Take a photo of a barcode or cover
abbie_ 's review for:
Ace of Spades
by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Thrillers and young adult novels aren’t something I venture into all too often, so a YA thriller is deffo out of my comfort zone - but if it’s queer, then my interest is piqued. This was a fast paced, twisty ride for sure. It’s 450 pages but I sped through 75-100 pages in each sitting, it was easy to devour. The actual mystery of Aces themself was gripping, and the reveal was satisfactorily horrifying. But the plot propels this book forward to the slight detriment of the two MCs Devon and Chiamaka. I didn’t feel like we really knew them at any more than surface level. I also found the writing quite stilted at times.
Bit of a mixed bag, but overall an engaging, pacey thriller centred around institutionalised racism in an elite academic setting.