Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Ace of Spades

When I started the audio book, I did not expect it to go the way it did. Although as I went through, I knew what was coming but not to the degree that it came. Wow.

Definitely a psychological thriller, with similar vibes to ‘Get Out’ (although both are completely different stories focusing on different aspects of horrors related to racism).

4 stars because there was a lot I wish was expanded upon, like a follow-up on characters such a Belle, Scotty, Andre and Jack.

Also, I absolutely love how on the author’s websites there is art depicting the major characters. I have a hard time visualizing things based on descriptions and that really helped! I only found it writing this review since I went searching for one of the character’s names.

I really enjoyed the author’s note, which mentions how the book was written over the course of her college career which is very symbolic to the course of the story.

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jareadforfilth's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

The Gossip Girl and Get Out quotes at the beginning are a perfect representation for what this book feels like because this is a WILD RIDE. What an incredible debut, and the fact that this book was written while the author was in college?! Gagged.

The complexities here are profound and this is a wonderful but horrifying representation of how I’m sure it can feel to live as a black person in a white patriarchal culture. I love the queer black Rep here, it’s so important to have more and more representation of non-white queerness and to have the intersectionality of homophobia and racism that bleeds through.

This book becomes so much more than I was expecting and I was gripped and so terrified for Chi and Devon the entire time! There was just so much each of them had to endure coming on them from all directions and it was horrifying and soooo stressful, like they really only have each other and they’re not even friends which I think is profound in itself—they’re forced to have each others backs even though they don’t particularly like each other all because of the color of their skin, but NO ONE ELSE can be trusted. It’s unfair but such an impactful message by the author.

I did wish we saw more of the takedown of Niveus coming from Devon and Chi instead of a random unexplained fire that I’m pretty sure was Jamie somehow, but I did love the symbolism of that hellhole going down in flames. Also, seeing them work through what’s happened to them and making the moves to show how they got to the epilogue instead of just showing them successful and empowered could have been a really incredible detail I wish we’d gotten. Lastly, I wish there’d been some resolution regarding Devon’s dad. The hurt and loss he must have felt at being deceived by his parents must have been equally profound to what he was experiencing (though less vindictive of course) and I wish we could have gotten to see Devon put himself first and get the conversation he deserved

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kyrstin_p1989's review

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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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spooderman's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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brie333's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

So damn close to a 5 star. A great problem for the author to have but I wish it was longer. I was so immersed in this book that the end felt rushed. I wanted more things fleshed out. It was a very personal and vulnerable story to read and it was awesome I just wanted more. More of Devon’s story specifically; his ending felt very abrupt.

It was a great read. That being said, check the cws, don’t let TikTok fool you. This gets deep.

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solenodon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I don't really enjoy thrillers because they stress me out like this one did! That asside, it's an interesting book that uses cultish terrorism and white supremacy to build a terrifying and disturbing situation that’ll have you on the edge of your seat. If you're looking for a book that will have you feeling unsettled, angry, disturbed, and rooting for the protagonists even when Chiamaka is a bratty deva, you should give this YA book a read. I did wish more had been done with their prefect status, which didn’t seem to matter in any way.

📘The Gist 📘: Chiamaka and Devon are high achieving students at Niveus Private Academy. No doubt, they’re college-bound! Until, that is, anonymous texts from Aces start pouring out their secrets (and blatant lies about them) to the school! As they work to find out who Aces is, they find that not all is as it seems at Niveus.

📒Representation📒: bipoc mc, mixed race mc, gay mc, low income mc

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