Ace of Spades - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
** spoiler alert ** “The world isn’t ideal. This world, our world, the one with houses as crooked as the people in them. Broken people, broken by the way the world works.”
When I first heard about this book, I was told it was a dark academia thriller that may as well be Gossip Girl meets Get Out. While I’ve never actually watched Gossip Girl, I was intrigued to say the least and I can’t say I was entirely let down by that description.
So many parts of this book were excellent. The way in which the racism is handled, giving us the difference in experience between Chiamaka and Devon, was brilliant. The scene (*spoiler*) where Mr Taylor reveals that he never signed off on Devon’s attendance was so well written that I felt as though I was reading a horror novel for a moment. The atmosphere throughout was just spot on.
Chi and Devon weren’t always particularly likeable but they felt real, both despite of and because of their flaws. Though, I can’t deny that they both certainly drove me up the wall a few times but that’s part of being a high school kid, I suppose!
However, there is a reason that I couldn’t give this book 5 stars and that reason is the ending. Don’t get me wrong, the end of the plot was brilliant. Who doesn’t love a happy ending, right? My problem was how quickly it came about! From the moment that Devon and Chi discovered ‘who’ Aces was, it felt like a marathon race to finish the book which left me feeling like I had been left behind to finish last! Sure, (*spoiler*) Niveus burnt down but that doesn’t explain how Chi became a doctor and Devon became a teacher given that their records were never officially cleared. They certainly brushed over the fact that legacy kid Jaime -died-! I had so many questions that I would have loved the answer to and that I feel we could have gotten with just a couple more chapters.
For that reason, and really that reason alone, I give Ace Of Spades a 4/5 and I look forward to seeing where the author goes next!
- TheHauntedLibrary
