kaz Brekker — he has a very different past to Kaz, and more of a moral compass and empathy. I liked his arc, though. If you want to see an analytical, introverted kid struggling with his emotions realistically, this book is great! If you want a ruthless criminal who cares only about profit and one (1) stabby Wraith, that’s not what you’ll get here.
If a YA Ocean’s Eleven with an all-asexual heist crew sounds cool to you, you might want to check out Aces Wild!
In closing, a quote I loved: “Sexuality can be fluid, or at the very least a journey, not to mention personal. If someone said they were ace or gay or whatever, you believed them. Assuming that you were straight until you ‘know for sure’ only implied that it was better to be straight until you had no other choice.”
Thanks to Peachtree Teen for the e-ARC!
CWs: Abandonment, blood, acephobia mention.
This book was pitched as “modern asexual Kaz Brekker runs a Las Vegas heist,” and that’s a tough comp to live up to. It’s arguable whether the book actually contains a heist, but there was some fun espionage and gambling shenanigans. It annoyed me that much of the plot was made possible by one character being almost magically good at hacking, but that didn’t ruin the story for me.
Aces Wild has a focus on family and friendship, which was lovely to see! Jack and his friends disagree and make mistakes, but care deeply for each other. Jack also gains a newfound love for his complicated family. And there’s a cute subplot of Jack having a crush on his friend Remy, and having to navigate what that means as an asexual person.
I think it does Jack a disservice to describe him as Kaz Brekker — he has a very different past to Kaz, and more of a moral compass and empathy. I liked his arc, though. If you want to see an analytical, introverted kid struggling with his emotions realistically, this book is great! If you want a ruthless criminal who cares only about profit and one (1) stabby Wraith, that’s not what you’ll get here.
If a YA Ocean’s Eleven with an all-asexual heist crew sounds cool to you, you might want to check out Aces Wild!
In closing, a quote I loved: “Sexuality can be fluid, or at the very least a journey, not to mention personal. If someone said they were ace or gay or whatever, you believed them. Assuming that you were straight until you ‘know for sure’ only implied that it was better to be straight until you had no other choice.”
Thanks to Peachtree Teen for the e-ARC!
CWs: Abandonment, blood, acephobia mention.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Abandonment
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia