Ace of Spades is one of my most anticipated 2021 releases and dear I was not disappointed by it. To be quite honest I'm not the biggest fan of Gossip Girl but I was quite interested by the book once I heard it was pitched as Get Out meets Gossip Girl -- because it just sounds so interesting right? Let me tell you: it does more than just sound interesting. It is interesting. I'm not a huge thriller reader but the author managed to pull me in the story. I don't know if it's because I'm a POC or not but once I truly put into my mind that Chiamaka and Devon were the only two Black students in Niveus, my brain started to raise all the red flags. I don't know how the author did it but while reading the book you can't help but think something bad is going to happen. Imagine: you're walking alone in a really dark forest in the middle of the night and because you're scared you can't help but looking behind you every seconds. Ace of Spades feels like that. The more you're reading, the more you think that something bad is going to happen to the main characters. And it's truly amazing how the author manages to create this heavy and stuffy atmosphere, it literally feels like someone or something is pressing on your own chest while reading -- especially starting from the middle of the book.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé manages to create a story which becomes darker and darker the more you're reading it -- and I find it particularly cool because it makes you feel how it's going to worsen before she shows it to you. And it's truly amazing because at first I was thinking stuff like "okay Niveus sucks but they're going to make it" and then "fuck no don't go back to that school." I believe this is what the author was going for while writing her story. It shows how well the story is crafted and how well it is done.

More than the atmosphere, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé tackles important topics as the homophobia in the Black community and the systemic racism in private school and more generally racism. In an author's note, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé explains that her story is inspired by her own experience: not seeing someone who looks like her on her own campus and this is something I truly relate to. I come from a small town and in middle school, besides my brother, I was the only Asian kid around. It kinda "got better" in high school: besides my brother, there was another girl. That's it. And I believe white people don't truly understand how impactful that can be; how it's hard when you can't find somebody who looks like you -- who can understand you even if you don't really know each other. Sometimes it feels like even if something happens to you -- something racist -- nobody is going to take your side because everybody around you is freaking white. And I believe this is what the author was going for while writing Ace of Spades. She shows how everything is against you when you're a POC and especially if you're Black. More than that, she shows how it doesn't matter if you're rich or not: Devon is poor and is the victim of racist attacks while Chiamaka is rich af but is the victim of racist attacks. By showing two types of characters -- one rich and one poor -- the author shows how it doesn't matter in the eyes of white supremacists: you're Black before you're rich or poor. With that Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé says: race before class.

Ace of Spades shows that it is always more than racism between classmates. White people tend to think that racism in school is always "jokes between friends" but we know it's not that. We know racism is everywhere and it's not going anywhere. Ace of Spades shows how racism is systemic, how it's deeply ingrained in institutions who should normally be neutral. In an ideal world, you'd think that school is a place which should push forward its students, no matter their skin color, but in reality, we know it's not the case and Ace of Spades reminds us of that. The book reminds us that not only the students but also the teachers, the administration, the school system as a whole is the perpetrator.

While reading Ace of Spades, I was thinking stuff like "how can Devon and Chiamaka have a happy ending? Especially when I know that systemic racism is still a thing in 2021?" and you know, I don't know if Ace of Spades' ending can be considered a happy one. More than that I believe it'd be more accurate to say it's the one which make the more sense -- systemic racism is a plague around the world but you can fight back because you have people who will believe your story, because it's something than happened to them too.

Ace of Spades is a haunting thriller that had me on edge the whole time I read it. This is dark academia with a twist, and one that’s desperately needed. The way Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé portrayed the cruelness and injustice Black people have to face in a society that was built on institutionalised racism and still exists within it, to this day, was incredibly chilling. She has truly mastered the art of creating an atmosphere that makes you want to look over your shoulder, skin prickling, feeling watched the whole time. This is a story that will make you doubt everything you know, it will make you furious and desperate for change—but it will leave you with a hopeful ending, one that promises a better future, at last.

(A full review will be posted closer to the release date.)

This YA is so, so powerful! It’s Black, it’s queer, it’s uncomfortable, it’s dark, it’s twisted and so fucked up until the very end. There are so many secrets. Terrifying incomplete memories. Nasty messages that put Devon and Chiamaka in the spotlights and make them spiraling out of control.

This story is a real gem, messages sent by Aces, first ugly but then getting more and more dangerous. Devon and Chiamaka are the only Black students at Niveus. Devon is gay and doesn’t want to stand out, but he does as he gets outed by Aces' text. Chiamaka is at the top of the hierarchy as Head Prefect. And she will do anything to stay there. But then Aces put her in other spotlights, and her world is spiraling out of control. And this is only the beginning. Aces are getting into people’s minds; it’s creepy and terrifying. And Devon and Chiamaka don’t know how to stop it ...

Devon is such a sweet and caring guy, trying to survive in the harsh world he’s living in, doing things he shouldn’t, to help his mom. Chiamaka seems arrogant, but all she does is survive; because she doesn’t want to be the other, not good enough. She wants to find her way into the world, to become a doctor.

Faridah’s writing is outstanding. She pulls the reader into the story and doesn’t let go. The story is captivating and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It doesn’t show which POV is talking; you just know. So well done! And she wrote this story at a very young age, she’s only 22, and Usborne Publishing pre-empted the story in 2018! I can only say: WOW, such a fantastic debut!

Brilliantly twisty, characters I could believe in and a couple of moments that actually gave me CHILLS which so rarely happens these days. Gripping YA about status, sexuality, legacy and the creeping stranglehold of white supremacy.