This is a great thriller that kept me guessing until near the end. For most readers the end will still be a great reveal. The characters were wonderful and the plot was well developed. The thing that got me was who the bad guys ended up being. The two different narrators of this book did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life.

I have had people tell me to read this book so many times. I was so scared of this not meeting my expectations because of how hyped it was.
I understand it now.

This book was amazing. Gossip Girl Meets Get Out. Do you even need to know more?!
I was hooked from the very beginning, I could not put this book down. Luckily I had the audiobook as well so I could switch over when I had to put my book down.

The story was wild. I never read the blurb so I had no clue what I was getting into.
The book tackles many topics including systemic racism, homophobia, and classism. The author did a fantastic job at making us understand what Black people face everyday. While this is fiction, racism is very real.

Overall this book was incredible and I need a movie asap.

The narration of the audiobook was excellent and really brought these characters to life. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one.

I heard nothing but fantastic things about this one and they were totally right.

I loved the characters, world, and story

I highly recommend for fans of YA!

I might be the only person that really did not care for this book.

Not that it was written poorly, but that it didn't really interest me. I feel all the high school drama troups were rounded up and put into one story that was not my cup of tea.

My apologies for not giving feedback. I must have only posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

This was such an amazing book. The audio brought the characters to life. It was like listening to a movie.

I read a copy of this book and listened to the audio. I thought it was not the best laid out story I've ever heard. At some points it had promise as a suspenseful mystery, but it all fell apart for me toward about 60-75% in and on. I see what the author was attempting to do, but I don't see the value or the entertainment in it.

The 2 narrators selected for this audiobook were perfect for their respective characters and helped pull me into the story! Their voices were pleasant to listen to, and their acting was great! The only note I had was that the male narrator could have spoken a little bit faster––he sounded a bit too slow on my end even at 2x speed, haha. But that's just a personal thing!

What a rollercoaster! I could not put Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s Ace of Spades down once I started––I felt a strong need to unravel the mystery, every answer only bringing up more questions. While the mystery aspect of he story took a bit to hook me, I was irreversibly hooked once it did. And prior to that, there were other things in the book to hold my attention.

I felt for the main characters from the very beginning, even when things were going relatively well for them. By the time things started going awry, I was already invested in their wellbeing and very emotional about the things they were put through. Having been a hardworking high school and university myself, I clicked with Chiamaka and Devon in that regard and felt utter rage when events in the book kept trying to get in the way of their focus on school work.

I know that Ace of Spades was published as a work of fiction, but systemic and institutionalized racism are real, and I could very easily see what happened in the book happening in reality (in fact, they probably are actually happening as we speak). With this in the back of my mind, the emotions I felt while reading Ace of Spades were all the more pronounced.

Overall, Àbíké-Íyímídé wove together a plot that kept my brain busy throughout––I was trying to figure out who the villain was while trusting nothing and no one, questioning every word, every action. Ace of Spades also effectively made me feel unsettled, and that something was not quite right, really pulling me into the story (as if the emotional rollercoaster hadn’t been enough to do so). All in all, this was an excellent thriller and mystery, while also very eye-opening. I highly recommend.

This book is full of racism, privilege, and queerness with a glass of thrill. Being the only two Black students in their school, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't be targets but this is for very different reasons. It's like Get Out meets Ghostwriter. You definitely get into trying to figure out who's out to get them and why. This you won't want to put down.

Devon & Chiamaka worked tirelessly to become Niveus Private Academy's head prefects, only to be harassed anonymously their senior years. Their secrets are being exposed and nothing seems off the table in this dark campus novel. The only Black students in the school, with lives completely different from one another, must come together to get to the bottom of this mystery before their futures are ruined.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé does an excellent job bringing her characters to life. I was super worried about them. The book is separated into parts and the second part flies towards its conclusion. I am so thankful for the gifted copy. The audiobook was really well done with two narrators.

3.5 stars


A fun and entertaining read for sure! As someone who grew up watching tv shows like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, this was right up my alley. The characters were also enjoyable.

I think the one negative thing I would have to say about this book is that the climax left a bit to be desired to me. Not as exciting as I was expecting.

Overall, a solid story! The audiobook was great as well!

Disappointed by predictable climax, but I could not put this one down.

I'm behind on my NetGalley reviews, but I actually bought and reread the book after its publication.

Niveus Private Academy develops the leaders of the future until someone decides to reveal two students of color's secrets and ultimately destroy them. Ace of Spades is everything you want from a thriller plot that has depth. From the first page, the reader is drawn into the plot and characters. Devon and Chiamaka are polar opposites with similar goals. To be better and achieve greatness after high school. Their struggle with fitting in and breaking stereotypes is honest and raw. Readers will automatically form a bond with them. The plot is fast, engaging, and suspenseful. At every turn, I was surprised by the development and ultimately at the end I was left floored. This is a must-read!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Woah! So much going on but so awesome! wanted to read this book so bad, already thought it would be awesome and its even better than that!

Hello #DarkAcademia . Centered around Devon and Chiamaka, the only black students at an elite private school, #aceofspades is one wild thriller. (#partner @macmillan.audio )

After being chosen by prefects on the first day of their senior year, Devon and Chiamaka quickly become the targets of the mysterious Aces – a dangerous gossip girl type character out to ruin their lives.

I was on pins and needles as this thriller unravelled, addressing systemic racism in private institutions in the process.

Also, the audio version is excellent - the dual narrators were both wonderful!

Oh no, I was so looking forward to this book and it unfortunately just fell flat in the second half. I feel like the twist came too early, and that kind of dragged out the climax of the book. I do understand and appreciate the message of this book, especially highlighting the lengths white people will go to to tear down Black kids. I definitely think teens would enjoy reading this book a lot, but it might not feel as fresh to an adult audience.

Spoilers ahead:

Why would the entire school go through so much effort to ruin only two kids lives every 10 years. Like, why did they even admit them in the first place? Wouldn’t that alone have done something to keep them from reaching a successful life? Or why not do this on a larger scale? I don’t know, it just felt off in the execution.

Also I’m a bit confused about whether or not Chiamaka was bi or gay or questioning. While so much care was taken with Devon’s character and his journey of really accepting himself, Chiamaka just all of the sudden was making out with her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend.

I wanted to like this book so much! Unfortunately, I only made it until about a third of the book before I abandoned it. I wasn't interested in the plot, and the characters fell flat for me. With that being said, I do think there is still value to this book, and it does dive into some LGBTQ issues that I think need a place in literature!

This. book. Was. Wild.

Honestly. Nothing like I expected. It gave me chills. There was so many times I was infuriated. I was disgusted. I was shocked.

Such a fantastic book. Little bit of Lovecraft country vibes in a prep school setting.

I didn’t LOVE any of the characters. Which made me love the book even more. Does that sound weird? It shouldn’t. None of the characters were loveable. It was part of this charm that made the book what it was. Terrifying and raw and interesting.

A cross between "Get Out" and "Gossip Girl". The racial bias influencing what was happening to them seemed pretty obvious so I was a bit mystified by their apparent unwillingness to see race as a motivator. There is a general sense of unreality to the plot but that felt intentional. It's allegorical, so we want to pay attention to the ideas rater than the details. A good one to inspire discussion with teens.

I was really excited for this one. Suggested it as a book club read and so i attempted to read it for said book club. But i couldn’t get into it. I read about 30%, but wasnt super intrigued by the story line. It seemed done before (very Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl like)

First off, the audiobook was great. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a copy of the audiobook for review.

So why the low rating? While Faridah is very good at creating believable characters, I think I was expecting something else from this story and it's not my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of catty school drama type stories and this is what this is. However, I know there are plenty of people who would love this book so I will definately recommend it to them.