Review by fionamclary - Ace of Spades

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fionamclary 's review for:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I cannot lie, this book held my attention like you wouldn't believe, especially around 1/3 of the way through onwards. The repeated escalation of tension kept me reading at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, the plot really went off the rails and became very unrealistic. I have so many questions, but I won't detail them here as most of them are huge spoilers. It felt like a story that could not ever logistically happen, running counter to the author's intentions. Another big thing that was detrimental to the author's attempt to make this feel like a story that could happen anywhere was the absolutely horrible choice to not set the book in a concrete location. It came across like the author wanted to set a book in the US, but doesn't have enough knowledge of the place or the people to pull that off believably. Instead our setting was a weird US-UK hybrid that felt completely artificial. The town is not fleshed out at all, all we know is that it has a Poor Side and a Rich Side and that it's coastal. And somehow seems to be exclusively populated by white people and Black people. No other races in sight. Very bizarre and unlikely for a US town.

Overall, I had fun reading this book, even though I had...many questions. Good for an enjoyable YA thriller moment, not so good for thinking hard about what you're reading.

Content Warnings