A review by taigemin
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this is the most insane book i've ever read but so good i thought it was moving kind of slow in the beginning, like just a regular YA feeling of like making and losing friends and partners and stuff, getting to know the characters, navigating high school, but then the thriller kicked in and i finished the book in like an hour bc of how crazy it got. every twist was like god i didn't expect that but i should've because it's obvious because structural oppression and insane literally sick white people.

it was hard to read the two black kids just "taking l after l in every chapter" like i heard in a tiktok review, but it exposed lots of issues that black people face--especially women, queer, and poor black people--just all squished into like a month of their lives. the absolute trauma that these characters and their communities experienced was very difficult to read about, and it is debatable if all of that was necessary, but I think it actually was, and that it gave like a worst case scenario that is really not that shocking for american racism.

I have questions about 
Andre. His story was one that has happened to many Black men victimized by the prison industrial complex, specifically queer black men. And he didn't get a "happy ending. But still, I wish there could've been closure or something, even though that would've detracted from the like 'this is how it is' feeling. Same with Devon's father. Looooved Chiamaka killing Ward though, that was awesome. And Jamie and all of them dying. I wish they all did. I had been thinking like the only way to get back at all of these monsters is for them to die and to crush the systems and everything and I guess 3 of them did, but I definitely wanted more. Jamie really satisfying though. Maybe throw in Ruby and Jack next time or something.
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