Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

161 reviews

leela_bird's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Classism, Violence, and Sexual assault

matmatmatty's review against another edition

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:

1. Who stopped Devon's suicide attempt? Like I don't think they actually said
2. What happened with the original headmaster? Like was he in on it, or was he against it so they got rid of him?
3. 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.
4. It was implied that Chi was assaulted but then it feels like it was kind of dropped? Like what happened with that?
5. 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Outing, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide attempt and Sexual assault

ameliabeimler's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide

soniaiscool's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Outing, Classism, Homophobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

lizy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Bullying, Outing, and Hate crime

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Death of parent

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! ♠️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Car accident, Blood, Racism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Alcohol, and Stalking

Moderate: Vomit, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

moondaisyy's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Outing, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Homophobia

nkerekes's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Violence, Gun violence, and Racism

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