Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

196 reviews

aetherthedino's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

A thrilling and Intense Story with a necessary and powerful message. I loved Devon and Chiamaka and the way the mystery was unfolded, could not put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Outing, Racism, Classism, Violence, Hate crime, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Police brutality, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

this book was so gripping it litterally made me scared

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gun violence, Death, Outing, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, Grief, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

I was quite excited to read Ace of Spades and I was not disappointed. The story gets really disturbing and definitely has some Get Out vibes. Sadly, the setting and the characters couldn’t convince me fully. 

In this story, we follow Chiamaka and Devon, the two only Black students at their private school. They’re in their final year when suddenly someone named Aces starts to share their darkest secrets with the whole school. This general idea didn’t sound too innovative for me at the beginning and some aspects, especially the ones around

the girl Chiamaka and Jamie “murdered”

, were predictable. But soon, the story turns really dark and sinister. One of the reasons for this are the heavy topics that the novel deals with, like drug abuse or the death penalty, but especially the racism and the homophobia. Both of them are so brutal and uncomfortable that my heart dropped many times. The escalation of the situation is so terrifying as well, especially how the lives of the main characters slowly get destroyed. 

Learning the secret behind the Academy and Aces was so disturbing as well:

We learn that the whole Academy is part of a racist organization that practices something called social eugenics which was – I’ve mentioned it before – so shocking and disturbing as well

. There are also so many other shocking revelations that some people probably saw coming but I didn’t, like the fact that

Mr Taylor’s a liar, or that Martha is Belle’s sister. This made me really sad because I hoped that Belle would be a good person, but oh well

. My heart was just pounding so much while reading Ace of Spades, this novel made me so nervous lmao.  

What I didn’t like as much though was the ending which felt a bit anti-climactic to me:

It was quite obvious that the big reveal at the school ball would fail but these random protestors were honestly not an interesting solution. Suddenly, the school starts to burn without any explanation which wasn’t really satisfying as well. The only thing I really enjoyed about the ending was Chiamaka attacking Jamie and learning that they founded a new school after all. But did I understand it correctly that the Academy still exists? That’s quite depressing, honestly

. 

Another reason why I didn’t give Ace of Spades five stars are for me the characters. I have to admit that I’m not too fond of both main characters and I’m not sure if they’re even supposed to be likable. Both think that they’re something better and I sometimes struggled to understand their behaviour. This strong opportunistic orientation both of them had was a bit cringe, just like how Chiamaka sees everything as a competition. Still, they felt like real people right from the beginning and I felt so sorry for them, their situation is so unfair. Most of the side characters were unlikable as well, but I liked the development of the relationship between Chiamaka and Belle, and it was so great to see that

Devon’s mom accepted him

. Furthermore, it was amazing to see how Chiamaka emancipated herself from Jamie. 

Ace of Spades is all in all a great book that starts with a more basic premise but turns it into a disturbing story with a lot of social commentary which I always love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Outing, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime

Minor: Drug use

linnea1801's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I don’t even know what to say… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Sexism, Classism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Outing, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction and Blood

Minor: Gun violence and Police brutality

paulabekkerus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Homophobia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Bullying, Gun violence, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Stalking

ella7211's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Car accident

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

123urmom's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Outing

Moderate: Drug abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

peachythi_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Ace of Spades absolutely blew me away. The plot twist. THE PLOT TWIST?!? I’m not talking just one but multiple. I was genuinely shocked by the events in the book. Like I was flabbergasted, befuddled, completely turned around. I developed trust issues in the best ways because of this book. 

This book also discusses micro-agressions and the systemic racism black people have to go through in the systems set up by white supremacy. This book is also so deeply disturbing I cried multiple times. Because everyone is fucked up and I need people to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Gaslighting, Racism, Classism, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Murder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Outing

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

capitaens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

The last time I finished a book this quickly was probably 12 years ago. It's not an easy read in the sense that the content is hard to stomach, but it is so well written, the characters are incredible, and I simply couldn't put this book down. Highly recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Medical content, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship