Reviews with content warning for Classism - Ace of Spades

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

234 reviews

bookishevy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Friends, I can't believe this amazing read sat on my shelf for months. I couldn't get my thoughts down fast enough.

Chiamaka Adebayo and Devon Richards are the only non-white students at the prestigious Niveus Private Academy. At the beginning of their senior year, Chi is on her way to being premed at Yale, while Devon is working hard to get into Julliard. But soon after the school year begins, someone called Aces starts texting their secrets to the student body and things become increasingly dangerous as Chi and Devon realize this is more than just a game and they must stop Aces from revealing anything that could jeopardize their futures.

Thoughts while reading: Chi and Devon did things they would not like to come to light even though Devon's actions were more for survival. Chi has money, which gives her some power. So when these things start happening, she believes certain people will help her. But as a woman of color, her money can only offer her so much protection. Devon is at Niveus on a scholarship. He lives in a rough neighborhood and is used to being bullied in his own community for being gay. He's been beaten down by the system, so he's more skeptical of others and wisely so. He must learn to go with his gut to figure out who's behind this because he's the more self-aware of the two.

It becomes clear that Chi and Devon are merely being tolerated at the academy. There are a few twists that had me on the edge of my seat. Something more sinister is at play, and they can't trust anyone.

This story is an allegory for institutionalized racism. I loved that the setting is an unspecified location in the U.S. because anti-blackness is global. Àbíké-Íyímídé shows that someone being nice doesn't make them good. A racist would smile and greet you warmly as they scoff at your audacity to dream and do everything in their power to keep you back because they don't believe you deserve happiness. I spent the last 50 pages of this read dreading the outcome because the system is so rigged.

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leela_bird's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

a really fast paced and quick read. not the most intricate mystery i’ve ever read but engaging enough to keep me reading. the pretty little liars and gossip girl inspirations are very obvious so if you’re looking for something like that plus a little touch of mystery, would def recommend.

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matmatmatty's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? No

4.25

Would recommend this one for sure. It's very Gossip Girl-esque - secrets at a private school, lots of rich kids doing bad things, but with an anti-racism message underneath.

I think at times the villain was a bit cartoonish but for this genre, it makes sense.

The point is that so many people and so many people with power are in on it, with this level of "who can you trust" going on. It makes sense that the teachers did nothing (even though, I know for a fact if a school found out that their Head Prefect was accused of stealing and murder and had inappropriate pictures shared everywhere, they would SHUT THAT DOWN - my source : I went to a posh private school)

Questions I still have that weren't completely answered:

Who stopped Devon's suicide attempt? Like I don't think they actually said
What happened with the original headmaster? Like was he in on it, or was he against it so they got rid of him?
Chi should have just gone to the police straight after the accident. Like I get that it would have been implicating her friend and everything but I feel like the smart thing is to tell the police and if it was real, get leniency for age. Kids, if this happens to you, tell the police straight away because hiding a crime is way worse than the actual crime.
It was implied that Chi was assaulted but then it feels like it was kind of dropped? Like what happened with that?
Not a question but I think it would have been good if the revelation of previous victims had been teased a bit more. Like when Terrell first mentioned that they the only black kids, he could start looking into if they're the first and maybe find some names but they lose the trail and then they can find the yearbooks and know they disappeared. Feel like that would have felt more like a conspiracy that way.

But honestly, really loved it. Not perfect but did what it was doing really well. Snaps all round.

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