Review of Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (earc)

 

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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 year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.

Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.

As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly 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 commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. 

Hardcover, 432 pages

Expected publication: June 1st 2021 by Feiwel Friends

 

 

 

 

Wow! This book! I honestly can’t believe it’s a debut and it will be on my top ten for the year.

I’m not even sure what to say about this. It’s a hard book to read and also hard to put down. There were definitely moments were I gasped out loud. The writing is excellent and the pacing is perfect. It’s just so good.

Chiamaka and Devon are the only two black students at their private school. We get perspectives from both of them. They are very different. Chiamaka is rich and fairly popular. She’s worked hard to get to the top and wants to go to med school. She has a best friend that she wants to date and it’s their senior year. Everything is almost perfect except for something from her recent past. Devon is poor and on scholarship. His mom works multiple jobs to help pay for his school and they struggle with bills. Devon keeps mostly to himself and writes music. He lives in a part of town that Chiamaka never goes to. Things start well for their final year of school, but then Aces happens. Aces is anonymous and sends texts to all the kids in school. At first, they’re private things, but not as harmful as the things that happen later on. Things start to get really scary when Aces starts following them. Everything private is texted to the school. As things escalate, Chiamaka and Devon decide that they need to figure out who Aces is and expose them. They don’t want to believe they’re being targeted for being black, but they can’t figure out any other reason. Things get way worse when they finally start figuring things out and they don’t know what to do.

My review is pretty vague, but there is so much that happens and I don’t want to ruin things. This book covers some heavy topics, so please be warned. But I highly recommend it to everyone, not just readers who enjoy thrillers.

I gave this book 5 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for my review copy.

Warnings for racism, poverty, drugs, parental abandonment, abuse, talk of suicide, outing someone, sharing sexual things, jail, fire, death, talk of drowning, drinking, and a car accident.

 

 

Have you read this?  Is it on your TBR?