Week 25
Only one book this week, instead of two…trying to be okay with that pace. As I said (maybe?) at the beginning of this year, I’m trying to hold myself less to a certain pace of reading, but it still stings when I fall behind it. Partially because there’s always just SO many books I want to read!
This week: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
#40) ACE OF SPADES by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
I really liked this!
ACE OF SPADES is billed as “Gossip Girl meets Get Out”. Admittedly, I did not read or watch Gossip Girl, but it seems to live up to that promise. This manages to walk the fine line between high school drama and high-stakes thriller, using one to enhance the other and vice versa.
Let’s talk about the characters, first. I liked both of the main characters, Devon and Chiamaka, and their voices are so distinct that I found them easy to tell apart in the narrative. They occasionally had moments where I was frustrated with their choices, but not too severely, which can be a problem I have with thrillers sometimes (the “don’t do that silly thing oh my god” problem). Their differences are stark, only making their eventual (non-romantic) connection even more interesting.
Having said that, I do wish we had gotten a little more time for the development of their friendship. The whole “two people from different worlds coming together” trope is always one I find fun, and I could have done with more of it in the novel. It’s not missing, not by any means, but there is definitely more time spent developing other relationships.
In many ways, this book wasn’t made for me, though I could relate to some elements of it. I was definitely an outsider in many ways at my own high school, though not as acutely as Devon and Chiamaka are. Similar, actually, to Get Out, I appreciated that this book really didn’t shy away from its message at all, didn’t blunt the impact of it for its presumed-teen readers.
If I had any criticisms, it would be that I thought the ending felt a little abrupt - things wrapped up a little quickly for my tastes, and I would have liked to see a little more of how aspects actually resolved. Also, slight spoiler, but the protesters-ex-machina part, while I understood and appreciated its role, felt…well. A little out of nowhere, let’s say.
All the same, really good thriller book, CERTAINLY better than certain other YA thrillers I’ve read this year /glares in the direction of an author whose name rhymes with Pephenie Sterkins/