Ace of Spades Review

Title: Ace of Spades

Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Publisher: Usborne Publishing

Publication Date: 10 June 2021

Source: Penguin Random House South Africa

Format: Paperback

Pages: 480

Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

An incendiary and utterly compelling thriller with a shocking twist that delves deep into the heart of institutionalized racism, from an exceptional new YA voice. 

Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students' dark secrets to light. 

Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. 

Head girl Chiamaka isn't afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. 

Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they're planning mych more than a high-school game...

Book Review:

Pre-Reading Thoughts:

This books has been making waves for a while now and I have not stopped hearing how good this book is. When I received a PR package with this book and some of the promotional goodies surrounding this book, I was super excited. I think this is going to the perfect book for Thrilltober. 

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House South Africa for providing me with a copy of this book! Just a quick disclaimer for those reading this review, I have received this book for free. Please note that this does not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own. 

Writing Thoughts:

The writing did not beat around the bush. It was straight to the point and didn't beat around the bush with too much detail. This allowed the writing to be fast paced and the pages to fly by. The writing was still a little rough, as despite the fast pace I still occasionally had to stop and reread a sentence. However, I have no doubt that the next piece of writing the author publishes will almost be flawless. The dialogue also flowed naturally and broke up the writing quite well. 

Plot Thoughts:

This book is absolutely insane. It starts of slow and you are kind of just chilling thinking that maybe this will just be another contemporary with young adults being mean to other young adults. Let me just tell you that you are wrong. Things go from 0 to 100 real quick and you will not want to put this book down. Things just keep escalating and honestly I was living for it. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and the plot will have you gasping often trying to comprehend what it going on. 

Character Thoughts:

I think that the characters were the only part of the book that I wasn't absolutely in love with. I feel like the relationship between the main characters and other characters could have been stronger especially with the people who ended up being potential romantic interests. Some of them just seemed to exist for the main characters. However, the main characters were unique and definitely made the reading experience wholesome for me.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I could not put this book down. From the minute that I picked it up whilst on holiday, I could not stop thinking about this book. Perfect for readers who loved One of Us is Lying and are looking for something a little darker. If you've watched the movie Get Out and loved it, then I would 100% recommend jumping into this book ASAP. This book is now officially living rent free in my mind and I don't mind at all. A huge thank you to Penguin Random House South Africa for providing me with this spectacular book. 

Yours in Reading, 

Melleny