Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Ace of Spades

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

39 reviews

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! ♠️

Content Warnings

motz_stick's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book is perfect. It’s harrowingly realistic as the beginning lulls you into a sense of safety and familiarity before suddenly ripping it all away. Honestly, at the beginning I hated Chiamaka,

from her willingness to justify Jamie’s convoluted behavior to being an accomplice to murder,

but seeing the change she underwent was phenomenal. I left this book feeling so proud of the characters and like I had been there with them living it. The puzzles in this book are perfect too. Some are easy to solve so you feel like you know what’s happening just for it to all twist into a distressing finale. I was left so amazed by this book I feel like my definition of 5 stars is forever changed.

Content Warnings

ismildlypoetic's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

5 stars are typically reserved for books that changed my life or I hyperfixated on them

While I don't know if Ace of Spades fits those qualifications, its resemblance to media (that very much did have some core memories) and the importance of its message, plus the way it had me turning pages, I very much feel that this book deserves the 5 stars anyway.

For fans of Pretty Little Liars, this book gives that horrendous cyberbullying experience we're familiar with, plus the added twist of

systematic racism.

There were multiple times I wrote in my reading app that I was terrified to turn the page, knowing that whatever was coming wouldn't be good for our two title characters.

Now time for my infodump:

As for the characters, Devon, I loved. I loved him from the first page. I think he has a genuine care for people, even those who've wronged him. He shoots high, but he does what is right to get to them, and I truly admire that.
As for Chiamaka, my love-hate relationship with her was strong. There are very few people in this world she cared for besides herself, and she didn't give a shit who fell as long as she didn't fall with them. However, I am very happy she got a happy ending. And I hope she kept on her journey of self-growth in those sixteen years after Niveus burned.

I highly recommend this book, especially for those who see themselves, like me, relating to some of the other characters at Niveus. We could all use a lesson in seeing others from a different point of view.

Content Warnings

inklunars's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

I was stressed the entire time, going on entire rants with my brother who got just as worked up as I told him the story. Chi’s gullibility really bugged me the most, especially pit against the persona she liked to display.. but she pulled through in the end :).

Content Warnings

yourariesbby's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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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

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

I didn’t love or hate this book. It was fast-paced and engaging, but I felt that it was a little predictable… only because it was marketed as being similar to Get Out. And… yeah, it was, but with “dark academia” vibes. If I hadn’t watched Get Out or went in without knowing its similarities to the film, I probably would have enjoyed the twists far more than I did.

Ace of Spades was incredibly ambitious in what it wanted to tackle, but I felt that it wasn’t as well executed as it could have been. Perhaps this would have played out a lot better if it were a duology or something, but I think Àbíké-Íyímídé wanted to address too many topics in one book. Chiamaka’s biracial identity is one that I would have loved to learn more about (because it clearly impacted her), but isn’t really touched on. Similarly, Devon’s gay identity is one the author does dive into a fair bit, but it’s generally from a position of showing how Devon has to deal with homophobia more than anything else. There were really interesting points made about the incarceration of loved ones, socioeconomic status, etc. that clearly shaped the lives of the protagonists, but they weren’t fully developed.

The cast of characters were probably the strongest part of the book, with many of them being incredibly memorable. I wish Àbíké-Íyímídé developed the side characters more, because that might have helped address a lot of the “tackling too many topics at once” issue.

Again, I thought this book was pretty engaging. I think there was a lot left to be desired, but, at the core of it, Àbíké-Íyímídé draws attention to an ongoing issue in the academy of how Black students are (mis)treated.

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

evelynyle_88's review

Go to review page

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! This is why I put this book in the front line of my Spooktober reads. Spooky things not always comes from ghosts thingy, am I right?

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! ♠️

Content Warnings

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

This books was described as Get Out meets Gossip Girl and it most definitely is.

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