A review by nobeliumreads
Aces Wild: A Heist by Amanda DeWitt

adventurous funny medium-paced

4.0

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

When Jack Shannon’s mum gets sent to jail, he knows the one to blame is Peter Carlevaro; crime boss and rival casino owner on the Las Vegas Strip. Determined to take him down, he recruits his best friends, a group he met on an online asexual support forum, on a heist. Together, this group of asexuals work on finding the key to sending Carlevaro to jail too.

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A book I’ve been dying to read since I first heard about it and one I found myself enjoying.

The writing is relatively good, and there were a lot of funny moments that I laughed at, especially between or about Jack and his friends, and Jack’s narration is quite amusing. I loved their friend group and their dynamic, and though I would have loved more about each friend individually, I thought they were pretty fun! There were lots of moments between them that I thoroughly enjoyed, like Gabe and Jack’s ‘guy talk’, and I really liked how Jack made an effort to get closer with Georgia when he felt he wasn’t as close to her as the others. The plot is fairly simple and though the plans did seem slightly juvenile (especially when you consider they’re going up against a crime boss), I didn’t mind it too much. Jack’s crush on one of his friends was also adorable to read. 

I did have some issues with the book. One, I personally wish that we’d seen the discussion between Gabe and Lucky about what he said to her, which was disappointing, rather than just being told they were all fine and had resolved it later on. And, I do think there wasn’t as much heisting as I would have liked; it’s not as tense or suspenseful as I would have expected from a book about a heist and it felt as though a lot of the actual important action was done off-page and just mentioned later. As I said earlier, considering they were going up against a crime boss, you would expect a more complex plan than what was presented. 

Despite those issues though, I did enjoy the book a lot! I will admit it’s particularly because it’s about a group of a-spec friends heisting together and until I have that myself, I will live vicariously through this book. However, I do think it’s still a fun and amusing read with great asexual reputation as long as you temper your expectations about the actual heisting!
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