Alexia's Reviews > Ace of Spades Sneak Peek

** spoiler alert ** This book has a lot of good reviews and receives a lot of praise, so I was very excited to read it. In the end I gave it 3/5 stars. It not that didn’t enjoy the book, I actually couldn’t put it down and read it through very quickly. The author hooked me into her story and I was interested in finding out what happens next. Overall, a fun and quick read.

What I liked:
The characters:
Chiamaka
I’ve seen critic saying that Chiamaka was shallow and unlikeable but I disagree. She’s not a perfect character at all but that makes he more likable to me. To me, she was unapologetically herself and I liked her the other didn’t strive to strip her of her what she truly was.

Devon
Devon was an angel, loved Devon.

Plot
The big reveal of Ace
I didn’t expect Ace to be everyone at the school, I was anticipating the reveal of one person. Although I would have preferred Ace to one person I think the entire school being in on it and the social eugenics idea was great. Especially as it was a historical tradition and the multiple black people they had done it to. Very interesting.


What I didn’t like:
Characters
Devon
The writer did too much with Devon. The author did not let up on Devon for the entirety of the book and the fact that he had so many issues like the intense homophobia he was experiencing in his neighborhood, he was pushing drugs, his father was in jail, his mum was working three jobs, he was experiencing extreme poverty, and he lost the only two constant “friends?” He had in his life. At some points through his story, his characterization felt overwhelming and really had nothing to do with the plot of them being exposed by Ace. Ace was exposing extremely personal details about Devon’s life and putting him actual danger, but Chiamaka was not getting the same treatment. The treatment of Devon and Chiamaka by Ace eventually became incomparable.


Unnecessary parts of the plot
There were scenes in the book that had no place in the plot of the story and felt completely unnecessary. For example, when Chiamaka and Devon get pulled over by the police. At the point, what was the point of that happening, after the intense racism they were already experiencing at school it felt overkill. But I can also see that if it was meant to show that the system doesn’t let up on Black kids and that racism is everywhere, I can see what the author was trying to do.

Another example of this is Devon finding about the death of his father while visiting Dre in prison. This is also and example of the writing doing too much with the story because it had nothing to do with the story of them being exposed by Ace. Just more trauma to pile on Devon.

The Pacing
The end of the book felt rushed, felt like the author didn’t know what else to do or how to end the story. Really give it up in the end

I definitely have more thoughts about this book, but this is all I can articulate. Again 3/5