Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

44 reviews

rufaro's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Medical content, Car accident, Hate crime, Homophobia, Slavery, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

caseythereader's review against another edition

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? No

3.75

 - ACE OF SPADES is a page-turning YA thriller, with plot twists and revelations unspooling just fast enough to keep you hooked.
- Devon and Chiamaka are such wonderful, layered characters, and I was deeply invested in their stories.
- However, as quickly as I tore through this book, I do think some of it doesn't really hold together (SPOILERS from here on out!) Like, I really didn't buy that it would take 2/3 of the book for the only two Black students in school to realize they were being racially targeted (and they didn't even consider that it might be due to their queerness, either. This book also had the same unclear framing as SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY where fear of homophobic repercussions is held over a character to drive the plot but also no one seems to care? At least not in the white part of town, because for some reason only the poor Black people were homophobic? Pretty sure even given the rigid directions they were following, some of those rich white conservatives would have let that slip through). And I didn't believe that after everything they went through and everything they learned, they would even attempt to trust a white journalist at the end. I dunno, maybe all this is just because I'm an adult reading YA. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Violence

readandfindout's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Outing, Car accident, Bullying, Stalking, Death, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Biphobia, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Suicide attempt, Police brutality, and Slavery

ariam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

 

This book just kept getting more complicated and darker. I really got whiplash as everything was happening. I like don't know how the second half could be so tumultuous, but it worked to reveal all the hints throughout the first half.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Racism, Death of parent, and Hate crime

Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Slavery

giannaroberts's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Car accident, Blood, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, and Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Gun violence, Slavery, and Grief

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

Edited after reread:
One of the best thriller novels I have ever read. I would recommend to anyone (after checking the trigger warnings-since themes are extremely dark/graphic). With the rise in popularity of dark academia novels, this book is beyond important in highlighting the discrimination in higher institutes of learning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, Outing, Racism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Death of parent, Slavery, Death, Homophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Classism, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

li_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Slavery, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

moonlitreading_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Minor: Suicide attempt

loony_lucy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This book is impeccable. I don’t think I have anything constructive or negative to say. The twists and turns were amazing and highly shocking. Chiamaka and Devon as main Characters was brilliant! 

The epilogue tho… 🤭

TW: Racism, Homophobia, White Supremacy, Suicide, Prison and death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

sydelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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

ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. there was no dull moment in this book and i swear to everything i possess this was a book that is the closest thing to perfection. this kept me on the edge of my seat and i kid you not my jaw dropped about 20 times while reading this. heavily covers racism, homophobia, classism, and other social issues, and the writing was extremely good. minor spoiler:

i would want to point out how great the foreshadowing is on the littlest things (unless i'm just overanalyzing everything)

but honestly, i would do ANYTHING just to read this book for the first time again. literally 10/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Misogyny