One of Devon’s love interests seemingly lives alone–at least, his mother is never around, and the characters all refer to “his” place and crash there whenever they want, no questions or permission asked. One of the other main characters also reads like he ought to be in his 20s instead of in his teens. Chiamaka is a wonderfully complex and flawed character–she just sounds like she ought to be in grad school instead of in high school. It was transactional, not personal.” This has the odd effect both of making Chiamaka sound like an old (and twisted) sociologist, and of making it seem like the narrator does not fully trust the readers to understand the social dynamics at play unless they are clearly spelled out by someone. I provided them with Z and they provided me with A.
We were mutually using each other to climb to the top.
Most mean girl characters never have to directly tell the readers things to the effect of, “People thought X, Y, and I were friends. One who also has a strange habit of breaking down her psychological state and the game she plays in order to be queen of her school. Chiamaka, on the other hand, reads more like a character in her 20s. Devon comes across as an “average” teenage boy, concerned with getting good grades, applying to colleges, and supporting his mother. Perhaps one of the most glaring aspects of the book that first reveals itself is the characterization, and the ways in which several of the high-school age characters seem more like adults than teens. Ace of Spades has plenty of promise, but this debut title fails to deliver. And the mystery is solved too quickly and too easily to be truly thrilling.
However, though the book provides much-needed representation of LGBTQ+ characters, as well as characters of color, the characterization itself is off, as a few of the characters read older than they are. The twist is that the book will also expose institutional racism. Ace of Spades promises a thrilling mystery set at an elite prep school.
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