Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut novel ACE OF SPADES has been billed as “Gossip Girl” meets “Get Out” — and for good reason — but I am here to tell you that it is SO much more than that. A binge-worthy contemporary YA thriller, ACE OF SPADES is a timely and thought-provoking exploration of classism, homophobia, and the pervasiveness of institutional racism.
Told in alternating first-person narration, ACE OF SPADES follows Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo as they navigate the halls of Niveus Private Academy. Despite being the only two black students at Niveus, their paths have seldom crossed. While Queen bee Chiamaka has spent the past three years clawing her way to the top of the social ladder in her golden Jimmy Choos, scholarship student Devon’s only goal has been to keep his head down until graduation and land a place at Julliard.
But the two are thrown onto a collision course when someone going only by “Aces” begins sending anonymous text messages to the student body revealing their deepest, darkest secrets. As the texting escalates into more dangerous attacks, Devon and Chiamaka realize that someone is out to get them — and they show no signs of stopping. But who is Aces? And why are they only targeting Devon and Chiamaka?
Despite being deeply suspicious of literally every single character in this book, ACE OF SPADES still managed to have me gasping aloud at plot twists I didn’t see coming. A heart-pounding social commentary that re-writes the dark academia script to its benefit, ACE OF SPADES is a necessary and page-turning indictment of systems of institutionalized racism. But even more than that, it is a love letter to the strength and resilience of Black individuals attempting to navigate within those systems.
CW: gaslighting, racism, homophobia, beating, car accident, racist slurs, blood, stalking, outing of a queer character, panic disorder, attempted suicide, incarceration, death of a parent
Told in alternating first-person narration, ACE OF SPADES follows Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo as they navigate the halls of Niveus Private Academy. Despite being the only two black students at Niveus, their paths have seldom crossed. While Queen bee Chiamaka has spent the past three years clawing her way to the top of the social ladder in her golden Jimmy Choos, scholarship student Devon’s only goal has been to keep his head down until graduation and land a place at Julliard.
But the two are thrown onto a collision course when someone going only by “Aces” begins sending anonymous text messages to the student body revealing their deepest, darkest secrets. As the texting escalates into more dangerous attacks, Devon and Chiamaka realize that someone is out to get them — and they show no signs of stopping. But who is Aces? And why are they only targeting Devon and Chiamaka?
Despite being deeply suspicious of literally every single character in this book, ACE OF SPADES still managed to have me gasping aloud at plot twists I didn’t see coming. A heart-pounding social commentary that re-writes the dark academia script to its benefit, ACE OF SPADES is a necessary and page-turning indictment of systems of institutionalized racism. But even more than that, it is a love letter to the strength and resilience of Black individuals attempting to navigate within those systems.
CW: gaslighting, racism, homophobia, beating, car accident, racist slurs, blood, stalking, outing of a queer character, panic disorder, attempted suicide, incarceration, death of a parent