Book Review – Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is a new YA thriller that is getting a lot of rave reviews. The plot follows Chiamaka and Devon, two seniors at Nevius Private Academy. Chiamaka has her sights set on Yale and Devon is hoping for a scholarship to Julliard. Their senior yet starts great with becoming prefects but then an anonymous texter, Aces, threatens everything, leaking photos and secrets about Devon and Chiamaka.

I didn’t know much about this one, really just the fairly uninformative blurb, going in except that people loved it. And oh boy, I loved it too and I’m so glad I knew nothing. So keeping my review short to ensure I don’t spoil it for anyone else.

The main thing to know is that this book is way more than what it seems from the description. The first 100 or so pages had me fairly interested but not hooked, it seemed like a pretty normal YA novel. But oh man, that’s just the setup. Stick with it, this book gets interesting really fast. It’s important, and brilliant, and heartbreaking, and says so much more than what’s on the page. I teared up, I gasped, I start with my jaw dropped for entire pages. This is a book I didn’t see coming and it blew me away entirely.

I loved it entirely and think everyone should get their hands on this one. Obviously, 5 stars and one of my best reads of the year.