Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

22 reviews

k8lynn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

5.0

i love this book!!! could not stop reading it & when i wasn't reading it i was thinking about it. the audiobook only enhanced this experience!!

*also trigger warning for gay people being forcibly outed to the public

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Misogyny, Outing, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Toxic friendship

emily_mh's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

I don’t want to write too much about this read, because I fear I would spoil something by accident, and I truly think the best way to experience this book is to go in not knowing much about the plot, so that you’re as confused as the MCs and disocvering the trurth right alongside them. The only reason I’m giving this less than five stars is because of some pacing issues. The first half could have been tightened up more, and more time needed to be spent on the climax. There was also an aspect of one MC that felt a bit shoehorned in and underdeveloped. But other than that, this was a truly phenomenal read, both insightful and harrowing. There were so many layers to the plot and characters that Àbíké-Íyímídé artfully constructed and peeled back for the reader. I can see why everyone raves about this work, and I’m really looking forward to reading Àbíké-Íyímídé’s 2024 release.

Rep: gay Black MC, sapphic biracial Black/white Italian/Nigerian-American MC, bi SC, Black Achillean SC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Outing, Racism, Gaslighting, and Hate crime

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Vomit, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Car accident

Minor: Murder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Child death, Sexism, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug use, Ableism, Police brutality, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Pregnancy

Major: three uses of the n-slur, eugenics Moderate: imprisoned loved one, capital punishment Minor: disownment, toxic masculinity, texturism, sick loved one, suicidal ideation, disordered eating

dalek_caan's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I feel like there is no feedback I can provide that can do this book the justice that it deserves other than to say go read it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book through, and was really emotionally invested in the characters, the plot, and the overall messages of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Racism, Hate crime, Stalking, Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Homophobia

ka_schulze's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Bullying

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Sexism, Stalking, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

lily1304's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Good page-turner allegorical YA thriller - I loved the extreme differences between the two main characters, that collapse as the story progresses and they find themselves as a team against the world. I found myself googling

social eugenics

to find out if that's real! I could see some of the twists coming, but it felt like yelling at a character in a horror movie - still mesmerizing and believable that the characters would act the way they do.

The one thing that was so glaring and distracting: the story takes place in the US, but the author is not American. At first I assumed she was either a first- or second-generation Nigerian immigrant to the US, but it became obvious quickly that she is actually from the UK. She stated in the author's note that she didn't set the story in a particular region or city intentionally, to make the story more universal I guess, but it was distracting! The homophobia,

state execution

, and references to the Confederacy point to the South, but the British-style school being founded in 1717 points to New England. And there are absolutely no references to Christianity, which feels immediately out of place in a conservative private school. It would definitely be either Catholic or evangelical - it's honestly unbelievable that Christianity plays no role in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Child death, and Racism

allisonbrooke's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, Death, Bullying, Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

kyrstin_p1989's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.0

This was absolutely not what I expected it to be. It was thrilling, infuriating, and heartbreaking all at the same time. I thought some of the author’s beliefs were maybe spelled out a little too much rather than being less obvious and allowing the reader to come to the same conclusion but because of the subject matter and the target audience, I understand why it’s written that way. Also, there were a few scenes that were written in a way that felt too over the top and unbelievable to me, but being a white woman, it could be that my limited personal experience with racism has created a blindspot that disallows me to see something like those scenes actually happening in real life. Despite the two critiques of this novel, I really enjoyed it. It was fast paced and interesting and I think teenagers will really enjoy it and adults could really learn from it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Stalking, Child death, Gun violence, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Murder, Police brutality, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, and Grief

secretcakeparty's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Bullying, and Racism

Moderate: Death and Car accident

averyrembish's review

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racism, Homophobia, Bullying, and Hate crime

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Outing, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

spaghettii's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.5

All the kids at that school were so rude throughout the whole thing, fuck them kids. 

If I went to school with kids like that I would've burned the whole thing down long before the protesters

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Biphobia, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Addiction, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship