katie ❀'s Reviews > Ace of Spades

Sometimes, you need a soft, fluffy rom-com to cheer you up. And sometimes, you need a dark, twisty thriller to scare the crap out of you. This was one of the latter.

Ace of Spades follows Chiamaka and Devon, the only Black students who attend the prestigious Niveus Private Academy. But after both are nominated as prefects, their paths begin to tangle as an anonymous force known as Aces makes themself present, bent on not only destroying their senior year, but also on ruining any chance at a future.

I’ve read about five mysteries and thrillers this year so far, which, all things considered, is a lot for me. Ace of Spades is by far the best one. It’s one of those books that, when completed, you can only sit in silence and weakly try to process what you just read, your desire for more tugging at your heart.

This is one of the few times I loved the writing and the characters so much—both are sharp, smart, and brilliantly crafted. The writing isn’t lilting prose or elaborate description, but simplistic and compelling, cutting just as deeply. Àbíké-Íyímídé expertly wields dual points of view to maximize suspense, cleverly jumping from one to the next, ending each character with a brutal cliffhanger, something that left me gasping. Chiamaka and Devon lead very different lives, but I was equally invested in both their stories.

How delicately and detailed white supremacy, classism, and institutionalized racism were portrayed was so heartwrenching and nuanced, and I appreciate how the author doesn’t shy away from the suffering injustice brings.

This review doesn’t even come close to doing this book justice, not with the way it explores relevant themes that appealed to me and had me losing my mind a little bit, and certainly not with its haunting social commentary that will linger in my mind for months to come. This is truly a book I won’t forget, and I can’t recommend it enough.