Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
How’s everyone doing today? I hope you’re making it through the month. I hope February has been good to you. It's almost over if it's been a shitty month for you.
Now as February ends, I’m gearing up for a very special month. March will be very fun time here on RHRML. Once, a long time ago, I participated in a little thing I called Murder Mystery March. As the name suggests, I read and reviewed murder mysteries exclusively that March. This March I’m going to do something very similar. I’ll be talking about and reviewing mystery titles all March long. They won’t all be murder mysteries this year. I do have some things that don't revolve around murder. Stay tuned for that.
And to get you all in the mood for Mystery March, please welcome to the stage Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé!
Let’s crack in! As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you'll know I love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a content and trigger warning before I get into the synopsis. Ace of Spades deals with many heavy topics. These topics include, and are not limited to, racism, sexism, homophobia, suicide, sexual assault, toxic relationships, and emotional abuse. A full list of content and trigger warnings can be found here. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.
Chiamaka Adebayo is the It Girl of Niveus Academy. A prefect since sophomore year, popular since she was a freshman, dating only the coolest guys in school, and getting the grades that would make anyone jealous. Chiamaka expects to end senior year on a high note. Becoming Valedictorian, getting into Yale to study medicine, making it official with her best friend and longtime crush Jamie, but someone at Niveus Academy has other plans. And it’s not just Chiamaka this someone is targeting.
Devon Richards is another student at Niveus studying hard to get into a great college. He’s determined to attend Julliard and make a better life for him and his family. But like I said, someone at this elite school is targeting both Devon and Chiamaka; the only two black students at the school.
The pair receive threats, their dirty laundry is revealed to the whole school, and they’re being stalked by a mysterious person known to all as Aces. Chiamaka and Devon never talked before Aces reared their head, but now they’re working together to take down this villain. Can they unmask Aces? Or will Aces’ psychological torture work? Find out in Ace of Spades.
This book is deep and dark. If you think Ace of Spades is going to be a simple, dark academia thriller, ha ha ha, you’re in for a rough ride. This book deals with very disturbing topics. Hello, Eugenics, I was not expecting to see you today or ever. The psychological aspect is terrifying, and done so well. It’s a shame the discussion of this topic, and the thriller aspect itself, is brought down by the pacing.
The author doesn’t let the characters breathe or react to events. A chapter will end with a reveal or big event, and then the POV changes and it’s a week later. I want to see how Devon or Chiamaka react and deal with whatever it is Aces has just done. You can’t tell me someone has dropped a bomb on Devon, metaphorically speaking of course, and then not show me him spiral into a depression. You can’t have Chiamaka’s world explode and not show me this girl go insane.
This issue is also in part the dual POV’s fault as the focus will automatically shift to whichever character is leading the next chapter. I do truly believe it would have been a disservice to the story had the novel been told from only a single point of view. Ace of Spades is equally Chiamaka’s and Devon’s story. Had one of them not had their point of view told, it would have been a massive disservice. I fully believe that. I would have disliked this read more had that occurred. But, the end of each chapter is too abrupt. Like I said, the main characters aren’t given time to react to the events of the book. That is Ace of Spades biggest failure.
I really wanted Ace of Spades to be a knockout hit. I have heard so many good things about this book, and I agree with some of those thoughts. This book is deep. It discusses a disturbing topic, and it does that well. I simply can’t get past the pacing issues.
With that, I shall bid you all adieu. I know today was a short one, but that’s all I got for ya this week. I hope you enjoyed the review, and I’ll see you all again next week with another new review. Get ready to celebrate Mystery March! If you can’t wait till next week then you can always check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show is on Spotify and YouTube. Listen to me and two of my dearest friends talk everything from films to ghosts to wrestling to history; there’s bound to be something that strikes your fancy.
Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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