Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

344 reviews

paulaortuno's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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ritareadstrash's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

If you are ahem, of advanced decades like myself, this book is going to trigger all the 90s and 00s nostalgia. It's a poly relationship between The Skulls, Gossip Girl, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, with Get Out as a relationship voyeur.

There was a small issue the chat brought up, about teens absolutely not being willing to put forth hours of effort and I'd agree with that assessment. Especially as their actions were all voluntary, and not for a grade. There was also no social media and then suddenly was, which was a bit of a record scratch moment.

I will say a lot of the discussion involved people saying "it mad me mad", "it was disturbing", "I couldn't keep reading", and while I know their comments weren't meant in any malicious way, it felt akin to the BIPOC community stressing they can't "look away" from the prejudice they face. It's easy to look away and say it's a dramatized book, and could never happen, but the allegory and emotion it's rooted in, is not fake. 

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neverlandpages4's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

• It had me hooked from the beginning & every chapter ended with a sentence that made me want to immediately know what happens next

• This book is PACKED. In almost every chapter something is happening which makes it very hard to put down

•  I’m aware that it’s popular but I still think it’s criminally underrated. Compared to the other books that get so much hype but then fall flat, this one definitely lives up to the hype. And the messages that this book delivers deserve to be heard

• The main characters were trusting anyone and everyone at the beginning and this book is the epitome of “you can’t trust anyone” no matter how well you think you know someone

• There are so many unlikable characters which is understandable but I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever read a book with this much gaslighting in it. It was crazy and I felt so bad for the main characters because if I were in their shoes, I’d go insane.

• There was a character that said that being racist was a “family tradition” and acted as if they had no choice but to be racist…..I really wanted to slam the book shut because wtf?? 😭

• However, the main characters were really lovable and my heart was just breaking for them throughout the entire book. They really didn’t deserve any bad thing that happened to them and when Devon said “I think we deserve a happy ending” I was in tears because THEY DO!!

• I had so many theories as to who aces is but I never expected that reveal. It was both shocking and horrifying

• If you haven’t read this yet, I highly recommend it! 

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xeponine89's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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ekmook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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faerietalebooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was a great listen! It was a riveting mystery and had many dark twists and turns with high stakes for the characters. There were many topics to be explored for each character's background and desires. Though they may not be the most likeable characters, they felt very realistic in their motivations and agency. The author brought up many important real-world topics that were resolved in a way that left more to be thought over in the reader's mind.

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wrightdobiez's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4.5!

this was literally incredible. the pacing was amazing, the plot was scary and heart-racing and the characters were just *chef's kiss*

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charlotteiisobel's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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filipa_maia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I fell in love with the cover of this book way before I knew what it was about. When I read the synopsis I thought "this is going to be a "5-star book" easily", but that didn't happened quite as I expected.

I really liked this book, it addresses very important issues that our society tries to pretend that don't happen anymore: not only bullying and racism, but also homophobia and classicism - And I think that the author does it very well.

I think my problem with this book it that every single character (except Devon) is so unlikeable... I understand that that's the point but, apart from Devon, I couldn't really connect with any of them. Chiamaka's "friends" are described in the most despicable way; Jamie is red flags all over, since the beginning of the story; even Terrell is a bit weird...; but for me Chiamaka is the worst - she is the worst main character ever: dates guys and makes "friends" for social status, mistreats people that she considers "inferior", thinks the entire world revolves around her... ugh...

Even though I think that some of the situations described are a bit "too much", what made me give a 4-star review is the plot itself - what a brilliant storyline!

I don't want to reveal to much but - if you are looking forward to read this book - you are not going to be dissapointed! 

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ginadapooh's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow...  This was an extremely complex story.  It had a lot of different moving parts at any point in time.  I love that moment when you realize that at the end of a book just what all has happened between those covers.  This book definitely packed a lot in.   

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