The description of this book has had me hooked since I first heard about it a few weeks ago. It has everything I like—dark academia, a mystery, and any comparison to Gossip Girl is great for me. Plus it has a lovely twist of featuring a diverse cast, which is rare in the dark academia genre. These first three chapters were a great glimpse into the story and I can't wait to read more! I'm already invested.

I'm in love with the writing and I cant wait to read the full book, this is definitely one of my most anticipated books

This is so hooking. I love the way this book starts and I'm already in love with Chiamaka and Devon. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year, so I have high hopes for it.

Devon a closeted guy with passion for music who got into the infamous school of wealth and power Nevius through his scholarship, where the first day of the beginning of the school year he got chosen for the one of the four head prefects out of the blue. But what can go wrong with the unexpected change of head teacher in this dark polished academy where a rumour started circulating behind Devon's back until he finds out the scandalous picture of him with another guy.

For a thriller the preview of this book felt pretty generic. Cue the High school drama and the what I most disliked that, both of the main characters are pretty judgmental. The writing style was really cliche and I also felt the writer was trying too hard to write the perfect mindset of teenagers.

But the story's twist and turn felt really promising. This book will release on 1st June 2021. Thank you Netgally for the given Sneak peek.
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As this only a sample, I cannot say much more than: the storytelling seems very engaging, and I'm curious about the characters we get to see in this little snippet. I look forward to the rest of the book.
PS: the cover is GORGEOUS

I really enjoyed this sneak peak. It was a very engaging start. I am planning on picking up the rest of the book once it is released. At that point and can provide a full review.

The first twenty pages definitely reeled me in. It has the feel of Gossip Girl with a snooty seeming girl as one of the MCs with someone awkward and different from the rest of the student body as the other. I'm very interested in continuing this story and seeing where Devon and Chiamaka's stories take me.

The first thing about Ace of Spades that caught my attention was my love for the stunning cover. Ace of Spades is a mystery/thriller about two students being anonymously bullied after becoming senior prefects at their school. Faridah Abike-lyimide's writing drew me in immediately; it's easy to read, relatable, and descriptive in a way that makes you want to learn more. My favorite part of the book so far is that it's told from dual perspectives so we get insight into both protagonists before watching them work as a team. The cliff-hanger this sneak peek ends with makes me want to preorder Ace of Spade immediately; I definitely need to learn more about these characters and find out who the bully is.

This Review is for the Ace of Spades "Sneak Peek".

From what I read of the sneak peek, I'm going to love this! It's fantastic seeing a black girl as the "Queen Bee" and I love that both our main characters are black with at least one of them being queer. Yay for diversity!

I love that we get a dual-POV and the inner dialogue from such seemingly different characters; Devon feels invisible while all eyes are on Chi! The story seems to pick up right away and I truly wish I'd gotten the full ARC of this because it sounds like it's going to be such a fun ride.

I can't wait for the release day - I'll definitely be picking this one up!

when i tell you how a sneak peak literally got me praying that it's the pub date already? oh my god? this book's got me down so bad i need it ASAP! i just honestly know that a lot of people needs to know about this book and read it, because i genuinely think it's going to be a fun ride

I'm hooked starting from the first page of this sneak peak. I'm so intrigued, I need MORE!

This book is full of diverse characters and a QUEER thriller dealing with racism? I am ALL HERE for this!

I'm so sad I only got to preview the sneak peak, I thought it was the whole book ahaha!

I'm so SO excited for this book, and this sneak peek made me even more excited. I can't wait to see how everything is going to play out!

yoooo this was so brutally good. it took me a while to read, partly because I was just really busy with uni work but also because it was so insanely good and brutal and just aaah. I couldn't just read this in a few sittings. I really had to think about everything I read. Ace of Spades challenges systematic oppression and white supremacy in a dark academia setting which is extremely unsettling. I was so angry while reading this, it's crazy to think these things actually happen still. Ace of Spades was everything I thought it would be. Read this, please

I only read the first few chapters - but OH. MY. GOD. I'm fully invested in the story and cannot wait to see what comes next! As an #OwnVoices reviewer for the novel - I can say the characters were relatable and sparked an emotional connection with me.

I look forward to reading the rest when it's out.

This one was soo good. Im really excited to read the rest of this. I can't wait until June so I can read the rest of this. This is only the sneak peek, so I don't have a lot to say about this one. The writing is nice, and I like the characters. The sneak peek also ends with a cliffhanger that makes me want to read the rest even more.

The sneak peek left me wanting to read more. The character development was written great in the first 3 chapters. The build of the story left me wanting more.

This is really is a peek--it's 23 whole pages, with three chapters, two for Devon and one for Chiamaka. If you want to see the scenario and see if the writing works for you, go ahead and look at this.
Since there was so little, there's not much to say, but I'll say what I can.
Devon and Chiamaka are the only two Black students at the very rich and very white Niveus high school. Both of them are selected as Prefects, with Chiamaka being the Head Prefect for the third year in a row and Devon being picked as a Head Prefect to his great surprise. After that, Devon finds out a photo of him kissing another guy (he's a closeted gay guy) has been leaked, and that's it for plot.
Devon was the more sympathetic of the two for me, and I'm glad the book opens with his perspective. He likes music and his music teacher, but otherwise wants the school to not notice him so he can work on getting into a good college. He's very aware of the privilege his classmates have. I liked him well enough, but two chapters isn't a lot to get majorly endeared to anyone.
Chiamaka is the hard-working queen of the school. Everyone likes her, but she lacks any real friends, which doesn't seem to be a problem for her. I didn't like her very much, even though I could respect her achievements. I wish her voice was a bit more different from Devon's, too.
The writing style is fine. It's first-person present and doesn't get choppy, although the pop-culture similes did get on my nerves a bit. Again, my biggest complaint is that the two protagonists' voices could've been more different, especially because they're both in first-person.

So, yeah, there's a decent bit to say, but this is a 23 page sampler. There wasn't enough time or set-up for me to get invested in anyone or anything.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about this in the very beginning with Devon’s perspective but soon as I started reading Chiamaka’s I felt locked in. So far from what I know, this is a dark academia/gossip girl crossover that is much more diverse and rich. With the little bit that I read, I found myself on the edge of my seat, wanting to read more. I’m looking forward to this coming out so I can devour the rest of it.

I am most interested in watching the relationship between Ruby and Chiamaka and what happens between.. I am curious about whether there are any secrets between them because there seems to be some obvious tension. Overall, I’m excited to see where this book goes because I feel like it has a lot of potential to one of people’s favorite reads of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this Arc in exchange for a honest review...

This cover is everything! It's beautiful and I like the details of both characters. I love private school tropes, I can never put a book down when it comes to them. I truly enjoyed this sneak peek and I can't until the book is released!

The sneak peak of this book makes me want to read more of the story. The premise is intriguing, the characters seem interesting--especially the unapologetically competitive Chiamaka--and the teaser promises developing themes of class conflict, hiding parts of one's identity to fit in, and the costs of competitive high school culture.

The writing itself was a little bit clunky, with a little bit too much exposition and a setting that was hard to picture and understand. The school itself seems a little bit surreal, with a powerpoint that plays school values like the Star Wars preamble during assembly and a student body seemingly unfazed by the overtly menacing new headmaster who has taken over. Despite getting a little bogged down in the details rather than sucked into the story right away, I'm interested to learn more about the dynamics between the students and get to know the main characters more.