Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

946 reviews

sadie_g's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

One of the most addictive and unique books I’ve read. The concept was so interesting and frightening. I loved the influence of Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Get Out in this. I kept thinking I knew what the twists were gonna be and I was wrong so many times. Would definitely recommend to read this, it’s so thrilling and handles many heavy topics that are important to discuss and learn about.
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maregred's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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rewatchrereadrewind's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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emilyycat's review against another edition

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

5.0

beautifully written characters, I absolutely love love the storyline and that we are able to get details about both students pov.
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xlpurple18's review against another edition

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

5.0

I don’t think I can write highly enough about this book. The social commentary and plot, the way the characters were so raw and real… It was all amazing. Abike’s writing was so realistic, she wrote about present-day social issues with such depth and accuracy, making us aware of how terrifying prejudice is and can be. It was a reminder of how much prejudice still exists in the world, and how horribly it can affect everyone, especially minorities. She also portrayed trauma and mental health so vividly, and it was so easy to resonate with these complex, realistic characters. The only thing I would comment on is that
I feel like Belle and Martha’s story was left unfinished… it must have been so traumatizing for Chiamaka, so not getting any closure besides an abrupt confontatipn wasn’t what I was expecting after a romance had started, and after everything that happened with Martha. It was disappointed to see them not mentioned again.
Other than that, this book was amazingly written, so engaging, I was enthralled the entire time, and I loved every second of reading Ace of Spades. Easily 5 stars and a book I’d recommend to anybody, and won’t be forgetting about it any time soon.
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matidareads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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jennlikesreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

3.5

Wow. The mystery of this book was absolutely thrilling. While a lot of readers seemed to dislike Chiamaka, I thoroughly enjoyed her character along with Devon. I felt that they had very different lives and distinct personalities which I can appreciate in a multiple POV book. Their characters also felt very realistic from their home dynamic to their school dynamic. 

The reason why I gave this series a 3.5 is because once the mystery was revealed it’s not that I was disappointed it just felt very under explained. I felt that there was really no explanation to what happened to the school especially since the issue was brought to the public’s attention (I thought the epilogue was satisfying). More than that, I don’t feel the story with Belle and Martha was concluded enough, it left me feeling confused. 

HOWEVER there was a lot that I enjoyed about this book, it spoke on very important topics such as systemic racism and eugenics. The story was told in a creative and very disturbing way that will leave you feeling unsettled. I enjoyed this book despite how it all went down. 
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handove's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

i have so much i want to say about this book.
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violet_viper's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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logsbooklog's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

i ended up liking this a good bit. the writing is brisk and easy to get through and the story is gripping enough to see it through to the end. it’s a solid thriller although a lot of the twists are pretty obvious even from the start.
where i think this book falters is in the first 100 pages where the story is pretty cliche. the drama is very much tea but it’s tea that we’ve seen many times before in stories like pretty little liars. while it does ultimately serve to subvert these tropes, i feel like it could have had more creative setups for the payoff to be even better. 
i also think that by the end the book starts to struggle under the weight of its premise. the message is clear and it’s powerful, but the amount of necessary suspension of disbelief becomes too high towards the end. i ended up feeling like it was a little ridiculous just how few genuine people these kids had in their life.
it felt like every single character had to be tied into the overarching mystery when the book really needed some levity of even just 1 or 2 friends or partners who were outsiders. especially chiamaka, who by the end of the book seems to have no one at all compared to devon which results in the payoff feeling kind of uneven.

overall, i think this is a good time with a strong message about race, even if it falls short in a couple areas. i’d definitely recommend it especially for people who may not mind the problems i had as much.
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