[book-review] Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé - Ace of Spades

1st June 2021 was the day!

The day this masterpiece  (and I really can't think of another word for it) was finally released into the world. First let me give you the official synopsis... 

When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.

Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.

As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?

Let it sink in.... Now tell me you're not intrigued by it!

“Note to self: Don’t delete numbers of the people you hate. They might come in handy someday.”

The story starts when both main protagonists - Chiamaka and Devon - return to Niveus Academy - a private and expensive school - for their last year. They're seniors now and especially Chi imagines it to be their best year there. And there, on the very first day, two things happen. One that's completely unexpected and one that is expected. Chiamaka is once more head prefect and Devon is becoming head boy as well. It's completely weird for him to be in the spotlight since he's the quiet boy who only goes to Niveus on a scholarship bc his mother wants to get him out of their live of bills and a crappy neighborhood.
Now more on the characters you absolutely grow to love during the book...

Devon Richards is a black boy who's got a scholarship at Niveus Academy, hoping to escape his live in the crappy part of the city with no money, constant fear of the police and hoping to help his mother who works day and night for him to go there. He's studying music and desperately wants to go to Juliard after his last year at Niveus. Becoming a head boy is really not part of his plan to lay down - like he usually does. He's suddenly eyed by everyone and feels uncomfortable.

Chiamaka Adebayo is the complete opposite of Richards. Grown up in a rich family and one of the most popular girls at school, with popular friends, loved by everyone. The only thing she and Devon have in common is, that she's black as well. She desperately tries to fit in. To become a doctor and go to Yale. She straightens her hair, is friends with the other rich kids and especially Jamie is her best mate. A guy she's shagged for her advance. She's trying to be his girlfriend and make him his at the prom, as part of her plan to the perfect last year before she'll head to university.

Yet things don't go as planned. For both of them...

“Growing up, I realized quite quickly that people hate being called racist more than they hate racism itself.”

The story starts with a text from "Aces". Everyone receives it, except Devon. He's about to find out what it says though due to his ex-boyfriend who's a theater student. With this text Aces revealed to everyone at school that Devon is gay. A thing he wanted to keep secret, mostly because he fears what it would do to his mother. The fear that she'll shove him away and that his neighborhood would hate him for it. 

The first thing Chiamaka got from Aces was the fact that she was stealing. We actually know she's not and that someone must have slipped the sweets into her pockets but no one cares of course. They only see what they want to see....

Things continue like this and the texts get more and more private. More secrets are revealed. More students start to hate on them and bully them for what comes out. And it's about time the two of them work together and so they do. They both try to figure out what's going on and who is Aces. Who's trying to make their last year miserable and make them quit? Who's following Chiamaka home? Who's watching Devon? Who's this new guy Devon mets? What's the thing with Jamies new girlfriend Belle?

“No matter what I do, no matter how much I iron down the hair that springs from my scalp, or work as hard as I can, I’m always going to be other to them. Not good enough for this place I’ve tried to call home all my life.”

 

I won't tell you guys more than this, not to spoil it all ;)

The book got me hooked quite quickly, took me ages to read though, because of work and a reading slump I was stuck in - despite my good lecture.
I absolutely loved it tho! And it got everything in it you could wish fore. Queer Representation, BLM message, police brutality, everything! 

Alone for that, I absolutely loved it because it's the first book that really made me feel how it must be to be black and this much of an outsider because of your skin colour. That really got under my skin and made me cry because of all the shit that's still happening to black and POC due to their different skin which is soooo insane! So unnecessary! I mean people are people, no matter what skin colour, religion or sexual orientation. 

So if you feel the same and want a good perspective of it, read this! 

Also the story was gripping and I never expected it to turn out like this! To be Aces who Aces was. I mean everyone was a suspected but this!? Insanely good story! I had goosebumps, tears and all the feels. 

Also it made me start watching Gossip Girl - since it's apparently based on it - and I love the show so far - although I'm not far in :) 

“I don’t straighten my hair because I hate it; I straighten it because everyone else hates it for me.”

So if you're looking for your next read that is YA or a thriller, go grab a copy of Ace of Spades. 

And don't be surprised by the fact it got two covers, the first one is the US cover and the second one the UK cover. I actually own both since I got the debut box of Faridah's book by Illumicrate. A brilliant UK site for booklovers/readers I'll tell you guys more about some other time and in a different post. 

Also feel free to leave a comment if you've already read it and tell me how you liked it.

Oh and by the way... I actually did it! I got myself a Bookstagram account you can check out bc this review will be up there soon :)