Really enjoyed this wild ride of a YA Thriller!
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my alc of this title.
One sentence review: Ace of Spades is a wild ride of a thriller that will keep you guessing while also providing social commentary on systems of education and racial discrimination.
Ace of Spades centers around a prep school where two high achieving black students, Chiamaka Adebayo and Devon Richards, are targeted by a cyber bully. The synopsis calls this Gossip Girl meets Get Out and that seems like a pretty accurate description to me. The story alternates viewpoints between Chiamaka and Devon.
My thoughts:
- This audiobook is one that I did not want to turn off. With constant action I was fully immersed in the characters and needed to know more.
- I loved the dual narration. Both students lived such different lives that I thought the dual commentary really helped provide a richness to what was happening.
- The book started a little slow for me as I didn't particularly care for one of the characters. As the book progresses and you gain more insight to the characters though I found I couldn't put the audiobook down.
- The story addresses a lot of different social issues from different angles. I really appreciated the commentary but felt at one point that it messed with the pacing of the book a bit. It was by no means a deal breaker but it felt like we were building to a crescendo in the story only to take a break and lose some momentum. It was important social commentary, I'm just not certain if it needed to be placed exactly where it was in the book.
- For a debut effort, I really think Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé knocks it out of the park with this book.
In summary I loved the book and would highly recommend it to those who love shows like Gossip Girl. It would also appeal to people who enjoyed Alyssa Cole's When No One is Watching.
NARRATION: Jeanette Illidge and Tapiwa Mugweni both do a fabulous job with the narration on this one. I felt they both really immersed us in the inner thoughts of their characters.
One sentence review: Ace of Spades is a wild ride of a thriller that will keep you guessing while also providing social commentary on systems of education and racial discrimination.
Ace of Spades centers around a prep school where two high achieving black students, Chiamaka Adebayo and Devon Richards, are targeted by a cyber bully. The synopsis calls this Gossip Girl meets Get Out and that seems like a pretty accurate description to me. The story alternates viewpoints between Chiamaka and Devon.
My thoughts:
- This audiobook is one that I did not want to turn off. With constant action I was fully immersed in the characters and needed to know more.
- I loved the dual narration. Both students lived such different lives that I thought the dual commentary really helped provide a richness to what was happening.
- The book started a little slow for me as I didn't particularly care for one of the characters. As the book progresses and you gain more insight to the characters though I found I couldn't put the audiobook down.
- The story addresses a lot of different social issues from different angles. I really appreciated the commentary but felt at one point that it messed with the pacing of the book a bit. It was by no means a deal breaker but it felt like we were building to a crescendo in the story only to take a break and lose some momentum. It was important social commentary, I'm just not certain if it needed to be placed exactly where it was in the book.
- For a debut effort, I really think Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé knocks it out of the park with this book.
In summary I loved the book and would highly recommend it to those who love shows like Gossip Girl. It would also appeal to people who enjoyed Alyssa Cole's When No One is Watching.
NARRATION: Jeanette Illidge and Tapiwa Mugweni both do a fabulous job with the narration on this one. I felt they both really immersed us in the inner thoughts of their characters.