Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Book Review
HOLY CRAP!! It deals with such important topics SO WELL I LOVE IT!!!
Okay here you go:
Fast facts:
Title: Ace of Spades
Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Pronunciation Guide: Fa-ree-dah Ah-bee-keh Ee-yee-mee-deh
Genre: YA Thriller
Rating: 10/10
Review:
When you mix the mystery/thriller quality of One of Us is Lying but better with the complexity of race from The Weight of Blood but better, you get Ace of Spades. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. It genuinely held me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. It deals with genuinely difficult subjects with a skill level I have NEVER seen before. This story is supposed to be dark, and to shove the horrors of systemic racism at you so you cannot ignore them, as so many people do. If you are able, and especially if you are white, I beg you to read this book and to actually think that shit like what happens in the book is real. We see it in slightly more toned down versions more frequently, but this shit happens. It is supposed to be dark. And it is supposed to teach you a lesson about what gets hidden away.
Okay, okay, what's the plot?
Devon and Chiamaka are the only two Black students at Niveus Private Academy, a fancy high school made of white legacy students. Devon is a musician with dreams of getting into Julliard to help his mom and younger brothers get out of their struggling home. Chiamaka is a popular girl who, while her family is well off and stable, doesn't have a legacy to lean back on.
As Devon and Chiamaka enter their senior year, they are made Prefect and Head Prefect, respectively. Chaimaka is not shocked. Devon is. At first, it seems like senior year will work out splendidly.
And then Aces comes into play. An anonymous texter (or texters?) starts sending texts to the entire school with information about Chiamaka, Devon, and a few other students - information that they all thought they had buried deep.
Chiamaka and Devon end up teaming up to uncover a nasty history of racism, secret societies, and discover just how far Aces is willing to go to bring them down.
Told in a dual perspective, this book explores the horrors of systemic racism and what it means to be Black in a world of weaponized white privilege.
DUN DUN DUUUUN!!!!
Seriously though, it is a fantastic book. I read it for a book club and I cannot wait to discuss it.
It deals with some pretty heavy topics, so I will put those, along with how prevelent/how much it is discussed below the cut. Spoilers in the sense of that these topics will be discussed, but no plot details. I would suggest skimming those, or feel free to message me if you just want a yes/no answer about a specific topic.
Again, I want to highlight that this book is dark. It is supposed to be dark. If you read it and think it is a fluffy thriller, you have missed a fundamental part of it. This book is about racism and the depths of white privilege - and weaponizing race.
Check out Àbíké-Íyímídé's website about Ace of Spades here, and where to buy it: https://www.faridahabikeiyimide.com/aos
Potentially triggering topics and how long they are dealt with (spoilers in the sense of these things will come up, no major plot points are revealed. Some small scenes will be spoiled.)
Racism: The entire book (more obviously in the second half) deals with racism. This includes institutions that are explicitly trying to ruin the lives of Black students specifically. This includes benefits of having white legacy parents. This includes what it feels like to have curly hair, and the power that wearing your 'natural' hair can have. This book deals with racism, and it does not hide how terrible it is.
Stalking: Aces stalks Devon and Chiamaka. Like, explicetly stalks them. There are major invasions of privacy that happen. A character is photographed changing - levels of stalking.
Homophobia: There is quite a bit of homophobia throughout the book. A character is non-consensually outed, multiple friendships/relationships are broken because of fear of how people would treat them if they knew they were queer, and a character is beaten up (it's show as a memory) because he is gay (in this scene/memory, he remembers being called slurs)
Bullying: Most of this story is about bullying. I don't know how else to put it. People are assholes in this story.
Toxic friendships: There are many many toxic and fake friendships, including when the main character is the toxic one.
Death/murder: A character killed another character pre-start of the book (we do see this scene in a vivid memory/nightmare, more in this in car accident/death), and that haunts them throughout most of the book. We learn about a group of people who killed at least one person, though we do not know how.
Hate crimes: There is a group of people who commit terrible crimes (including murder, as mentioned above) to people of color. This is a major premise of the book, more explicitly in the second half as the characters figure out what is going on.
Drug dealing: One character dates a drug dealer and works for them at one point. The person they are dating gets arrested later in the story.
Drug use: A character is revealed to have been using drugs, and it is rumored that another character also used drugs. These themes are present for about a page each.
Car accidents/death: A character gets into a car accident with another character that kills someone, and they do not report it. This haunts one of the main characters throughout the story. The accident is described in detail for a few pages, and the character has flashbacks to aspects to this scene multiple times.
Suicidal thoughts/attempts: It is mentioned that a character tried to commit suicide very briefly (the whole conversation lasts less than five lines).
Gun violence: A character is held at gunpoint towards the end of the story. This part lasts about two pages.
Police brutality: It is mentioned that a character is killed by a police officer (we do not know the character who was killed). This part lasts for only a few lines.
Incarceration: A drug dealer above gets incarcerated, and a main character visits them in prison. A main character's father was incarcerated, and we read a memory of the main character visiting their father in prison as well.
Sexual assault: There are two instances where characters were assaulted, one where a character does not remember pictures being taken of them, and another where pictures are found of an unknown character and a character describes the photos as feeling nonconsensual and as if she was being 'used.' Each of these instances are maybe a third of a page long.
