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Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
100 posts | 94 read | 1 reading | 55 to read
Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah bk-ymd about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully. 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? With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah bk-ymd.
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review
OrangeMooseReads
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

Finished this the other night.
It was good, very predictable. The story was engaging and the writing was good.
3.8⭐️ only because of the predictability. If you like YA suspense and strong female lead I would recommend for an easy enjoyable read.

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TheIntrovertedDodoBird
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Bailedbailed

This book feels like the cliched love child of John Hughes and Gossip Girl. I'm in the vast minority of readers who didn't enjoy it. First of all, I feel like it's all been done/said before. The student with the scholarship who feels like an outcast in their shabby clothes compared to everyone else's designer labels (overdone and cliched). The Queen Bee rich girl (predictable). (1/?)

TheIntrovertedDodoBird The anonymous bully (seen it all before). The elite private school (mind-numbingly unoriginal). The beautiful dead girl (I'm pretty sure a girl who has just been violently killed by a car is not going to look doll-like!). Niveus Academy is just a cesspool of tropes and stereotypes. It promises to address serious topics: institutional racism, white supremacy, homophobia and social injustice, and it achieves just that - mostly. (2/?) 6mo
TheIntrovertedDodoBird Kudos to Àbíké-Íyímídé for delving into these very real issues, but everything else about this book felt shallow. I can't help but be critical over some of the discriminative undertones. The perpetuation and the labelling of Black people - practically Black men - as inherently homophobic and violent towards the LGBTQ+ community. (3/?) 6mo
TheIntrovertedDodoBird Consistently portraying all the female friendships or interactions with misogynistic connotations - constant backstabbing, being catty to one another, microaggressive bullying, physical violence. The poignancy was diminished by the novel's overall superficiality and dramatized plot. There were a few clumsily worded sentences and others that just made me roll my eyes. (4/?) 6mo
See All 10 Comments
TheIntrovertedDodoBird I've read copious amounts of YA but this one just felt immature and overcompensates the teenage angst for the typical quasi-American dark academia experience, which made it impossible to invest in the characters and not find everyone infuriating. For a book tackling some serious topics, I can't help but feel like it breezes over others; the nonconsensual outing of a student, the distribution of graphic videos, and physical assault. (5/?) 6mo
TheIntrovertedDodoBird Also, it feels like a red flag when an author cheekily gives their book a five-star review on Goodreads. I decided to DNF halfway through when I found myself skipping whole paragraphs. Rant over. (6/6)
6mo
emmasm08 After that review I‘d be too embarrassed to even pick the book up 😂! Thank you for reading it on behalf of the rest of us - definitely giving it a miss - sounds dreadful ! 6mo
dabbe Definitely #hailthatbail! 🤩🤩🤩 6mo
TheIntrovertedDodoBird @emmasm08 Opps, I went on a bit of a rampage with that review 🤣. I feel like I took one for the Litsy Team by reading it (read: forcing myself to stick at it before promptly giving up at the halfway mark) 😂. It was so, so dreadful. I can not explain the number of five-star reviews it has been given! I'll re-sell it on Vinted to a poor unsuspecting buyer 😬🤣. 6mo
emmasm08 I loved your review ! It made me laugh a lot - it‘s happened to me too - a book that gets out standing reviews and you are left thinking - how did that happen !!!! 😂xx 6mo
TheIntrovertedDodoBird @emmasm08 Thank you! 😂 Yessss! There's so many awful bestsellers! Seriously, how DOES it happen?! All of those five star reviews, and there's me, trying not to hurl the book through the wall! 🤣 xx 6mo
46 likes10 comments
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tpixie
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Finishing up this book about two black students at an elite private school. This debut YA novel is tackling many social issues, including racism, homophobia, and generational trauma.
I can‘t wait to discuss it tomorrow for #LitsyBookClub

Daisey I‘m also looking forward to hearing everyone‘s thoughts on this one. 9mo
tpixie @Daisey yes! Talk to you tomorrow!! 9mo
49 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Daisey
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Mehso-so

This book had an interesting premise and characters, but there were a few things that kept it from being a pick for me. It was a little too similar to Gossip Girl (although part of that might have been the narrator of the audio), got long in some places, and the ending was too abrupt without answering some of my questions.

#audiobook #YA #LitsyBookClub

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living_for_literature
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

This book was brilliant! It reminded me of Pretty Little Liars but tackled bigger issues. I can't believe the author was so young when she wrote this and could truly capture different perspectives and build up suspense. I was unsatisfied with the ending but I still recommend it!

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Kshakal
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Eggs 👌🏼📚🤗 1y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I really want to read A Little Life. It‘s been on my shelf for years! 1y
32 likes2 comments
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Kshakal
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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review
PuddleJumper
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

It got a bit slow in the middle but overall a good read. One of the better everyone has secrets high school mysteries I've read

7 #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
Clwojick Hey, just checking in. I replied to your email a few times in regards to your Readathon giveaway, but I haven‘t heard back. Don‘t know if my emails are going to your junk, or vice versa.😎 ❤️ (edited) 2y
PuddleJumper @Clwojick How strange! I haven't had anything through. I've checked spam and everything 2y
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PuddleJumper @Clwojick Sent another email from a second account. No idea why they aren't going through 2y
Clwojick Replied! ❤️ 2y
PuddleJumper @Clwojick Still nothing 😂 2y
Clwojick Oh my gosh, are you on insta? Maybe you can direct message me on there? Cassandra Stewardson or clwojick. (edited) 2y
PuddleJumper @Clwojick Yeah, sent you a message. What a mess! 2y
Clwojick Replied again! 🥸🤓 2y
32 likes9 comments
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swynn
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Mehso-so

(2021) It's a YA thriller about two Black kids at an otherwise all-white academy who become targets of an anonymous harassment campaign. I liked the premise, and most of the development, but the climax was too rushed and deus-ex-machinaey for me. But I'm not the target audience and others have loved it so ymmv.

It's been a target of book bans: with its diverse characters and social justice themes, it's not hard to see why. Read #BannedBooks !

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emmaturi
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

This is a proof copy. I enjoyed this YA mystery set in a school called Niveus Private Academy. A mysterious person called Aces is telling the whole school secrets from two students Devon and Chiamaka. Who is this person and why are they doing it? It was really gripping and quite a ending.

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janeycanuck
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

I‘m not usually a fan of YA (sorry, I had enough teenage angst when I was a teenager…) but this one had caught my eye and it was worth it. The character building was very strong, which balanced out the relatively predictable plot. It was definitely a page turner, though!

Roll 48 for #Roll100 and 1 of 2 I was hoping to get through for #AwesomeApril

Andrew65 Excellent 👏👏👏 2y
PuddleJumper Brilliant! 2y
42 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Liam.Hannon.2941
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide

I think that this book would be really interesting to read, just based on the content. The teen drama genre has always been really fun and I think that the topics that this book covers will really add to the story,

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urbanabarua
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Devon and Chiamaka, Niveus Academy students, are exceptional senior class prefects. Devon is surprised because he keeps his head down, accomplishing his goal of becoming invisible to the Niveus students. Chiamaka has spent the last three years cultivating an ideal reputation at school. Their year is going great until an unknown person with the alias “Aces“ begins anonymous text messaging, revealing secrets about them that threaten their futures.

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Cupcake12
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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#wondrouswednesday
🍁 MG Leonard…I follow her on Instagram. She loves dogs, chocolate and books. We were made to be besties!
🍁🍁Recommendations from you lovely littens 📚
🍁🍁🍁Tagged

hannah-leeloo Thanks for the tag sweet 2y
iread2much I think I might be able to be friends with Stacy Schiff, but I think I would be too fan girly for most authors I love. I mostly find recommendations on Litsy and IG, because while I love browsing and finding titles that way, I spend too much 💵 when doing that. I don‘t really do twisty books, but State of Terror was really good and suspenseful. Thanks for the tag! 2y
26 likes2 comments
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DaNae.Gr
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Shaunnaa This was sooo goood! 2y
DaNae.Gr Soooo goood!! 2y
5 likes2 comments
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Singout
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Pickpick

This was really powerfully written, although based on a core premise that I found a bit hard to buy into (no spoilers). The narration alternates between the only two Black students in an elite white school, one on a scholarship from a low income neighborhood and the other well off. Basically a thriller, dominated by a mystery villain, it also looks at race, class, and sexual identity among teens in a provocative way.

#Booked2022 #DarkAcademia

Cinfhen Great review!!! 2y
8 likes1 comment
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JacintaMCarter
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

#2022Book93
This was my second time reading this book. While I still enjoyed it, a lot of the suspension of disbelief moments didn‘t hold up quite as well.

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BookBr
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

What a read. Challenging, difficult, unsparing, immersive, powerful. Far more than a story about school bullying, this is an unflinching look at systemic racism and how it can affect the vulnerable and strong alike. As well, an exploration of relationships and how we can lie even to the ones we love most. This book was affecting and thought-provoking and stimulating — highly recommend.

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104_goodbuddyy
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Mehso-so

To keep it short, I didn‘t really like it. The idea was executed poorly, the entire time I was thinking ‘Pretty Little Liars rip off‘. All the “surprises/twists” were so obvious and the ending was an absolute let-down. There was almost no character growth and the plot was so unbelievable. I‘m disappointed in it, because I love books that talk about social issues and racial injustices, but this one fell so short and was such a let down.

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BookBr
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Back-to-school season pick — super bargain grab from Book Outlet, which is a great online site for Canadians to get discounted books, btw. Not sure I‘m in the mood for high drama but we‘ll see how it goes…

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janeycanuck
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Who keeps buying all these damn books?!? Oh. Wait. That‘d be me.

KristiAhlers That would be you winning! 2y
janeycanuck @KristiAhlers Haha - my bookshelves would disagree!! 2y
BiblioLitten My kinda stack! 🙌🏼 2y
janeycanuck @BiblioLitten I‘m very excited for so many of them!! 2y
43 likes4 comments
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Cupcake12
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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#alphabetgame #
Great idea @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
I loved the tagged book….intrigue, drama and high school.
Thank you for the tag @Bookgoil
Can you think of one…. @hannah-leeloo @Blerdgal_Fenix

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing ❤️ 2y
Bookgoil Fabulous choice!!! ❤️ 2y
29 likes2 comments
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Nalbuque
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

If you like ya fiction, this book has everything you need. Even if you‘re not a ya person you should still give it a go, maybe just pretend it happens at a work place rather than high school? Lol
What a great book, coulda been longer or a series imo ♠️

16 likes1 stack add
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canbku
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

This was really good! I enjoyed the second half a lot more than the first, but a fun take on semi-horror similar to Get Out. There are so many layers to Devon and Chiamaka. They come from such different places and yet the system lumps them together and the endpoint is the same. Chilling.

IndoorDame I found this one to be such a page turner! 2y
55 likes1 comment
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Cupcake12
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

A compelling thriller with a twist that explores institutionalised racism explored from a YA perspective. A private academy where money is no object and students lives seem perfect. Dig deeper beneath the surface and dark secrets soon come to light. A diverse range of characters that you come to care about.
It was hard to put this book down as it was so addictive. Such a read with an incredibly powerful message

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Cupcake12
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Started this Friday night and hoping to finish by tomorrow after work!
Dark, institutionalised racism and an amazing writer!

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Cupcake12
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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My weekend reading

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PickettT
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Weekend Read! 📖

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Blerdgal_Fenix
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide

Someone asked me@to describe the genre or type of book this is — for some people it would be a horror and others a thriller. If I had to like towards something 🤔 get out meets gossip girl mixed in with pretty little liars dash of mean girls

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Blerdgal_Fenix
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
This post contains spoilers
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Pickpick

This book… 9 out of 10…truth seen in art. it is a mix of get out & thriller. It is well written giving the prospective of two black students that eventually come together to deal with racist harassment. I think Everyone should read this book. I wanted the end to have something more(like the full exposure of the school), but the epilogue has satisfying end. #poc #lgbtq #woc #aces #spades #racism #ya #getout

TheKidUpstairs Oooh, my library just got this one in. Sounds like I'll definitely have to pick it up! 3y
2 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Blerdgal_Fenix
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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So this came up on Libby and I have decided to read it. I have been in a reading slumps, but I am going to see what the hype is about. So far the opening seems normal but the point of views are crazy — let‘s see what happens.

Cupcake12 This is on my bedside table. Looking forward to seeing what you think xxx 3y
Blerdgal_Fenix @Cupcake12 be ready to be like WTF?! Girl I need wine after reading this. I am not sure it‘s suppose to be for #ya. This whole book took me out. I can relate to this more than I wanted too. But it is good. #twisty 3y
11 likes2 comments
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Sharpeipup
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Gotta love the author‘s honest review!

#goodreads #bookreview

5feet.of.fury 😂😂 hey, it‘s just the facts 3y
Sparklemn That is awesome!!! 3y
42 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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rachelm
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

Reading wrap pt 1 for the month!

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Zuhkeeyah
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

I‘ve heard everyone raving about this book. I get it now. So many nuances within one story. It‘s one of those reads that will sit with you. One of the most important things highlighted was how though Chiamaka and Devon were both Black they came from very different worlds. This affected how they interacted with those around them at school and each other, but not how the world saw them. I could keep going. The author put the stacked system on blast.

13 likes4 stack adds
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TaraTLK
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Okay so I like forgot this was a thriller and started listening to it and the two narrators plus the writing were awesome so by the time I realized it was going to be a little scary (especially because as a reader you are like never trust the person who [redacted]). What if your school had a Gossip Girl, but they only seemed to care about destroying you and another student?

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Amandajoy
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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The kids are back, so they got to open their #blitsy packages. Caden thought everything was awesome & he‘s super excited about the tagged book. He also got his dad a Black Panther water bottle a couple years ago and was excited to have his own. We all agree the gummy bears are tasty (they rival the albanese ones.) (I plan on swiping the tagged book when he‘s not here 🤓)

Chelleo Aww!!! Love it! I want to read the tagged book too! We also love the Albanese gummies! That candy came from a local black owned candy shop and the swaps give me a reason to visit them. So glad he liked everything! 3y
Gissy Nice! 3y
Amandajoy @chelleo do they have a website? My husband would like to order some more. 3y
40 likes4 comments
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fredthemoose
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️ As others have said, it‘s a riff on Gossip Girl but with structural and individual racism turned up to a million. There were places where the writing wasn‘t great, some things that didn‘t quite make sense, and the racism was maybe over amplified to the point of losing impact. BUT it was also compelling. I liked and wanted the best for the characters and I wanted to know what happened to them. I didn‘t like a lot of it, but I was invested.

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BookishGirl06
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

It was pretty good and I feel like this is an important read. I really wish black students didn‘t get treated this way, and that moving forward, we can do better.

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BookishGirl06
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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My current read that i started a few days ago

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LibrarianRyan
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

3.5 ⭐
Ace of Spades, all comes down to race. “Social Eugenics”. I find that this book opened a window to explore more in-depth and real life cases of this practice. Of people purposely being held up to get shot down. This book was an interesting. It brings forth conversations on actions of people and their consequences, and opens doors to find ways to fight practices like illustrated within the pages of the book.
TW: Racism, Sexism, homophobia

71 likes1 stack add
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Evita
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Mehso-so

3 out of 5

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Lovelylottereader
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Pickpick

I really liked this book and finished it very quickly. I liked the theme of fighting injustice and thought that the characters were very well-written. I thought it was very exciting and the book had me sitting at the edge of my seat and wondering who the anonymous Aces is. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Lovelylottereader
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide

I think we deserve a happy ending.

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Lovelylottereader
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide

They say love and hate are the same, just at different ends of the blade.

3 likes1 stack add
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Clwojick
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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This book checked off a ton of prompts over various reading challenges, including this pic for the #AestheticallyMatched challenge. The book and the pic give me creepy private school vibes.

Book 5 complete for #Jumpstart2022

Cupcake12 I got this for Christmas. Can‘t wait to read it x 3y
StayCurious Was this your selection for #TBRDeckofcards? That would have been neat lol (edited) 3y
Clwojick @StayCurious No! But I agree. 3y
PageShifter Those vibes sounds so awesome!! 3y
Lizpixie I‘m still sitting at 1&3/4 books so far this year! You‘re killing it!❤️ 3y
87 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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Clwojick
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Almost forgot to post my January #BookSpinBingo list! Last three with be #TBRDeckofCards picks. ❤️

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! 3y
96 likes1 comment
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Branwen
Ace of Spades | Faridah Abike-Iyimide
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Best Books of 2021! 🎉🎉🎉 YA! 📚

Here are my top 5 favorite YA books that I read this year!