Okay, I loved this! I thought it was a really great story! There was a lot going on, but not in an overwhelming way! I liked the representation and that it was how they met, but I don’t know that it was necessary to the plot as a whole? It almost felt like a weird afterthought to me. But I still loved this!

I picked this one up because it said it was about an asexual group of friends that were breaking into a gambling club. That sounded so interesting. And I actually did find it really fun! I liked that the group of friends had asexuality in common but it wasn't about their asexuality specifically. Their asexuality didn't dictate the plot. I enjoyed the characters, though they shared one aspect of their identity, they were all still unique and most imporantly they were all loveable. The story obviously wasn't very realistic but it was quite fun and an enjoyable read.

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/LGBTQ
Rating: 4/5
Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, Recorded Books, Amanda Dewitt, and Robbie Daymond (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to Aces Wild: A Heist in exchange for an honest review.

Five asexual teens partake in a heist. But not really. There isn't much of a heist, unless you ccount seeking a fabled gambling location left behind as a legacy from your parent, and even that is a stretch. It's not really like a mystery either, but there is some seeking of the "Holy Grail" of gambling inheritance, as it were.

Jack is known around school for operating a secret gambling ring in his high school basement, which is to be expected, giving his dad owns a major Las Vegas casino. When his mom is arrested for supposed association to organized crime, Jack knows something isn't right. His mom would never be involved in something like that. He files through various ideas coming to one hige conclusion: the owner of a rival casino must be the one behind his mom's arrest.

Peter Carlevaro MUST have SOMETHING over Jack's mom's head, some kind of secret or blackmail. Jack is determined to infiltrate the casino and dig up the dirt, but he cant do it alone. With the help of his asexual support group, Jack plans a "heist" to dig up his mom's secrets and hopefully clear her name.

The narrator for the audio does a nice job. Robbie Daymond has a smooth voice that fits the character well and makes Aces Wild a quick, enjoyable listen. I appreciate the focus around asexual and highlighting how one might feel toward relationships if their orientation is ace. Besites that, the book is relatively generic and feels like any modern high school shenanigan adventure. It wasn't my favorite, but still certainly an enjoyable read.

Why did I listen to Aces Wild: A Heist?

I came across Aces Wild: A Heist on Netgalley and was immediately intrigued. A complete cast of asexual characters who are meeting for the first time in Las Vegas? Plus, there may be some sort of heist involved? Count me in!

What's the story here?

Gambling is in Jack Shannon's blood. His mother is a big time casino mogul in Las Vegas and it's the only life has has ever known. When his mom is suddenly arrested everything starts falling apart. Jack knows his mom was sold out and becomes determined to clear her name. He recruits his closest friends and together they plan a heist of a high-stakes gambling club of his mom's biggest rival, Peter Carlevaro.

How did I like Aces Wild: A Heist?

Aces Wild: A Heist was a story that had so much potential but ultimately left me wanting more. I enjoyed the representation of asexual characters and how each of them had different personality quirks. This is a really strong group of friends and I loved how they all met online through fandom forums and an asexual support group. It was such a positive look at internet friendships including the things that aren't always revealed until you see each other in person.

While the friendship was such a strong part of the story, the heist was not. It is sprinkled through with moments of sneaking into the rival casino. Yet there was never really any buildup for the full out heist. IN fact everything felt packed into the last few chapters. I really felt like this could have been spread out a bit or at least make it feel more intense. I just felt like something was missing especially when it say it is a heist in the title.

How was the narration?

Aces Wild: A Heist is narrated by Robbie Daymond. It is 10 hours and 27 minutes in length. I listen to it at 1.x speed which was a good pace for the story for me. The narrators voice was pretty evenly paced throughout. I just wish there had been a little bit more distinction in the voices of the characters. Granted everything was being told via the main characters perspective, a little change in tone may help keep a listeners attention.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Before we begin with this review, I’m asking you to look closely at the book cover. Done? Good. So you’ll agree with me that “A Heist” is a big part of the design and I was legitimated to think that this book would be about, you know, a heist. It’s the second time in the same year that I have been disappointed by a book marketed as a heist novel, so I am beginning to think people actually don’t know what a heist (how many times can I say heist challenge) is, because otherwise I would start worrying that people simply cannot write.
This book was not a heist novel. This was, at best, a contemporary novel with the littles bit of planning from the part of the main character. At worst, this was a middle grade marketed as a young adult because how would we have the main characters getting into casinos otherwise. If it had been a middle grade, I would have actually enjoyed it more, but alas.
The more I think about it, the more I am tempted to just give this thing one star, because I cannot remember anything I actually enjoyed while reading, to be honest. The only thing that was partially interesting was the friends-to-maybe-lovers. Unfortunately, I did not like the main character and I only cared about the love interest, but maybe had this been simply a contemporary romance about two ace kids falling in love, I would have loved it.
The plot was honestly childish and oversimplified, I could have written a more compelling storyline in two days. As I already stated, there was no heist, but there wasn’t anything else either. It was just an “empty” book for me, and it only took me so little time to read it because I had the audiobook going while doing some decluttering.
The characters were mostly boring, there were too many of them with too little of a personality. Once again, the book would have benefitted from being a contemporary romance/novel, instead of trying to make this some sort of adventure and suspense novel. I am already starting to forget their names.
Moreover, when all your marketing is based on having a gang of asexual teens as your main cast of characters, I would expect you to at least handle this part well. Instead, it was simply stated multiple times that they were ace (one of them was also aro) and that asexuality is “the lack of sexual attraction”. That was that. No mention of all the different ways to be ace, no explanation or even mention of the asexual spectrum, nothing at all. I understand wanting to write a book about ace teen without the main point being ace struggle, but God, this was so surface level it actually hurt to read.
And the writing style wasn’t good either, with trying to be funny and quirky and spectacularly failing at both. So yeah, maybe I should just go ahead and give this book one star. I am sad, because I want ace author and ace literature to thrive, but then we are dealt — card pun intended — with such a bad hand that I simply think I should write an ace book myself.
I would not recommend this, sadly. If you are looking for ace books, this is one of them, but not one of the good ones, I fear. Hopefully, the author will improve and write more ace books, so that I can recommend her works to everyone. For now, I cannot recommend this in all honesty. It was just bad and disappointing and it makes me sad.

Thank you so much for the ALC! I've been highly anticipating this, and I was so exited to dive into it! Overall a a great read, and a solid audiobook

3.5 stars

I loved how an Ace support group became a group of friends on a mission to rob a casino to save their friend's family's reputation. This story is very character and friendship driven as the heist was more backseat than expected, it was a little too backseat, but I still very much enjoyed it!

Gab having a genuine concern about Lucky lying about their age and yet still being so wrong about claiming Lucky was too young to know they were Ace. This was a real concern on both sides and an excellent conversation, and I am glad someone addressed it!
I'm not sure how I feel about the hearing aid being used as a device, I am not a part of the deaf community, but I did see some folks concerned with this.

Ending on a high: this book did a great job with Ace's representation and talking about the different aspects and sides of being ace. It also discussed how age is somehow questioned when someone young comes out as Ace; they are;t believed or seen as credible, which is sad and wrong. It dealt with this very well.

Amanda Dewitt's Aces Wild is about a group of young adults who identify as aces and become each other's found family. The book is set in Jack's perspective narrating the tale of the heist after everything has occurred. The way the author frames it is basically a literally depiction of the hit Netflix show Money Heist, just on a much smaller and personal scale. The story begins with Jack telling us how he found out about his mother's arrest and why she was arrested. Coming from a kingpin family owning a famous Vegas casino, this is not necessary a surprise for Jack but it is still shocking. As a way to cope, his sister suggests he invite some friends to spend the summer with him at the casino. He cooks up a scheme and invites his online friends from his ace group chat and from there hatches up a plan to find out if his "Uncle" Peter is the reason his mom was arrested. Through a wild chase, he is able to steal proof that Peter was responsible and his online friends end up becoming his found family as a result of their involvement in the heist. The narrator does a great job and frames the perspective excellently.

Heists! Las Vegas! Found family! And Robbie Draymond! I was sold before I had even finished the summary.

Usually I have to suspend disbelief in YA novels what with the hypercompentent teens running around, saving the world, and pulling off the impossible. I liked that I didn’t have to do that too much in this one. Not all of the kids are brilliant prodigies, their skills make sense, and things went wrong. A lot.

I wish that we had spent more time with all of the individual characters. We had some great representation with romantic asexuals, aroace, non binary, and a deaf character, but except for our main character, we didn’t really get the time to delve deeply into any of the other characters.

There were some interesting twists and turns to the plot, that kept me invested. The pacing was a little uneven for me, but the narration smoothed it out so it wasn’t quite as noticeable in the moment.

This was a fun and quick read for anyone interested in teens getting up to highly illegal shenanigans in the City of Sin.

Really happy to see some asexual community representation! I wish we could have spent more time with the characters. We meet several friends, but I feel like I barely know anybody. I also didn't really like that the main character was hiding and doing stuff behind people's backs - like, you called your friends in to help but then run around on your own and keep secrets. And I liked most of the friends, more than the main character, so more of that please because I love a good found family. One friend comes off as pretty mean and judgmental and I think that spending a little more time with the group, just figuring out their dynamic and have them support each other, could probably have ironed this issue out. I do think that having a heist in the description probably set me up with certain expectations. It was more...sneaky...than something like Oceans 11...but also this was a group of teens and not seasoned con-men so that is probably closer more to how all that would play out. I would still recommend this book - just because it fell a little flat for me doesn't mean that will be everyone's experience. I think the narrator (Robbie Daymond) did a good job and I enjoyed the distinct voices for everyone. Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the advance audiobook for review.

2.5 stars.

So, I guess this book wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t that good… I initially got the e-ARC, but gave up on it around 40% because it was just boring. And unrealistic. Like, your Vegas-casino-owning mom has been thrown in jail, mostly for sketchy reasons involving another sketchy Vegas casino owner, so your 17yo self is going to sneak into his ultra super secret casino to rip him off and free your mom? Along with your ragtag group of friends? I don’t think so.

I gave up, but then had the chance to get an audio-ARC, so figured that would be the way to finish it off, which I did. It didn’t get any better. I don’t quite understand how a book can be so boring, yet so wildly unrealistic. You would think that the hijinks would have kept my interest? But no, alas.

I liked the idea that the group of friends were all asexual and that they met on a Discord-esque platform. However, that played almost no role in the story. I feel like I could see what the author was trying to do, but it just didn’t quite get there. The side characters were also pretty meh and one dimensional, as I can barely remember anything about them.

Overall, a really disappointing book.

Sometimes, you just gotta go with the pun. (Sequel potential: Aces High. Robbing a dispensary. XD )

Teens need more heist books! And this is quite a charming one. Jack Shannon and his chatroom of other asexual teens all come together in Vegas to take down a mob boss. The team covers some of the common heist roles. Mastermind/Backer, Hacker, and plenty of Distractions. Give these kids 10 years and they'll be a formidable crew!

I loved the distinction between asexual and aromantic in the book, and the fact that Jack himself is uncertain where he falls on this second spectrum. It's a great way to add some extra nuance to the discussion of sex, romance, and gender identity.

It's quick, it's fun, it's respectful of the queer community. A great pick!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by RB Media.

Some people join chess club, some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring in his private school’s basement. What else is the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul supposed to do?

Everything starts falling apart when Jack’s mom is arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime. His sister Beth thinks this is the Shannon family’s chance to finally go straight, but Jack knows that something’s not right. His mom was sold out, and he knows by who. Peter Carlevaro: rival casino owner and jilted lover. Gross.

Jack hatches a plan to find out what Carlevaro’s holding over his mom’s head, but he can not do it alone. He recruits his closest friends—the asexual support group he met through fandom forums. Now all he has to do is infiltrate a high-stakes gambling club and dodge dark family secrets, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right?

The concept of this book was really great. This was advertised as a story about a heist, but there really was not much of a heist. Or at least it felt like there was no heist. The heist scenes were boring.I did love that this book was about a group of asexual teenagers and found family. The representation of that was done so well. I felt like there was not much depth to the characters, and I did not really care for the main character, Jack. I loved the other characters, but I felt like it was not realistic that all of the characters were so skilled, and that a group of teenagers could get away with a heist. I wished I was able to know more about the side characters, but the book mainly just focused on Jack. I would have liked to see more character development and more than a surface level story. The ending felt a bit rushed, and kind of ambiguous for my taste, but overall, it was a fine story. I was just looking for more, especially with such a stellar setting and plot potential.

3.5 ⭐️

I was extremely excited from the premise of this novel. A Heist circled around a group of ACE main characters. It had a lot of potential. The first 15% of the book it was giving 21 vibes and I was digging it. I felt that the characters lacked a personality and the entire book felt very juvenile. I tried to get past that because the characters are aged 14-18 max so it would have that type of tone.

I felt the heist itself was pretty unrealistic, which does happen in a lot of books that include a heist. I would have enjoyed a bit more character information that did give them more “fluff” and i feel like i would have connected more. I felt that they fell flat on the page. With that i enjoyed the pacing of the book and the found family trope was giving.

I didn’t hate this, but i feel that it wasn’t very memorable and didn’t live to the expectations i had.

Thank You Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“A found family of asexual teens bands together for an epic Las Vegas heist” is easily the best single-line book concept I’ve heard in years! I knew from the start that Aces Wild was going to be a great read, but it surpassed my already high expectations. From the hilarity of teenage heist hijinxs, to the fantastic character development on page, Aces Wild has something for every reader. This book has earned one of my rarely-used six star reviews, for its flawless storytelling, and for the number of times I actually laughed out loud while reading!

In addition to reading a physical copy of Aces Wild, I also had the chance to listen to an early audiobook copy, which made my reading experience even better (if that’s even possible with a book this fantastic)! Robbie Daymond had the perfect sense of timing for the humor in the book, and brought the story to life for me! When reading a book simultaneously with an audio version, I often find myself rushing ahead, but that wasn’t an issue with Aces Wild, as the pacing was so perfect.

There are not nearly enough books with ace-spectrum characters out in the world right now, let alone ones that focus on ace teens living their lives and having adventures of their own. The literary world desperately needs more books like Aces Wild: fun and emotionally resonant books featuring characters from across the asexuality spectrum. I can tell you right now that Aces Wild is going to be a book I recommend for years to come!

My Recommendation-
If you love stories packed with found family, queer characters, and heist adventures, you need to grab a copy of Aces Wild as soon as possible! I would especially recommend this book to fans of the movie Red Notice or Oceans 8.

I am in love with this book! The casinos, Las Vegas, the LGBTQIA+ representation, and Jack’s overall personality was awesome! When I first began Aces Wild, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it since this didn’t seem like my sort of book but when I started, I couldn’t stop! The plot gripped me and the lies, although messy and not exactly a good thing to do, made this book full of twists and interest! Plus, I could relate to Jack’s perspectives in life and I could feel how he felt, the frustration and sadness and happiness in a way that a teenager who experienced everything he experienced would feel. An absolutely captivating book worth every second!

The audiobook was really well narrated to! Kudos to the narrators! Jack was played well!

This was so much fun! I was drawn into the story immediately and immediately sympathetic to the main character. He was sarcastic, self-deprecating, funny, and a very believable teenager -- some of my favorite things in a protagonist. He made a lot of very realistic, very bad decisions, especially early on when he felt like he was alone and his world was falling apart. Sometimes he even knew they were bad decisions and he still made them. He was a very realistic teenager, in other words.

I LOVE that the entire crew he pulls together for his heist are ace. It's such a fun detail, and so relatable - not having friends in your immediate surroundings but connecting with people all over the country on fanfiction forums and then forming a chat support group for ace people? Definitely felt familiar, which drew me in even more. I almost felt like I was a member of the group and in on their shenanigans.

The heist itself sometimes took a backseat to the family and friend group drama, but I'm ok with that. There was still plenty of heist action there, but I was there for the character interactions anyway as I generally prefer character driven to plot driven stories. I love love loved the characters. They were all such individuals, with unique characteristics and mannerisms that didn't feel forced at all. They felt like real people you might find anywhere. Well, they felt like real teenagers that you might meet at the outskirts of the school social scene, which is where I've always been the most comfortable. In short - I wanted to be their friend too. They were very obviously my people.

I like how the 'being ace' aspect was handled, as well as the tentative love story. It was sweet and realistic and believable... and familiar. Aside from the whole heist thing, it could have been me and my friends in high school and college.

That sense of familiarity, of belonging, made me love this book 1000x more than I would have based solely on the plot. Obviously not everyone is going to feel this sentimental about the book and characters, but I think a lot of people will really see themselves here and feel seen.

Las Vegas was an excellent choice of setting because the glitter and glamour made an excellent contrast to the seriousness of the beginning and then an excellent background and distraction during the plotting and executing of the heist itself. I've never been to Las Vegas, but after reading this I feel like I was there. The descriptions didn't ever try to take over the story like in some books, but I still felt like everything was very grounded in a specific place and could even almost see it playing out in my head. in fact I did see it that way - I have very specific visual memories of events in the book. It was like watching a movie. Ocean's 11, but with teenagers.

The audiobook was narrated flawlessly and I love the narrator and the choices he made for the different voices and the way he told the story. Just perfect all around. I bumped the speed up to 2x because he spoke a little slowly for my taste - many people do - and it was still perfectly clear and easy to understand and all the emotion came through easily.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Peachtree Teen, and Recorded Books for providing an e-arc and audio arc for review.

Trigger Warnings: Gambling, arrest, lying, cursing, alcohol

Representation: Ace, Nonbinary, They/them pronouns, Vietnamese-American, Aromantic, Vegetarian, Deaf, Cochlear Implant/hearing aids

Aces Wild is a young adult, contemporary novel about a group of online friends attempting to break into an underground gambling club in a Vegas casino. Our main character, Jack Shannon is pulled out of school to return home when his mother, owner of a Las Vegas casino, is arrested. Jack gathers his online ace support group to try to prove that his mom was sold out by none other than her ex-lover and rival casino owner, Peter. All he has to do is break into Peter’s illegal club and uncover what it is Peter has on his mom.

When you start a book with, this isn’t a love story, you’ve pretty much lost my attention. I have to admit though, this book was soooo good!! I was interested the entire time and I truly loved seeing the Ace rep in various characters. Plus the additional Deaf representation always pulls at my heart strings!

I loved the narration on this story! I thought Robbie did a wonderful job and was both funny and sincere! He really brought Jack to life and conveyed his true self!

I was a little disappointed with the “heist” aspect of the story but I didn’t expect much out of a group of teenagers. I thought the crew worked well together and used their individual strengths to be successful. I loved the vulnerability that Jack showed throughout the story and felt like he was a real person because of it, rather than a fictional character. I thought the author did a great job with the discourse between characters and I loved the found family aspect!

Okay y'all, I re-read this book on audio after publication and I have some questions. I've seen in a few other reviews that there was initially a sequence where Jack and co use an old hearing aid as an ear piece for the heist, effectively boiling down a disability to a convenient plot device. This was somewhat taken into consideration it seems in the published version where the earpiece is an old Airpod... but then there are still multiple references to the hearing aid. I just feel like if you're getting early reviews that point to something problematic, and then you do at least attempt to fix it, why not fully commit to either: 1. rewriting that aspect of the heist or 2. Insert a conversation where characters consider a hearing aid but ultimately come to the conclusion of the Airpod because taking a piece of medical equipment for personal use is bad. In this situation the author has to go all in one way or the other, and I just didn't see that here.

I did still overall enjoy most of the book during my second read; it was a bit campy the second time around, but I'm still a sucker for the full cast of ace/aro characters. I also still firmly believe that Six of Crows comparison should never have been used to market this book. Readers coming into this with that expectation will most likely be disappointed.

I loved this book. I love that the plot is based on a heist conducted by a group of teens who have never met in real life. I love love love to see the representation of asexuals in a fast-paced book that will keep you wanting more. I hope we get more books with this group of friends in the future. The main character is witty and funny and keeps you hooked and entertained, as a vegas show would. This book gave me Six of Crows feels. I loved the narrator in the audiobook. I wish it were more fully cast I think that would have made the audiobook better.