Reviews - Ace of Spades | The StoryGraph

16.8k reviews for:

Ace of Spades

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

4.23 AVERAGE

brittneymedbery's review against another edition

5.0

I cannot say enough about this book! Keeps you guessing, makes you think. Can't go into much more details or I will really spoil it! Just read it!

frisoberenpas's review against another edition

2.0

Really did not like this book. The concept is good but the execution is just… not.

dwilson87's review against another edition

5.0

Loved this book from start to finish. The story was like if you mixed Get Out, Gossip Girls, and Pretty Little Liars. The way the author used social eugenics and racism to tell this story was brilliant. Also liked the fact that she didn’t never name the state or city that the story was taking place in, which made it very relatable. I enjoyed how she told the story through the eyes of the two main characters, and was able to keep my attention with the minor characters in their lives. Definitely would say this is one of the best books I read this year.

fifi9527's review against another edition

5.0

Ace of Spades is nothing short of incredible and will be one my favourite books that I read this year. The book begins with a few perfectly tame first chapters. Devon and Chiamaka are on opposites sites of the popularity hierarchy. Whilst Devon’s desire is to just stay low-key and get into a university that offers a music scholarship, Chiamaka is unapologetic in what she wants and to stay in power. But when Aces enters the picture sending anonymous text messages that contain secrets Devon and Chiamaka are desperate to keep hidden. Ace of Spades is immediately compelling and just when you think things could not get worse, they absolutely do.

Ace of Spades revels in the strength of its two protagonists. Devon is relatable and accessible. He had touches of humour to his narrative as well, while showing the human messiness in his relationship. Chiamaka takes time to warm too, but I loved her insights into how high school works, like how she compares the high school hierarchy to a kingdom, where it’s a ruthless competition to obtain and maintain popularity and status. Overall, I enjoy both main characters and the having them be so different made their interactions more compelling. They were complex, fractured people stuck in an awful, dehumanising and deadly situation. The cloying, claustrophobic and deeply unsettling environment of school is well created straight away, putting you on edge and that tension is expertly maintained throughout the book.

This book wastes no time getting into the very heart of the mystery. It starts early on, and it hocks you in straight away. Faridah weaves in conversations about white privilege and the privilege of coming from wealth. How it has been insulated in Chiamaka to conform with white arbitrary standards of beauty, so she can fit into white spaces. This story explores how racism is systemic, racism isn’t merely people saying anti-Black slurs. Racism at its most cruel is when it’s pervasive and structural. This is shown with Devon’s character development, a black kid from, a poor neighbourhood, who and must grapple with his classmates’ racism and classism, making it harder for black students to succeed.

The social and political commentary was so well-executed and really drove home the horrors within this system. Yet as I was reading, I knew that this is the reality for so many people and young people. I can only describe this book as being brilliant, it features such amazing, jaw-dropping twists that genuinely catch you by surprise. The tone, pacing and plotting is all spot on, and when I finished this book, I wanted to go back to the very first page and read it cover to cover again, I am in awe of Ace of Spades, and it is one of the most phenomenal debuts that I have ever read.