Ace of Spades by Published by
Source: Purchased
Genres: Contemporary, Diversity, Own Voices, Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult
Book Depository | Angus & Robertson | Booktopia
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Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully.
When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school ’ s senior class prefects, it looks like their class is off to an amazing get down. After all, not alone does it look bang-up on college applications, but it formally puts each of them in the function for valedictorian, besides.
curtly after the announcement is made, though, person who goes by Aces begins using anonymous textbook messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside polish and threaten every aspect of their cautiously planned futures.
As Aces shows no signal of stopping, what seemed like a pale prank cursorily turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly ?
With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social comment comes a high-octane thriller from introduction generator Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé .
by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Feiwel & Friends on 1 June 2021 What a brainy and compel book ! Ace of Spades surely delivers on the Get Out and Gossip Girl comparisons, while delivering shocking twists at the end.
This is one of those books that I couldn ’ thymine put down, wanting to know what the solution to the mystery was, and when all the answers were shown, I was equitable left there in electric shock and awe .
So what made Ace of Spades so compelling?
Ace of Spades follows two private high gear educate students who couldn ’ metric ton be more different – Chiamaka, the rich, popular daughter at the top of the social hierarchy, and Devon, a musician and eruditeness scholar who has been fairly under the radar at his school. The only thing that they have in common, other than being students at Niveus Private Academy, is that they ’ re both Black American teens ( with Chiamaka being Nigerian-Italian ) .
They ’ re targeted by an anonymous browbeat at school, who increasingly reveals their secrets via text message to the scholar body of the Academy. What do these two apparently normal high school students have to hide ? It turns out there ’ s a distribute more than meets the eye, and person is determined to ruin their lives. The depths that this strong-arm will go in ruining their lives is completely shock, and seeing them ostracized by their classmates and friends was besides devastating .
Without saying excessively much, it turns out that things aren ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate american samoa simple as they seem on the surface – and the progressive uncover through shocking twists and turns was decidedly an eye-opening ride .
Exploring privilege in a private school setting
Ace of Spades masterfully navigates themes of blustery, racism, classism and colourism in an american secret school setting. This book explores privilege at it ’ s purest – whether it ’ s the coloring material of your skin or the family and social structures you are born into. Both students have had to navigate challenges based on their identity, fair to be considered on the lapp flat playing discipline as their classmates, so that they can get into the choose colleges and pursue the future that they have been fighting for. This is something that Ace of Spades portrays expertly, and it decidedly gives you some food for opinion.
Both characters are also queer
Both Chiamaka and Devon are at different stages of their curious identity – Devon international relations and security network ’ thymine wholly out so far, but he has known he is cheery from center school, and has dated a few different partners. Chiamaka starts the book off heavily crushing on her male best ally, but soon discovers that she may be harbouring feelings for another female child. This becomes another thing that is used against them, and it is terrifying and heartbreaking .
I can ’ thyroxine believe Ace of Spades is a debut fresh – it is such a compel, intelligent and meaningful learn that tackles subspecies, classify and privilege. This is one of my favorite reads of 2021, and I decidedly recommend it to everyone who loves addictive YA thrillers, or just big reads in general .
Rating: 5 out of 5
Trigger warnings : homophobia, racism, intimate abuse ( past ), drug use and traffic, suicide
