Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

35 reviews

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow. I really enjoyed this! It was fear and anxiety inducing, like a thriller should be! 

Ace of Spades is the story of Chiamaka and Devon, the only two Black students at an almost all white prestigious high school in America. Someone named Aces stars revealing the two student's secrets and more to the whole school. Aces is out to get Devon and Chiamaka, but who are they? and why?

My only complaint was that the "WHO DID IT?" was spoiled for me thanks to the marketing team and book listing on Amazon! I went to buy this book from Amazon (as it was on sale) and the synopsis on their website spoiled the big reveal for me.

I sometimes hate when the synopsis says, "this novel is X show and Y book/movie put together!", because there's either hardly a comparison or it's spot on and then the story is no longer a surprise. In this case, the examples were the film "Get Out" and the show "Gossip Girl". The comparisons were spot on and because of that, there were few surprises left to figure out on my own.

Overall, I really liked this novel, I'm giving this 4.5 stars out of 5, I'm knocking off .5 stars because I guessed some of the ending on my own. I'm also knocking a star off because Chiamaka was a jerk and unpleasant, and half the book was from her point of view so I couldn't avoid her annoying personality.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I listened to this for free on libbyapp.com

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

mozimmerm's review against another edition

dark emotional 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 found most of this book very interesting! It reminded me of Pretty Little Liars, but it added the twist of the motive being race. I liked the dual POV, as it allowed two perspectives from 2 different paths of life and how they reacted to the same discrimination. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending.

I found the ending too wrapped-in-a-bow. The resolution was all by chance. I did love how they created an organization to counteract the school’s injustice.

However, I found this book entertaining and moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Gaslighting, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Biphobia, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Death, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Death of parent

leahkarge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Outing, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Infidelity, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Drug use

mr_munch's review against another edition

challenging hopeful medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Biphobia

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, and Sexual content

kyrstin_p1989's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Stalking, Child death, Gun violence, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Murder, Police brutality, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, and Grief

j_osiiie's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Classism, Homophobia, Racism, Biphobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

spooderman's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Car accident, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, Mental illness, Slavery, Cursing, Stalking, Body shaming, Colonisation, Misogyny, Gun violence, Vomit, Death, Violence, Torture, Murder, Abandonment, Bullying, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Confinement, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Drug use

Minor: Eating disorder and Pregnancy

shine_books1's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Biphobia, Alcohol, and Vomit

t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.07

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Biphobia, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

coryannellerbe's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This felt like a very rare book. It combined a lot of genre things that I LOVE about YA, and elevated them. 

The two main characters are so well written, they felt very real. Reading this was almost like reading a diary. The two leads have their strengths, flaws, things they aren't willing to compromise on. 

Chi is motivated to succeed at almost any cost. She looks at her high school success as a means to an end, and she views a lot of relationship that way too. She doesn't have many friends because she surrounds herself with people who seem to share that same idea: relationships and friendships in high school are a contract, to gain popularity, win awards and recognition, get good grades, and get accepted into Yale University. She's successful and smart, but she acknowledges her drive unapologetically. 

Devon is a bit more of a dreamer, though he comes from a neighborhood where "dreaming is dangerous". He's at school on scholarship and dreaming of getting into Julliard and studying music. He works hard because his mom has sacrificed everything to get him a chance at a rarefied education, and he wants to make all the struggle they've gone through worth it. He's more of a dreamer then Chi, a little more withdrawn and reflective. Plus, while Chi's whole world revolves around their school, Devon almost seems to live in two worlds, one where he clearly doesn't fit in and one where he doesn't feel safe.

This book took elements of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Get Out and turned them on their heads. It used a lot of similar plot elements to create a world we as readers could recognize while revealing the dark underbelly of the world that we might not have been expecting. 

This is not your average "who-dun-it" and it really feels like it should be required reading in the digital age. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Racism, Biphobia, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Classism

Minor: Ableism