Ace of Spades is Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut novel. Her inspiration for the novel came from the TV show Gossip Girl (which I have never watched) and the Jordan Peele movie Get Out (which I have watched). The novel is about two Black teens, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, who are the only Black students at the private school that they attend, and who become the targets of anonymous text messages sent to the entire student body by someone called “Aces” who is exposing secrets about them that threatens to ruin their lives. If you have seen Get Out, you will have some idea of who “Aces” is and why they are targeting Devon and Chiamaka, but that does not make Ace of Spades any less thrilling to read.

When I started reading Ace of Spades, I did not immediately like it. The characters at first feel very cliché. Chiamaka is the stereotypical rich, popular, mean girl (except that she’s Black instead of white) and the top student at school with her whole future planned out. She has frenemies instead of friends, and she has unrequited feelings for her best friend, Jamie. Devon is the poor kid from the hood whose mother scrapes by enough money working multiple jobs to pay the tuition so that he can attend private school. He is musically talented and dreams of attending Julliard one day. He is also a closeted gay, Black teen. He does not want to tell his mother that he is gay because she is religious, and he thinks that she will be disappointed with him for being gay. He also lives in a neighbourhood where being gay can get him beat up or killed.

But there is a reason why stereotypes are stereotypes. There are people like Chiamaka and Devon in the real world. My interest in the novel started to pick up once the anonymous texts started being sent. It was interesting to me that even though the only Black kids at school being targeted by the texts is so blatantly racist, Chiamaka did not automatically jump to that conclusion and Devon was reluctant to go there. For Chiamaka it is because she believes that she belongs (and she should), and for Devon, I think he just does not want to believe that the world is as bad as it really is. The Get Out inspiration does not make Ace of Spades a truly original story, but it is still difficult to stomach, and honestly, I would not be surprised if the shit that happens to Devon and Chiamaka in the novel actually happens in real life.

The saddest thing about Ace of Spades,though, is that Chiamaka and Devon do not feel like they can get help from their parents. Now, in any other YA novel I would be pretty annoyed with the main characters for not seeking help from their parents, but this case it is completely understandable. Chiamaka’s dad is white, and so she does not think he would believe that she is the victim of some horribly racist bullshit. Devon’s mom is Black and poor, so she is powerless to do anything anyways, and Devon does not want to burden her further when she is already struggling to raise three kids on her own in a dangerous neighbourhood.

Even though I do not like Chiamaka’s personality and Devon is definitely the more sympathetic character, I was invested in both characters and read Ace of Spades in one day just so I could know how they fight back against “Aces” and if they are successful. I definitely recommend Ace of Spades, even to readers who do not typically read YA novels.