Reviews with content warning for Acephobia/Arophobia - Aces Wild: A Heist

Trigger warnings for Aces Wild: A Heist include parental emotional neglect, and mild aphobia.
☆
☆
Having a fully asexual cast is a very interesting and unusual experience to find in any book, but I enjoyed the excess of ace representation.
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Initially the drawing factor was the asexual representation. But the thing that hooked me (alongside the other thing) was the heist element, which surprised me a bit. I got invested in the feud between the Shannon family and the Carlevaro family. I also stayed for the found family element, because that always makes me feel happy inside.
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I love that this book made the distinction that even if someone identifies as asexual, romantic feelings are still possible. I also liked that there was AroAce representation alongside the Asexual rep, and that it showed a few different experiences of it between characters.
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The characters were amazing and the plot kept me wanting more and I'm so glad I picked it up.

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oddduck's review

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funny fast-paced

4.5

This book was literally tailor made for me. A HEIST pulled off by a friend group of aces? How have I been living without this book??

While I did end up adoring this book, I do have some thoughts on it. But first, let's look at what I loved.

I'm a big character person, and I loved these characters. The Shannon family is such a mess, but they still care about each other. Jack's friends strike a nice balance between "Are we sure this is a good idea?" and ride-or-die. And they're all so distinct from each other! It was a delight to meet them all and watch Jack bond with all of them. I especially love Lucky, but I've got a major soft spot for small, cute characters who will not hesitate to rip a grown man to shreds (literally or metaphorically). Beth and Kerry were also super interesting to me. Seeing how their personalities struggled to mesh for so long felt very realistic, as did Jack's realizations about why Beth and Kerry are who they are. When he finally got there and was willing to make an effort with them was a great moment.

The villain was pretty solid. I won't say that he's interesting, because I don't think he is, but I do think he's realistic, and in this book I'd actually say that's more important. He's very wealth and power driven, which makes sense for his goal, and is one of the things that make the twist at the end work. Not really much else to say about him, other than it was satisfying when he lost.

Speaking of the twist, I liked that quite a bit. I was expecting a different twist from very early on, but once the clues for the actual twist started to add up, I figured them out pretty quick. I think it worked well and definitely made sense with Carlevaro's motives, though I am still a bit disappointed that what I thought was coming did not end up being the plot (but more on that shortly).

Now obviously we've got to talk ace rep. As an ace starved for some good fictional representation, I'll freely admit that this was 50% of the sell for me (the other 50% was, naturally, the heist aspect). I was promised not just a main character who's ace, but a whole team of ace characters, and boy howdy did this book deliver. And it was good!! They weren't all the same and they interacted with their ace identity differently! We got conversations on what having a romantic relationship can mean/look like as an ace person. We got "hey they're cute - wait what?". We got "Hard pass, get that away from me please and thank you". We got "I'm out and proud" and "I don't really feel the need/want to tell people that I'm ace" and had those coexist without pressure or judgement! And!!! Jack describes learning about asexuality as feeling like a missing piece has clicked into place. Yes!!! That was the feeling!!! It was the "Oh, that's a thing?" moment! I nearly cried when I read that. Absolutely incredible.

Related, there's another scene that I really liked that centers on asexuality that I want to discuss. Summary behind the spoiler bar.

After finding out how old Lucky is, Gabe asks how she can be sure. How maybe she'll change her mind when she gets older. He gets called on this immediately by the rest of their friends, and he apologizes to Lucky.

This scene is so interesting to me for several reasons. First, because it shows how acephobia is so ingrained in our culture and how internalized these beliefs are for so many, without them ever realizing it. Second, because this is a conversation I see every once in a while in online spaces. In the part of the community I hang out in, the overwhelming attitude when faced with this is "So what?" So what if someone ID'd as ace before realizing there was another label that they like better? So what if they did get older and realized they aren't actually ace? At least they had something that felt right, for however long they needed it. They had access to a community that could support them. I personally find that attitude to be much more useful than any kind of gatekeeping nonsense. It was nice to see that reflected in this book. Third, it was nice to see that even though they're friends who have just met in person for the first time, they're still willing to call each other out when they say stupid shit. This was the scene that made me say, "Oh, this book is about being ace." And I loved that.

The heist aspect was fun, but, as is usually the case for non-Leverage media, not particularly elaborate. I liked the way blackjack was a recurring topic, especially for a character named Jack, and

when Kerry showed up to distract Carlevaro with Texas Hold 'em

I was so excited. Jack also really feels like he's grown up in this world, which is very important for me in terms of believability. In YA media, there's usually the question of "How did a bunch of kids pull this off?" which is fair, and I kind of like that the answer in this book is mostly "They didn't".

Like, Carlevaro knew from the beginning what Jack was doing and what his goal was. He wanted Jack to do this. So at any point where we think the team should have been caught, or that it was too easy for them, and we wonder why things still turned out okay-ish, the answer is that Carlevaro wants Jack to come after him, so he's probably doing something behind the scenes to make that happen. We even see it overtly, when he sends Morgan to steal the chips. And this is what makes Carlevaro's arrest so satisfying. Because when Jack wins, he does it by actually out playing Carlevaro, and he does it in kind of a dumb way, which is totally believable for a teenager.

Now let's talk about the two things I wish would have been done just a little differently.

First, while I liked that Kerry is hard of hearing, I wish we would have known this sooner. I love that Kerry's not The Deaf Character, but the way we find out that she uses a hearing aid makes it feel like this was a decision that was made late in the game, and thus only for the specific reason of making people view Kerry differently/seriously underestimate her. Even just mentioning it when we first meet her - maybe she needs to replace her hearing aid soon and is wondering how she's going to pay for it or is just generally worried about access to healthcare, alongside her college tuition - would have eliminated this. I love how casual it is, and I do like the idea that Kerry knows people underestimate her capabilities because she's disabled and uses that to her advantage, I just don't like how it feels like this was solely done to make the Plan work. Like, it's already established that Carlevaro is sexist. The Plan totally could have hinged on that and it still would have worked with Kerry.

Second, while I did end up liking the twist, it was not what I thought was coming. On the one hand, this is good. It's a subversion of expectations, which are usually interesting. On the other hand, I feel a little dissatisfied. My prediction, from very early on, was that Carlevaro was not going to be the one who sent Jack's mom to prison. There was going to be someone else pulling the strings, and perhaps even controlling Carlevaro, or maybe they were working together. Either way, oftentimes, when a character becomes so hyper-focused on an idea, they fall into a pit of confirmation bias, and then are totally blindsided when their idea is wrong. Looking back at the clues though, we see how they were actually building to something else. I love this structure, so seeing Jack immediately pick out Carlevaro as the culprit made me think that this was the road we were heading down. And again, I'm not disappointed with the real twist. I just did not have my expectations met on this specific thing and I'm still trying to adjust from that. This might be rectified with a reread, but for now, I'm just a little dissatisfied, which is mostly on me.

Overall, I loved this book. I was eagerly anticipating its release, and was so utterly thrilled to find it while browsing the "new" shelf at my local library. And I really wasn't disappointed. This was such a fun read and a fantastic way to start off the year.

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chris_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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

3.75

I never thought I'd see the day where we get media with not just an ace character, but the lead, AND multiple side characters. I loved the characters within the friend group, and the family dynamics stuck out as well. The main positive was the distinctive and humorous narrative voice. My one complaint is that the pacing could be better.

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stuckinatimeloop's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A lovely book, but I feel like a few things were missing at the end.

Morgan being Jack's sister wasn't revealed to Kerry, and that is something I'd like to see. Also Kerry once asked about the name Aces Wild and I think they should have talked about it a bit. Remy and Jack's relationship wasn't explored after the kiss. We don't know if they're together, long distance or something else. Otherwise it was great, the characters were all lovable and cool.

Where's my ace friend group who'll go on a heist with me?

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looseleafellie's review

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When Jack Shannon’s casino-owner mom gets put in prison, Jack vows vengeance on Peter Carlevaro, the rival casino owner who ratted her out. Helped by the friends he met on an online asexual support group, Jack must find Carlevaro’s secrets and take him down.

This book was pitched as “modern asexual Kaz Brekker runs a Las Vegas heist,” and that’s a tough comp to live up to. It’s arguable whether the book actually contains a heist, but there was some fun espionage and gambling shenanigans. It annoyed me that much of the plot was made possible by one character being almost magically good at hacking, but that didn’t ruin the story for me.

Aces Wild has a focus on family and friendship, which was lovely to see! Jack and his friends disagree and make mistakes, but care deeply for each other. Jack also gains a newfound love for his complicated family. And there’s a cute subplot of Jack having a crush on his friend Remy, and having to navigate what that means as an asexual person.

I think it does Jack a disservice to describe him as Kaz Brekker — he has a very different past to Kaz, and more of a moral compass and empathy. I liked his arc, though. If you want to see an analytical, introverted kid struggling with his emotions realistically, this book is great! If you want a ruthless criminal who cares only about profit and one (1) stabby Wraith, that’s not what you’ll get here.

If a YA Ocean’s Eleven with an all-asexual heist crew sounds cool to you, you might want to check out Aces Wild!

In closing, a quote I loved: “Sexuality can be fluid, or at the very least a journey, not to mention personal. If someone said they were ace or gay or whatever, you believed them. Assuming that you were straight until you ‘know for sure’ only implied that it was better to be straight until you had no other choice.”

Thanks to Peachtree Teen for the e-ARC!

CWs: Abandonment, blood, acephobia mention.

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bookishflower's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.0

- Aroace, ace, demiromantic, and non-binary rep

- Unreliable narrator

- Chaotic schemes

- Coming of age

Thank you Peachtree Teen, and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

‘Jack Shannon runs an underground blackjack club at his private school, but when his casino mogul mother is arrested, he knows exactly who’s to blame: rival casino owner, Peter Carlevaro. Determined to get his own back, Jack and his online best friends also known as the asexual support group are plotting the revenge of a lifetime. Who needs luck when you have five aces up your sleeve?’

Imagine Kaz Brekker had a modern, snarky, ace and chaotic son and you’ve got Jack Shannon. This was a wild ride and had good ace representation, but I feel like this wasn’t technically a heist book and upon reflection, wasn’t as good as I initially thought.

The found family, ace representation, and storytelling was fun but this unfortunately had a passing joke about police brutality that felt wrong to me, and a deaf reviewer has pointed out that one of the characters is deaf, but their hearing aid is used by a hearing person as a plot device. (However, as a disclaimer, always look at what BIPOC and deaf reviewers are saying as I am white and not hard of hearing).

This was unfortunately disappointing as I was very excited about the all ace cast :(

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