Ace of Spades: A Book Review
By: Mallory Johnson
Ace of Spades is a young adult thriller mystery book by Faridah Abika-Iyimide (it is her debut book!), and it came out on June 1st, 2021. The book is described as “Get Out meets Gossip Girl” and that is the best way to describe the story. It follows Chiamaka and Devon, the only Black students at the prestigious Niveus Private Academy. But...when the anonymous “Aces'” starts exposing secrets, they realize that they're the only people being targeted. Before I go any further, SPOILER ALERT. Also, trigger warnings for racism, homophobia, outing, murder, a car accident, blood, death, racial slurs, gun violence, fire, bullying, stalking, gaslighting, toxic friendships, suicide, drug abuse, sexual assault/harassment, incarceration, and sexual content.
Ace of Spades is a thrilling mystery that is very fast paced as you try to figure out who Aces is. I recommend watching the movie Get Out first and having a basic understanding of the show Gossip Girl. The story is hard to read at times, as it deals with racism and homophobia. There are twists and turns that I didn't see coming. The secrets that were exposed shocked me and I was in for a fun ride with this book. A quote from Ace of Spades that I love is “At the end of the day, I had to learn to protect my heart above everything, at all costs. If I didn’t protect it, no one else would.” On the very first page of the book are these two quotes: “they say life is full of surprises. That our dreams really can come true. Then again, so can our nightmares.” from Gossip Girl, and “All I know is sometimes, if there’s too many white folks...I get nervous.” from Get Out. It is not just readers on social media making connections to Gossip Girl and Get Out while reading, this book is literally Get Out meets Gossip Girl. I recommend this book to white people who want to learn more about the horrors of racism but who still want to read fiction books. I am glad that I watched the movie Get Out before reading because I got the full impact of the story. There is a huge plot twist at the end of the book that I didn't see coming at all, which I love.
Overall, I loved reading this book, and I highly recommend reading it! I love reading books with good, diverse representation and this book definitely did that. I give Ace of Spades a very strong 10/10 and cannot wait for more books from Faridah Abika-Iyimide!