Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

40 reviews

thecriticalreader's review

dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

Review:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé has been widely praised ever since it came out, so I had high expectations going into it. Although it looks like a rather thick book, the text is not very dense, and it is immensely readable; I read the entire thing in an afternoon. Àbíké-Íyímídé has a talent for sweeping the reader into her story and keeping them hooked. 

 

According to the author’s note, Àbíké-Íyímídé wrote Ace of Spades as a way to capture the alienating, terrifying, and disempowering feelings brought about by living in a society constructed around institutional racism, and in that respect the book succeeds spectacularly. The targeted attacks by Aces are creepy enough on their own, and even more horrifying when their motivation is racism rather than the typical motivations for thriller villains. I appreciate how the story showcases how the feeling that “you can’t trust anyone” takes on another dimension when it comes to living in a white supremacist society as a Black person. 

 

As much as I found to like about Ace of Spades, the book failed to avoid some of the trappings I associate with young adult literature. The two main characters are interesting (I found Devon to be more well-developed in his backstory than Chiamaka) but lack a certain amount of depth. The plot is predictable if you’ve been exposed to a good amount of books and movies, and the logistical requirements of the twist require a hefty amount of suspended disbelief. Additionally, I found the conclusion to be rather rushed and underwhelming; it fails to give the main characters agency in their ending, and then tries to make up for this with an epilogue. 

 

I think that Ace of Spades is terrific for a YA novel (and a debut, which the author started when she was eighteen!). It has undeniable storytelling and thematic strengths but can never quite transcend the limits of the YA genre.  

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Ace of Spades if . . .

·      You like YA thrillers 

·      You like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, but wish they had more diverse representation

 

You might not like Ace of Spades if . . . 

·      You dislike YA books

·      You want to read an original plot 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Stalking, Classism, Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infidelity and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

kathleenes'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Self harm, Bullying, Classism, Homophobia, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Outing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, and Car accident

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

maverique's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Car accident, Death of parent, Trafficking, Racism, Violence, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Slavery, Abandonment, and 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

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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

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

colorful_lulu's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Outing, Abandonment, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide attempt

jasminealizae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

1.0

Poorly written. A lot of loose ends. Conflict/whole plot of the story resolved in one chapter. A waste of time. The author completely dropped the ball in their approach in attempting to tackle racism, classism and eugenics. Made Chiamaka conveniently bisexual when it suited the storyline then nothing came of it.

Jamie clearly started the fire. Devon ended up with Terrell? What happened to Andre? What was the point of Devon’s father being on death row? What happened to Devon’s brothers? Chiamaka was just okay with her white father being racist? The whole family dynamic between all of the characters was unrealistic. How did Belle’s sister come back from the dead? What even happened with Belle? What happened with Jack?

More importantly what happened to the time that I’ll never get back from reading this “book”?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Car accident, Grief, Abandonment, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

amorales107's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Homophobia, and Addiction

Moderate: Abandonment