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mafelrs's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Minor: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, and Drug use
directorpurry's review
- 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? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Racial slurs
Minor: Medical content
emily_mh's review against another edition
- 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
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 eatingtalonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, Violence, Blood, Outing, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Car accident, Grief, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Infidelity, and Sexual content
chris_reads's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Outing, Racism, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Classism, Physical abuse, Car accident, Homophobia, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Suicide attempt
deepcurvesahead's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Car accident, Gaslighting, and Racism
Moderate: Infidelity, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, and Outing
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicide attempt
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Stalking, Classism, Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infidelity and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
clockworkstars's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
4.5☆|5
Embarquons ensemble vers la Niveus private academy, école élitiste et quasiment entièrement blanche à l'exception de deux étudiants noirs, faisant ici leur rentrée en dernière année. On suit Devon et Chiamaka et tout cela se passe bien jusqu'à que quelqu'un, un mystérieux "aces" ne se mettent à révéler leurs secrets les plus enfouis. À les révéler à l'entièreté de l'établissement via des messages anonymes...
Sachez que si vous n'avez pas encore lu ce livre, vous devez aller le lire maintenant. Et je ne plaisante même pas. Vous avez besoin de lire ce livre. Préparez vous à vous sentir mal, plein de rage, à pleurer mais ce seront des réactions justes et légitimes. Mais lisez ce livre.
Je n'ai pas pu le poser. C'est un livre que l'on ne peut pas déposer et que l'on ne veut pas lâcher non plus. On ne veut pas arrêter de le lire, en sortir ne serait ce que quelques instants. C'est un véritable page turner et cela en est un très bon. Ce livre est absolument exceptionnel. Et cela pour tant de raisons. Tout d'abord grâce à la plume qui vous attrape pour ne pas vous lâcher, qui vous plonge entièrement dans l'histoire. Je l'ai adorée, elle donne une puissance incroyable au livre. Et la puissance est renforcée par l'histoire créée par l'autrice.
Un plot qui va vous mettre en colère, qui va vous retourner. Des retournements de situation qui vous donne envie de crier, une histoire de fiction qui vous glace le sang car vous savez au fond de vous que ce n'est pas si poussé que cela, que cela peut arriver, que cela arrive sans doute quelque part. Car cela semble tellement réel.
Ce livre parle par conséquent de bien des choses, il met en évidence et dénonce le racisme et l'homophobie, l'élitisme et la "suprématie blanche". C'est un thriller exceptionnel car il traite de thèmes extrêmement réels.
Et il le fait accompagné de personnages qui semblent tout aussi réels et vivants. On suit Devon, adolescent noir et gay issu de quartier populaire, l'un des seuls de son école à venir de ces quartiers de la ville. Et on suit Chiamaka, jeune fille biraciale (italienne et nigérienne), saphique, plus riche et bien plus populaire. Et ils sont tellement différents, lire leurs pdv en alternance en était exceptionnelle. Je suis absolument fan de Chiamaka, donnez plus de personnages féminins bien écrit qui sont badass au possible (je vais peut être juste arrêter de lire des personnages féminins écrits par des hommes).
Et le fait qu'ils ne viennent pas du même milieu se voit au niveau du traitement de leur personnage et cela se voit dans le comment ils réagissent différemment à ce qui leur tombe dessus. Les personnages sont extrêmement bien gérés par l'autrice qui a réussi à écrire ici un roman incroyable.
C'est queer, c'est noir, cela a un coté dark academia, une plume et un plot relevant du génie, cela traite de racisme systématique, qu'est ce que vous attendez de plus ? Lisez le, maintenant.
Rep : MC noire biraciale (italienne et nigérienne) et sapphique ; MC noir et gay ; SC noir et achiléen
TW : racisme ; n-word ; homophobie ; outing ; harcèlement ; sang ; consommation d'alcool ; accident de voiture ; stalking ; abus émotionnel ; crise de panique ; idée suicidaire ; mention de tentative de suicide passée ; mort d'un parent ; violence par armes à feu ; meurtre ; sexisme ; usage de drogue ; incendie ; relation toxique
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Stalking, and Outing
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Infidelity
bookishchef's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
I kept assuming it was either Jamie, Jack or Belle (in that order from most likely to least). So when the answer turned out to be "yes, and also all of the other characters", I was shook.
I really enjoyed the ride though, even though I thought the final plottwist
There are also still some things that puzzle me:
1. Was Scotty in on it too? If so, he's a damn good actor if he convinced both Devon and Chiamaka that he didn't do it. His storyline got dropped halfway through the book so we never really got a resolution there.
2. What happened to Belle? She told Chiamaka what was happening and I don't assume that her family took kindly to that.
3. How did Devon end up the way he did? We get a little bit of an answer to that in the prologue, which shows that he's living with Terell and his mother but... How? He obviously wasn't getting into Juilliard and he dropped out. Yet the epilogue letter calls him "professor". So what did he do? How did he manage?
4. What happened to Andre? Is he still serving time? Am I not supposed to care?
5. Why did Devon's mom hide his father's death from him? It is said in the epilogue that Devon and his mother weren't on speaking terms for a while after he confronted her... And then what? How did that conversation go? This subplot feels unfinished now.
6. Was Peter the Hacker in on it too? If so, why did he help Chiamaka by revealing what pc the messages were send from? Why did he ask her to put in a good word for him with Belle if he knew Belle's family was in on it too?
And if he wasn't in on it, how did Aces expect the black students to not (accidentally) ask one of the students that wasn't in Aces for help?
I also have a minor headcanon/conspiracy:
We're told by a news anchor that the fire that burns down Niveus was caused by electrical issues. Which seems fair because those issues were mentioned many times before.
Only I thought those issues were just Aces manipulating the cameras, etc. With how it was set up, I assumed Jamie burned down the library. He was set up as a pyromaniac early on, and then threatened Chiamaka with his lighter. So, when she left him, angry and alone, in the library with his lighter, I assumed he was the cause of the fire.
Which he may still have been. After all, the book tells the reader many times that the media covers up white crimes all the time. But Jamie, according to the news broadcast, died in the fire. So that would mean he burned down the school without giving himself an escape? Or was he really that upset about being attracted to/friends with a black girl? I guess we'll never know. So, headcanon land it is.
Graphic: Hate crime, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Violence, Homophobia, Bullying, Car accident, Gaslighting, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Outing
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism
The N word is used once.rinku's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Outing, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime
Minor: Drug use