Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

171 reviews

valeriezharick's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

this book is a masterpiece omg.!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Bullying, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Outing, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Classism, and Gaslighting

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

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

5.0

WHAT A HELLA RIDE.... 5⭐

First, I wanna say thank you to Miss Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé for creating the world about Niveus Private Academy. This book is beyond perfect! Well, at the start... it feels usual, but after you read about 40 pages of the story, the chills started. I can imagine myself; there... being Chiamaka Adebayo. I positioned myself as her as I read the whole story.

Ace of Spades simply stole my heart! This book is a brilliant book. Disturbing, giving so many chills, brutally-emotional, scary at some points.. but this book is brilliant. Even scarier even there's no ghosts in this story. 

This book is the one to read and I hella can't put the book down even for only five minutes. The story, the characters, the settings, the plots... are perfect and sickeningly good! 

I never find the thriller-mystery book that left chills so much; even now.. when I write this review and finished reading this already. This book leaves a gasp for me and makes me smirk at the end; the epilogue.

What a perfect of twisted 'oh' ending. All hail, Ace of Spades! ♠️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Car accident, Blood, Racism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Alcohol, and Stalking

Moderate: Vomit, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

daniellekat's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this more, but I think I'm just not the intended audience. Although exciting, the plot was somewhat predictable, and full of holes. So many characters were introduced for specific plot purposes only to be completely dropped later. And the characters that did stick around were one dimensional and lacked growth. The 

quick and neatly wrapped up

ending was lackluster and added to the book's strange pacing. This tackled some big and necessary themes, but ultimately missed the mark for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Physical abuse, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Stalking

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Sexism, and Death of parent

emlyy_who's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I was procrastinating on reading this, but I'm glad I finally did. I can tell why this book made it to the Lincoln Awards. It's thought-provoking and reflective, and brings to light the countless injustices that African-Americans and other minorities continue to face today. It's a chilling read, and the revelations of the covertly racist actions of the entire school community are horrifying. But, the ways that Chiamaka and Devon confront these prejudices and find justice for their communities is empowering. I definitely recommend reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ratnix's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Stalking, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Murder, Bullying, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, and Death of parent

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use

dangselena's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Insane. Very Jordan Peele-esque. Slow start but picks up around 40 pages in and keeps the pace from there. So hard to put down! Hard to put into words but as a White passing Latina, this book quickly put me in my place in the best way possible. The author places the reader directly into the shoes of two Black teenagers and really envelopes you in their state of hypervigilance and terror. The story reveals very quickly how easy it is for any small misstep to ruin their lives instantly. I thought having the dual narration was particularly interesting because of the different experiences of the characters. While both characters are Black,

Chiamaka is half Italian and comes from a wealthy background while Devon is dark skinned and living in poverty. The author really managed to show how their backgrounds give them very different views of how to solve their problems. While they’re both experiencing anti-black racism, the characters are treated very differently by their aggresors because of their upbringing and even their gender and sexuality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Abandonment, Vomit, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Car accident, Gaslighting, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Gore, Outing, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, 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

denee16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

This book was intense and heartwrenchin. Hopeful and challenging.  It follows Devon and Chiamaka as they navigate their senior year while their lives are quite literally blowing up in front of them. It covers the systemic racism that traces throughout generations and holding those perpetrating it accountable. 
While I may never personally feel these struggles, walking through these characters fights for justice and pain caused by rigged systems and a society working to keep them oppressed.
The constant questions of who Aces was only for the reveal to be absolutely horrifying and yet so real was exactly what kept this book moving so fast. 

This book was fantastic and I can't recommend it enough!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Bullying, Death, Stalking, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Classism, Outing, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Gun violence

se_wigget's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Highlight, copy, paste--you know, like a phone that isn't a piece of shit. Stop proving that you're garbage, stupidphone.

Paste, paste, paste, paste, paste, paste 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Stalking, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

mamatrauma's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Outing, Violence, Stalking, Sexism, Murder, Drug use, Death, Cursing, and Classism