Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - As de picas

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

As de picas by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

43 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

I didn’t love or hate this book. It was fast-paced and engaging, but I felt that it was a little predictable… only because it was marketed as being similar to Get Out. And… yeah, it was, but with “dark academia” vibes. If I hadn’t watched Get Out or went in without knowing its similarities to the film, I probably would have enjoyed the twists far more than I did.

Ace of Spades was incredibly ambitious in what it wanted to tackle, but I felt that it wasn’t as well executed as it could have been. Perhaps this would have played out a lot better if it were a duology or something, but I think Àbíké-Íyímídé wanted to address too many topics in one book. Chiamaka’s biracial identity is one that I would have loved to learn more about (because it clearly impacted her), but isn’t really touched on. Similarly, Devon’s gay identity is one the author does dive into a fair bit, but it’s generally from a position of showing how Devon has to deal with homophobia more than anything else. There were really interesting points made about the incarceration of loved ones, socioeconomic status, etc. that clearly shaped the lives of the protagonists, but they weren’t fully developed.

The cast of characters were probably the strongest part of the book, with many of them being incredibly memorable. I wish Àbíké-Íyímídé developed the side characters more, because that might have helped address a lot of the “tackling too many topics at once” issue.

Again, I thought this book was pretty engaging. I think there was a lot left to be desired, but, at the core of it, Àbíké-Íyímídé draws attention to an ongoing issue in the academy of how Black students are (mis)treated.

Content Warnings

brie333's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

So damn close to a 5 star. A great problem for the author to have but I wish it was longer. I was so immersed in this book that the end felt rushed. I wanted more things fleshed out. It was a very personal and vulnerable story to read and it was awesome I just wanted more. More of Devon’s story specifically; his ending felt very abrupt.

It was a great read. That being said, check the cws, don’t let TikTok fool you. This gets deep.

Content Warnings

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

WHAT A HELLA RIDE.... 5⭐

First, I wanna say thank you to Miss Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé for creating the world about Niveus Private Academy. This book is beyond perfect! Well, at the start... it feels usual, but after you read about 40 pages of the story, the chills started. I can imagine myself; there... being Chiamaka Adebayo. I positioned myself as her as I read the whole story.

Ace of Spades simply stole my heart! This book is a brilliant book. Disturbing, giving so many chills, brutally-emotional, scary at some points.. but this book is brilliant. Even scarier even there's no ghosts in this story.

This book is the one to read and I hella can't put the book down even for only five minutes. The story, the characters, the settings, the plots... are perfect and sickeningly good! This is why I put this book in the front line of my Spooktober reads. Spooky things not always comes from ghosts thingy, am I right?

I never find the thriller-mystery book that left chills so much; even now.. when I write this review and finished reading this already. This book leaves a gasp for me and makes me smirk at the end; the epilogue.

What a perfect of twisted 'oh' ending. All hail, Ace of Spades! ♠️

Content Warnings

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

This books was described as Get Out meets Gossip Girl and it most definitely is.

Content Warnings

sonoma's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

Content Warnings

_childuntold's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Oh my god… I have no words. Absolutely none... I don't write much reviews so bear with me here.

I went into this semi-blind, taking the content warnings into consideration. And I'm glad I didn't go into this blind because I don't think my mental health could handle it.

This book literally excelled my expectations and to be honest, this book kept me locked in so hard that I had to force myself to put it down (yes it's that good). A complete 10000/10 and a definite reread.

If you are someone that plans on reading this, please do look up the content warnings as this book has a lot of touchy subjects.

Content Warnings