Ace of Spades was one of my most anticipated releases of this year. The premise sounded incredible: "Gossip Girl meets Get Out" instantly intrigued me.

Many thrillers I've read had some pretty forgetful characters, but that really wasn't the case with Ace of Spades. Chiamaka and Devon really stood out for me. I instantly connected with them. Their development and how they come together to stop Aces was so interesting to read about.

Chiamaka was immediately, from the first chapter, my fave character in this book. I love popular mean girl characters and find them really fun to read about, and Chiamaka did not disappoint. Her entire character development, with her journey of owning her Blackness rather than squashing it down to fit in, was so brilliantly written.

I'm still in awe of how this book manages to slowly up the stakes and build tension in such a natural and compelling way. That creeping feeling of unease, of how you never know who to trust, was created so perfectly that it made me want to never stop reading until I reached the ending.

And the ending doesn't disappoint!! While I did guess some of the plot points, most of them were so unexpected and shocking. Every few pages, I was screaming about something!!

Faridah expertly tackles systematic oppression, class, sexuality, white supremacy, and racism within the pages of this heart-racing thriller. I honestly can't remember the last time a book had me quite as stressed as this one did. This is one of my favorite reads of this year, and Faridah is one of my new auto-buy authors!! I honestly can't recommend this book enough!!

Also, this would make an incredible TV show or movie!! When I'm reading a book, I don't really think about how it would work as an adaptation, but this one is perfect for like a teen-drama Netflix show!! I hope this gets adapted someday!!