Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

137 reviews

mafelrs's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

miles's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Bullying, Racism, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, Alcohol, Car accident, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

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

luckyonesoph's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Complicated, conflicting feelings about this one. On one hand, critically important message and a fascinating premise that was mostly really well-written. On the other hand, some of the characters felt really under-developed, and some of the twists were so extreme, they were just unbelievable. Loved Devon, could never get myself to root for Chiamaka.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Car accident, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Murder, and Hate crime

chrisb913's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Please check the TWs.

This book was absolutely incredible. A thrilling story about two high school students on the verge of having a very successful senior year before hell breaks loose. I was on the edge of my seat throughout waiting for the next shoe to drop. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé's debut was such an incredible show of talent and I cannot wait to see what is next from this author. I don't want to say too much to avoid any type of spoiler but seriously do yourself a favor and read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, Outing, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Emotional abuse, Classism, and Gaslighting

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