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sallysimply 's review for:
Ace of Spades
by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
I loved so much about this book! The writing is super impressive - especially for a debut, especially written by a college student - the characters are great, I loved how the relationship between Chiamaka and Devon developed, I trusted no one and was uncomfortable and anxious the entire time. People (mostly white people) will say that this was not a thriller, and that's fine, whatever, I obviously disagree. As a thriller, this totally worked for me! Even something as simple as the scene when they're pulled over had me on edge. Also, a couple of the reveals were legit heartbreaking. The music teacher?! Gutted me. Devon's dad being dead?! I almost cried.
My main issue with this book is that I could not figure out why this society exists or why they work the way they do. And I mean specifically in the way they exist in this story. There’s purpose behind ritual, and things were presented as ritual, which prompted me to ask more questions.
I can see that the real thing they're doing here is grooming white kids to be more racist, and I fully buy that this approach would work in doing that. But why specifically two Black students every however many years (10?), where all they do is bully them until they drop out (or I guess kill them if they don't? I'm still unclear on that)? Why not three students at a time? Why not every 5 or 8 years? Why not kill them? Why not do something else? How do they even choose these kids? Is it just any two random Black kids who happen to apply that year? I felt like I needed more context and information to understand why they're doing what they're doing in the way they're doing it. OR for those details and that sense of ritual to not have been highlighted so much if the specifics didn’t matter.
I will admit that this might have stood out to me simply because I had just finished White Smoke, and in that, I knew exactly why all of this was happening and that was what really impacted me on a deeper level than just as a horror/thriller. Even with unanswered questions in White Smoke, I understood what the white people were doing and why they were doing it in all these different ways. On both a macro and micro level, I got it. And Get Out is similar, in that the how and the way is clear. Ace of Spades was not as clear to me, and so it wasn't as impactful in that sense.
All of that said, I really did enjoy this! I will definitely pick up anything else this author writes.
My main issue with this book is that I could not figure out why this society exists or why they work the way they do. And I mean specifically in the way they exist in this story. There’s purpose behind ritual, and things were presented as ritual, which prompted me to ask more questions.
I can see that the real thing they're doing here is grooming white kids to be more racist, and I fully buy that this approach would work in doing that. But why specifically two Black students every however many years (10?), where all they do is bully them until they drop out (or I guess kill them if they don't? I'm still unclear on that)? Why not three students at a time? Why not every 5 or 8 years? Why not kill them? Why not do something else? How do they even choose these kids? Is it just any two random Black kids who happen to apply that year? I felt like I needed more context and information to understand why they're doing what they're doing in the way they're doing it. OR for those details and that sense of ritual to not have been highlighted so much if the specifics didn’t matter.
I will admit that this might have stood out to me simply because I had just finished White Smoke, and in that, I knew exactly why all of this was happening and that was what really impacted me on a deeper level than just as a horror/thriller. Even with unanswered questions in White Smoke, I understood what the white people were doing and why they were doing it in all these different ways. On both a macro and micro level, I got it. And Get Out is similar, in that the how and the way is clear. Ace of Spades was not as clear to me, and so it wasn't as impactful in that sense.
All of that said, I really did enjoy this! I will definitely pick up anything else this author writes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Outing
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent