Holy guacamole, this book. I read it in three sittings, thought about it endlessly at work, desperate to get back to it to get lost in the web of Abike-Iyimide's world. I am messed up, just like I get after reading a Tiffany D. Jackson novel. Except instead of questioning the trustworthiness of the narrator I was questioning the trustworthiness of the society the main characters are in. And that is even more terrifying. The most unnerving was how so much of this book I could see happening in real life, the strategic, terrorizing, racist abuse didn't feel fictional. I also absolutely loved the multi-chapter epilogue to let me properly settle into the ending as so many epilogues feel rushed with too much smushed in. Her timing is impeccable, the characters are complex and alive. Thanks to NetGalley and Usborne for an early copy!

Niveus Academy is an exclusive school for the rich and powerful. Chiamaka has made it to senior year at the top of her class with a perfect record and is hopefully headed to Yale for med school. Devon is there on scholarship as be battles to get out of his neighed through his musical talent qnd the connections at Niveus. Senior year it all goes wrong though as a mysterious Aces seems to be targeting Chiamaka and Devon and is hellbent on exposing their secrets. This book is like a YA version of the movie Get Out and it is fantastic! I don’t want to say more and give too much away but it is a powerful and important read and one that will have you mistrusting everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for letting me read an Advanced Readers Copy of this book!

Ace of Spades is the debut novel from Faridah Abike-Iyimide. The tagline reads that it's Gossip Girl meets Get Out and that's a pretty accurate description. Devon, a quiet music student, and Chiamaka, the overachieving Head Prefect, are the only 2 black high school students at the prestigious Niveus Private Academy. Starting their senior year, a mysterious anonymous texter, Aces, is targeting them with secrets they would prefer to keep hidden. Things start to escalate and fall apart, and it's a race for them to discover who is behind it all.

I enjoyed the characterization of the main characters, especially Devon, who is a quiet and introspective guy who is trying to figure out what it means to be Black and gay in today's society. He's on scholarship to the school and is highly aware of just how different he is from everyone else at the school.

This book was well written, and the plot zips along - although I kind of guessed what was going to happen, it was still entertaining to see it unfolding. This was quite the ride and I'm happy I got a chance to read it!

I was really excited to read this book and I liked a lot of things about it. The concept was great and I was compelled to keep reading to find out who Aces was. Unfortunately there were several things that I thought didn't work that were distracting and took away from my enjoyment of the story.

One big problem is the setting. I felt like the one throwaway line about how the school is "like a cross between America and England" didn't do enough to fix the author's seeming lack of familiarity with the way American teens speak (aside from things like "registration" instead of homeroom and prefects not existing in American schools, an American would say "it's supposed to be you," not "it's meant to be you" and we only know "CCTV" from watching BBC police procedurals, there are a ton of little things like that) or to make up for the fact that even the fanciest private schools in America do not have multiple libraries or mandatory balls in dedicated ballrooms that are only unlocked once a year. I'm not sure why the book isn't just set in England, or why those small issues weren't corrected in the editing process. I think it would have also helped to have a more distinct sense of an actual city or region where the school is. And there is just NO WAY that two Black American teenagers who are the only two Black students in the whole school and who have no other connection would be targeted in this way and not instantly see that racism is at the root of it. That was a suspension of disbelief that I couldn't quite pull off.

I also felt confused about Chiamaka and Devon's family relationships. I'm sure there's an explanation for why Chi has an Italian father and her parents are married but she only has her mother's Nigerian last name, but none is ever given. It also wasn't believable to me that her dad's family is racist toward her and her mother but it's just never discussed, or that Chi and her mom have never talked about her mother's family or how they felt about her parents' marriage. It also felt like a huge stretch to believe that Devon's dad went to prison and was executed within what seemed like weeks when most inmates sit on death row for decades before being executed, or that Devon just wouldn't have had any idea what his dad allegedly did or that he was executed for it almost immediately. Both characters' relationships with their parents just felt like a big plot hole to me when they could have been such an opportunity to deepen the character development and story.

In terms of character development, I expected Chiamaka to have more of a redemption arc. She's just such a shallow, misguided person and she never really comes to the realization that she needs to change her entire worldview and way of dealing with other people. While I did like that she is tough and knows what she wants in life, I felt like that could have still been the case without her ending the book still seeing every interaction with another person as purely transactional. I was glad she didn't forgive Belle, but I wish Belle's hinted at remorse would have been better used to show that her wrong actions were what mattered. Devon is an absolute sweetheart, but his memory gaps started to feel like an excuse for not filling in more of his somewhat hazy story. Oh and their use of social media: the idea that he would tweet about the school and then not look at twitter again for more than 24 hours made no sense. (Also American teens abandoned Facebook years ago, so Chi seeing Belle's post there felt off.) And why do they type their initials at the end of every text message? The formatting of those text exchanges may have just been off in the digital galley so maybe that was for the sake of clarity in this early version.

It was disappointing that not one single person in the entire school or town could be trusted to be anything less that pure evil, and the villains ended up feeling cartoonish for lack of contrast. The fire and explosions remaining unexplained at the end felt like a huge loose end that could have served the story a lot better with an explanation. The sudden change of headmasters is also never explained but should have been.

Chiamaka and Devon must face an anonymous entity revealing damaging secrets about them. This is a dark tale that gives little hope.

Ace of Spades is an expertly-paced contemporary thriller/mystery that its target audience will devour. There is also strong nostalgia to dark academia classics such as Cruel Intentions and the Heathers that will make this book appealing to readers who grew up during the release of that media.

The novel's dual POV is perfect in the sense that its characters have a balance of a separate life but also an interconnected plot and enough interaction with one another that you don't feel as if you are reading two different novels. Aces is also a truly terrifying bigger than life force as PoC readers know all too well about the deep, extensive reach of systemic racism and the teaching of racism by dominant groups.

My only reason for not giving it five stars is that at times Chiamaka's physical description was a bit inconsistent. For example, she's described as having loose curly, brown hair, and then in another chapter, she talks about her kinks as if she has coarse-textured hair? I believe her appearance was supposed to serve as a commentary on whiteness in beauty standards, but it fell a little flat for me as I couldn't get a good picture as to how she really looked,

There were many excellent aspects to this book - strong characters, an intense and thrilling plot, and strong writing. I will say many of the plot twists were quite obvious from as early as the first third of the book, which made this more of a “how did this happen” narrative rather than “what will happen.”

However, overall it was so disturbing for so much of the book, with very little redemption at the end, that I found it a very difficult read. Potential spoilers to follow. Aside from younger siblings, every single person the two main characters know betray them to some degree - parents, friends, teachers, love interests, etc. because of this, it was emotionally brutal. While I often enjoy novels that tackle dark and painful issues, I was not prepared for it based on the comparisons to books like Gossip Girl, and the way it is marketed in a sensationalized manner that let me to think this was entertainment. I think a content warning would be appropriate, specifically for the cult dynamics, allusions to rape, and chronic abuse.

Because of this experience, I am not publishing this review on social sites, as my perspective may be biased.

WOW!! The bar for YA thrillers just rose y'all.

This is a killer thriller and had everything I wanted - intrigue, drama, action, you name it! And with a blurb that summarizes it as Gossip Girl meets Get Out? You know I was into it. And even better, this book lives up to that blurb. This is a racially motivated thriller that touches on systemic racism, elitist institutions and gatekeeping, and homophobia within the Black community. I will continue to sing this book's praises because just... WOW!!

This book was incredibly, incredibly well done. Chiamaka and Devon were so well written, flawed and compelling. The vibes from Gossip Girl and Get Out were definitely there but this story was all it’s own. With twists and turns only black teenagers in America could understand. Ace of Spades is thrilling, emotional, powerful and more queer than I even hoped! I usually don’t love thrillers but I loved this one! A definite must read!

First, I would like to say that this book is BEYOND amazing. We follow Chiamaka, Niveus Private Academy’s it girl. She is the top of her class and is fawned on by all her classmates, but she has had to work hard to get to where she is and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. We also follow Devon, a quiet student who has always stayed out of the spotlight at Niveus, until now. This book is absolutely Gossip Girl meets Get Out. Chiamaka and Devon are the only two black students who go to Niveus Academy and at the start of their senior year someone called Aces starts sending extremely personal and damaging messages to the whole student body about the two of them. There is not much more that I can say without spoiling the story and trust me, you DO NOT want to be spoiled for any of this book.

I thought that this book was outstanding. The story, the characters, the plot, and the LIES were so gripping and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I read this (which took me less than 48 hours might I add. I could not get enough of this book!!).

I think what really needs to be discussed with this book is the racism, as it is the whole point of this story. I think many will go into this book thinking, “oh this would never happen in real life,” but I know for a fact that it could. I grew up going to huge schools that only had a few black students in them but were full of conservative racists who would go out of their way to belittle them. Aside from focusing on the exact situation that takes place in this book, racism is something that is very real and is deeply rooted in people’s lives, as the story shows. Everyday horrible things happen to black peoples and any story that highlights how f*caked up that is, is an important book to read.

I got so invested so fast. Within five chapters I was fuming and firmly ready to punch a bitch and defend the two protagonists with my life, which is exactly why I’m telling you guys that you need to read Ace of Spades by @faridahlikestea when it comes out June 1st 2021

I’ve been having a real obsession since fall of mysteries that happen in private schools, and holy fucking shit was this... a little different? But I’m the best way possible. Ace of Spades is of Gossip Girl met Get Out.

I sat my ass down in English, opened the eARC that NetGalley had very kindly given me, and read it in one sitting. The only time I ever looked up was to write this review, part by part.

The story is horrifying. One read through gave me so much stress and fear and anger, although I’m sure it is only a fraction of what black people go through everyday living in America.

I cannot find the words to tell you how important it is that you read this book. It may be a work of fiction, but I highly doubt that it is not rooted in the truth. A little like the Handmaiden’s Tale, I suppose, in the sense that the story is terrible but wonderfully told and incredibly intense and cruel but never untrue. Never really wrong. I’ll stop it here before I start to cry of frustration, because I don’t know if I’m making sense anymore. I’m trying to summarize this book without giving away the brilliant plot. It’s something you want to believe is far fetched but know with the state of the world might be the truest thing.

Chiamaka is a brilliant and clever girl, and I love that she’s portrayed as beautiful, intelligent and popular. Devon is so talented and resourceful and so full of heart. And I’m so so glad for the LQBTQ rep hand in hand with BIPOC rep. We’ve seen enough of the white gay boy coming out trope. And this is a story about hate, systemic racism and classism so well told, by a black female author. Look at the news. Look at the world. You need to read this book. It’s even a contemporary fiction, to make the lessons easier to swallow. I’m so grateful for NetGalley and US Macmillan for giving me an eARC of this book, and guys please please get your hands on this as soon as you can.

This book is gonna make a lot of people uncomfortable. And it should.

It’s about two kids from separate social spheres who don’t have much in common - Chiamaka is rich, Devon is poor, Chiamaka is popular, Devon is not, etc... but they’re both Black and actually the only Black students at their school.

It starts with a text exposing one of their secrets, and it snowballs. Stuff about their life, super secret stuff, is getting leaked around the school. Things in their life start to fall apart and they finally band together to figure out who is targeting them - and why.

It’s not super revolutionary, but it’s pretty fast-paced and each chapter leaves you wanting more. The two POVs are both really good, with well-developed characters who both have plenty of problems and things to focus on outside of the Aces scandal stuff. There’s a good amount of side characters who all are well-realized as well.

Without spoiling anything, the texts are just one part of racism the two face, systemic and deep-rooted, and they find out a lot more than they were expecting when they begin to look for answers. It’s really tough to read and even tougher to see the parallels in real life. The way that Black peoples’ colleagues, employers, teachers, and even friends can be so performative but still be racist. The idea that there’s so many people that don’t believe Black people have the ability or the right to achieve whatever they dream and even the right to have dreams in the first place. It’s definitely upsetting and it should be. I think white people who read this will be inspired to reevaluate what racism and white supremacy are, and that it doesn’t take a white hood to be racist and wrong.

I honestly want to like this book more than I did. It has a great premise with a twist on the "all-knowing secret-revealer" and the books attempts to address issues of race and homophobia. That said, one protagonist is well-written and rounded. His backstory is a bit of a troupe, but builds on it enough that he adds to and progresses the narrative in meaningful ways..

The other protagonist exhibits problematic behavior in terms of how she uses other people. This behavior is never examined or even pointed out. Not every character needs to be sympathetic, but it makes the dynamic described in the epilogue less palpable and believable.

The discussion of racism would have been greatly enhanced with more illustrations of the subtle ways in which racism is seen.

The attempts in this book are admirable, but the execution is lacking.