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creator-of-calm-queer-chaos · 8 months

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Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Book Review

HOLY CRAP!! It deals with such important topics SO WELL I LOVE IT!!!

Okay here you go:

Fast facts:

Title: Ace of Spades Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Pronunciation Guide: Fa-ree-dah Ah-bee-keh Ee-yee-mee-deh Genre: YA Thriller Rating: 10/10

Review:

When you mix the mystery/thriller quality of One of Us is Lying but better with the complexity of race from The Weight of Blood but better, you get Ace of Spades. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. It genuinely held me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. It deals with genuinely difficult subjects with a skill level I have NEVER seen before. This story is supposed to be dark, and to shove the horrors of systemic racism at you so you cannot ignore them, as so many people do. If you are able, and especially if you are white, I beg you to read this book and to actually think that shit like what happens in the book is real. We see it in slightly more toned down versions more frequently, but this shit happens. It is supposed to be dark. And it is supposed to teach you a lesson about what gets hidden away.

Okay, okay, what's the plot?

Devon and Chiamaka are the only two Black students at Niveus Private Academy, a fancy high school made of white legacy students. Devon is a musician with dreams of getting into Julliard to help his mom and younger brothers get out of their struggling home. Chiamaka is a popular girl who, while her family is well off and stable, doesn't have a legacy to lean back on.

As Devon and Chiamaka enter their senior year, they are made Prefect and Head Prefect, respectively. Chaimaka is not shocked. Devon is. At first, it seems like senior year will work out splendidly.

And then Aces comes into play. An anonymous texter (or texters?) starts sending texts to the entire school with information about Chiamaka, Devon, and a few other students - information that they all thought they had buried deep.

Chiamaka and Devon end up teaming up to uncover a nasty history of racism, secret societies, and discover just how far Aces is willing to go to bring them down.

Told in a dual perspective, this book explores the horrors of systemic racism and what it means to be Black in a world of weaponized white privilege.

DUN DUN DUUUUN!!!!

Seriously though, it is a fantastic book. I read it for a book club and I cannot wait to discuss it.

It deals with some pretty heavy topics, so I will put those, along with how prevelent/how much it is discussed below the cut. Spoilers in the sense of that these topics will be discussed, but no plot details. I would suggest skimming those, or feel free to message me if you just want a yes/no answer about a specific topic.

Again, I want to highlight that this book is dark. It is supposed to be dark. If you read it and think it is a fluffy thriller, you have missed a fundamental part of it. This book is about racism and the depths of white privilege - and weaponizing race.

Check out Àbíké-Íyímídé's website about Ace of Spades here, and where to buy it: https://www.faridahabikeiyimide.com/aos

Potentially triggering topics and how long they are dealt with (spoilers in the sense of these things will come up, no major plot points are revealed. Some small scenes will be spoiled.)

Racism: The entire book (more obviously in the second half) deals with racism. This includes institutions that are explicitly trying to ruin the lives of Black students specifically. This includes benefits of having white legacy parents. This includes what it feels like to have curly hair, and the power that wearing your 'natural' hair can have. This book deals with racism, and it does not hide how terrible it is.

Stalking: Aces stalks Devon and Chiamaka. Like, explicetly stalks them. There are major invasions of privacy that happen. A character is photographed changing - levels of stalking.

Homophobia: There is quite a bit of homophobia throughout the book. A character is non-consensually outed, multiple friendships/relationships are broken because of fear of how people would treat them if they knew they were queer, and a character is beaten up (it's show as a memory) because he is gay (in this scene/memory, he remembers being called slurs)

Bullying: Most of this story is about bullying. I don't know how else to put it. People are assholes in this story.

Toxic friendships: There are many many toxic and fake friendships, including when the main character is the toxic one.

Death/murder: A character killed another character pre-start of the book (we do see this scene in a vivid memory/nightmare, more in this in car accident/death), and that haunts them throughout most of the book. We learn about a group of people who killed at least one person, though we do not know how.

Hate crimes: There is a group of people who commit terrible crimes (including murder, as mentioned above) to people of color. This is a major premise of the book, more explicitly in the second half as the characters figure out what is going on.

Drug dealing: One character dates a drug dealer and works for them at one point. The person they are dating gets arrested later in the story.

Drug use: A character is revealed to have been using drugs, and it is rumored that another character also used drugs. These themes are present for about a page each.

Car accidents/death: A character gets into a car accident with another character that kills someone, and they do not report it. This haunts one of the main characters throughout the story. The accident is described in detail for a few pages, and the character has flashbacks to aspects to this scene multiple times.

Suicidal thoughts/attempts: It is mentioned that a character tried to commit suicide very briefly (the whole conversation lasts less than five lines).

Gun violence: A character is held at gunpoint towards the end of the story. This part lasts about two pages.

Police brutality: It is mentioned that a character is killed by a police officer (we do not know the character who was killed). This part lasts for only a few lines.

Incarceration: A drug dealer above gets incarcerated, and a main character visits them in prison. A main character's father was incarcerated, and we read a memory of the main character visiting their father in prison as well.

Sexual assault: There are two instances where characters were assaulted, one where a character does not remember pictures being taken of them, and another where pictures are found of an unknown character and a character describes the photos as feeling nonconsensual and as if she was being 'used.' Each of these instances are maybe a third of a page long.

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scholar-of-yemdresh · 4 months

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The TERF brigade in the BES fandom makes my skin itch. God forbid you interpret Mizu as transmasc. Like having a different interpretation of the character is somehow taking anything away from cis women. Musty asses already castigated any HCing Mulan as transmasc are you not tired of harassing asian transmascs by now???

Anyway instead of getting cis "people" in your mentions crying about the "evil [white*] transes taking away wombmyn stories". Protect your peace and stan a book series that's got a transmasc asian(fantasy Korean not Japanese) swordsman as one of the main characters, his name is Keun-ju and he's so pookie ☺.

It's called The Crimson Empire trilogy by Alex Marshall. It's a batshit heavy metal dark fantasy trilogy with pretty much every queer imaginable. Also If you can handle the gore/violence of BES then this shouldn't be an issue. The Main character(there are a lot of important characters) is a scarred up brawny bi woman who's in her late 50s/early 60s.

Oh and all those ot3 Mizu/Akemi/Taigen shippers I see you...so Keun-ju is bi and gets into a throuple with a feisty(Low key a dumbass tbh 💀) princess(who's his childhood friend and he's her bodyguard because I know yall eat up that shi) AND a cis guy who he starts out with a pseudo antagonistic/rivalry relationship.

Caveat unlike BES these three do start off the series as teens (16-17/18) but by the end they're all firmly adults.

*Totally ignoring the trans POC specifically the East asian trans people because "transness is a taint forced by white people" or some other bullshit. And it make it easier for the TERFs to pretend they're fighting the "oppressor" if they act like trans poc calling them out on their shit don't exist.

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alinacapellabooks · 5 months

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IT'S FINALLY HERE! THE TENGU AND THE ANGEL IS OUT NOW!

Hello, hello, hello, everyone, I have some very exciting news to share with you all! The Tengu And The Angel, my debut novel, is now finally available to buy! That's right, you can now get your very own copy of my fluffy, angsty, gay friends-to-lovers novel! Oh, but why would you want to, you might be asking? What's the book about! Great questions, my friends, and I'll answer them both for you right now!

The Tengu And The Angel is a friends-to-lovers romance about two roommates falling in love, and learning to let go of their pasts. Eighteen year old Kunio Yoshioka has just fled his abusive mother's home in Northampton, and he's journeying up north in search of a new home, and a fresh start in life. He's armed with nothing but his dreams of being a successful artist, and his vivid imagination. He thinks of his new adult self as a tengu; strong, proud, and capable of things his child self could only dream of. Twenty year old Nathaniel seems to have it all; he's gorgeous, he lives in a beautiful apartment in the centre of Newcastle, and he's the owner and founder of Black Rose, a Victorian gothic online boutique. Kunio thinks of him as angel; he's faultlessly polite and kind, and he goes above and beyond to help him when they first meet, even though he doesn't know him. He's also painfully insecure, and he lives under the thumb of his toxic 'best friend', Theo, who uses his mental illness to control him. When Nathaniel takes Kunio in, the two form a close friendship, which slowly blossoms into love. Can the two of them learn to put their pasts behind, and make their relationship work? Well, you're going to have to read it to find out! Get your copy from Rakuten Kobo, or from the Amazon Kindle Store below!

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pyrogearheartsociety · 1 year

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I’ve seen some absolutely awful takes on The Bastard Son and The Devil Himself on this site so I’m throwing in my thoughts and a few things you should know (the last one contains spoilers!!)

• It’s a loose adaptation, it’s definitely more inspired by the books than a direct adaptation

• IT IS MEANT TO MAKE YOU A BIT UNCOMFORTABLE!!! It’s about politics and racism but in NO WAY is it meant to attack poc or encourage racism!! If you read the books you’d understand that, I also saw someone say the books don’t have a poc main character?? Nathan is described as “olive skinned” that’s considered Type III, Type IV, and Type V ranges of the Fitzpatrick scale and given he has dark eyes and hair he’s most likely in the IV-V range!

• Please at least google the summary of the books or read the first one, it’ll help you understand a bit more

• It’s dark but not as dark as the books, there’s definitely gore but even that is considerably less bad than what’s described in the books

• A bunch of things changed from book to the show (I rebloged someone’s post that had a list before this post, go check it out!!)

• GABRIEL IS 19!! I know he looks older and dated an older guy (iirc 28) but he’s 19 so it’s not actually weird for him to be with someone who’s 17, it’s a 2 year and a couple months difference

• Dear god some of you don’t know what morally grey is and it’s killing me, yes, Soul is a piece of shit but (1) he was trying to protect people at first, he wanted peace (2) he was manipulated by Jessica, she used his previous kindness and his current grief and terror against him (3) he was driven mad at the end by his new ability

#french talks #as someone who’s been in the half bad fandom for over 4 years I’m taken aback by some of you #did you not actually read the books? (to the one person who said there’s no poc mc in them)#it’s meant to be uncomfortable because it’s meant to make you think about our human bullshit #the bastard son and the devil himself #the bastard son & the devil himself #half bad trilogy #nathan byrne #nathan byrn #gabriel boutin #half bad #half lost #half wild

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standardlilith · 6 days

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Hi hello!

I just finished reading Funny Story by Emily Henry and who are y'all imagining as Miles bc in my mind he's Dev Patel and I'm foaming at the mouth 🫣

#one thing about me is i'm gonna imagine the mcs as pocs whether they're written that way or not!!#sad boy dev patel is something i would DEVOUR #i ate that book up it literally took me under 5 hours to read lmao 😬#lili reads #funny story #emily henry #funny story emily henry #emily henry funny story #dev patel #books #bookblr #booklr

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astriddestelle · 8 months

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Anyone else tired of all the popular books being the same five books that all feature the same basic ass white girl with blonde/brunette hair and blue/green eyes. Like where are the brown main character books at that also don’t deal with race

Why can’t it just be a black girl who discovers she’s a witch without and evil racist society, or a Latina girl who finds out she’s part goddess and doesn’t have to decide between her culture or her new powers. An south Asian who has three brothers fighting for her love while she tries to save the world, without racist trauma background.

We getting there but it’s taking forever. Like. If I see one more fucking booktok of the most basic mc and story in existence imma scream.

#booktok #books #mc #white mc #POC mc #black and brown readers deserve love to #Colleen Hoover sucks #acotar sucks #throne of glass #basic ass books #POC authors #fine i’ll do it myself

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vicontheinternet · 8 months

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I’ve come to notice that we can’t have a show/movie that doesn’t center whiteness in some way mainstream or not because white ppl can’t picture themselves in characters that aren’t white while that’s all we had to do

#this isn’t revolutionary #and it’s not a new thing I’ve noticed #but take for example there was a challenge on booktok to read books by bipoc authors they mid to less reviews #saying that it was good but ultimately I couldn’t connect with the mc and that’s a load of bull #because if you know you don’t have an imagination to put yourself in the mc’s shoes why take part in the challenge #like most dystopians ya books are things that have happened to a poc community that a white person is after of happening to them #like katniss was or at least was coded to be indigenous and it makes a lot of sense but ppl can’t wrap there head around it because her mom #and sister are light with light eyes who gonna tell them that indigenous ppl can be light with light eye #the hunger games is African American history ppl always say who would win or what would happen if we ever went into on but-#it already happened to African American ppl in America but nobody wants to talk abt #why do you think they do any other form of interracial relationship besides white and some other ethnicity #late night brainrot #I just had to get that out #my thoughts

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masked-alien-lesbian · 1 year

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If you were to produce a Choices book, what would the genre and premise be and what sort of MC and LI(s) would you go for?

Ooo, I really want a mermaid/man/person book and a superhero book.

For the merperson book, Mc would be goc and pronoun of choice, with a whole new set of faces, with choice of color scales and fin types. The LI would be a choice of 3 goc LIs, a human pirate king/queen, a shark man/woman and a cecaelia (octopus man/woman). I know 3 goc LIs is more than PB would ever do but I think that would please the readers the most, because I would lean more towards a pirate queen and a cecaelia but some wlw would rather a sharkmaid and mlm might prefer a male cecaelia. Though the LIs would be race locked like Julia/Julian from SB so there wouldn't be 12 possible LIs to create. I haven't thought much on the plot of the book but I figured it would be a fantasy action packed book much like BOLAS but underwater, complete with beautiful backgrounds.

For the superhero/villain book, though I'd prefer Hero Vol 2, it's obvious we're not getting that so I'll take anything at this point. But I would like the Mc to get powers and have the choice to use them for good or bad. The mc will be goc and pronoun of choice. The LIs will be gender locked with the ratio equal, 2 guys and 2 girls seems fair? Or do like WTD and have 3 female LIs for once outnumbering the male LIs. I think it would be so deliciously angsty if you choose a LI that's on the different side than the mc. Choose to save the city or take over the city. Choose your powers and your costume colors, I mean it would be soooo fun!

For either book it would fun to set the beginning up like TE and let you choose your sexuality and bypass all the flirting from characters you're not interested in, but also all the diamond scenes would be equal among the LIs so there isn't any Beckett or Ethan Ramsey favoritism.

I also think that a book with multiple LIs with different personalities is best. I can't count how many times the single LI or the only female LI in the book was toxic or just straight up unlikable, so give the readers a choice of LIs and we all are happy!

I always go towards the sweet LIs but this time I would lean towards the mysterious older cecaelia in the sea book and for the superpower book, I would love to be a villain that fights and lures the sweet hero to the dark side lol.

This was a fun ask! Thanks for asking it anon! ♥️

-👽

#Tho I'd like a steampunk theme book too #choices #pixelberry #playchoices #Of course the mcs would all be new faces and body types #The LIs would all be poc #Maybe have a LI or 2 non binary #I want an older LI #I want to play a larger heavy set mc #Scars and imperfections are beautiful

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sams-special-space · 9 months

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2023 Reads: On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Genre: Fiction: Scifi Age Level: Young adult Format: Graphic novel

Summary: A crew travels through space from planet to planet with the goal of repairing broken down structures, chunks of history left behind. As they piece together the past, bits of their own come back to light- including new member Mia, who’s joined the ship in hopes of rebuilding her own history.

Thoughts: AAAA!!!!!

THIS IS SO GOOD BDHBDGJH For context, I read this book over a three-hour flight, during which it was so heavy that I had to use the drop tray to hold it up. And for further context, I’m writing this review months later, and I’m STILL ecstatic over it!!

I think the problem with graphic novels who want to tell a story like this- in which there’s lots of worldbuilding, long character arcs, and a pace that can slow down as needed- is that graphic novels are usually just too short to not feel scrunched. Because of this, most of the best graphic novels are smaller-scale(such as This One Summer). Which is why I’m SO glad that this is so long, because it felt like the absolute PERFECT length for this story. I was so in love the whole way through. The storytelling is great, the writing is wonderful, I loved the way all the characters were written(the found family in this is SO good), and most of all, it’s fucking beautiful. The art style in this is just insane and I was in love with the coloring. Like holy shit!! 100% eye candy. This is just so good and so sweet!!

The only real critique I have is that I felt like the eventual meeting of the MC and another character was a little anti-climatic, but it felt like that was done on purpose since they hadn’t seen each other in years and it WAS a little awkward. Either way, it makes up for it a thousand times over, so I 100% recommend this. Genuinely so good. Losing my mind.

Rating: 5/5 Trigger warnings: Bullying, violence, death and near-death experiences, misgendering. Rep: Sapphic MC + sapphic SCs, wlw romances, non-binary SC, poc SCs.

#graphic novel #scifi #on a sunbeam by tillie walden #2023 reads #queer rep #sapphic rep #non-binary side rep #trans side rep #poc side rep #i don't wanna be dramatic. but i think this is like. a perfect book BSHJFBJHD #ITS SO GOOD!!! PLEASE READ IT #also i'm not completely sure about this #so i didn't include it in the rep section #but i think the MC might be asian? again i couldn't find anything confirming that online. but something to note #book review #fiction

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queenofasgardreads · 2 years

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“I felt a keen sense of pride to be related to her-to Joan West. She was my grandmother, yes, but she was more than that, and it seemed inadequate to call her by a name that said nothing about her accomplishments”.

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo (page 7)

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qbdatabase · 1 year

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Let’s be clear. No matter what her older brother, Robby, says, aspiring screenwriter Tuna Rashad is not “stupidstitious.” She is, however, cool with her Caribbean heritage, which means she is always on the lookout for messages from loved ones who have passed on. But ever since Robby became a widower, all he does is hang out at the house, mock Tuna for following in their ancestors’ traditions, and meddle in her life.

Tuna needs to break free from her brother’s loving but over-bearing ways and get him a life (or at least, get him out of hers!). Based on the signs, her ancestors are on board. They also seem to be on board with helping Tuna win over her crush, Tristan Dangerfield. The only hiccup? She has to do it before leaving for college in the fall. A ticking clock, a grief-stricken brother, and a crush who doesn’t believe in signs. What could possibly go wrong?

#The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad #Natasha Deen #YA books #YA romance #romance #caribbean rep #black rep #poc rep #mlm #mlm rep #(the mc's brother)#daily book #fiction #lgbt fiction #lgbtqia #bookblr

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desdasiwrites · 1 year

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Hero let themself smile as they sat across from Houndstooth and began studying the map. This would be more fun than retirement.

– Sarah Gailey, American Hippo

#book quote of the day #sarah gailey #american hippo #nonbinary #nonbinary love protagonist #the mc has a hippo named ruby what's not to love?#Valentine's day reading recs #1890s #sci fi books #diverse reads #poc rep literature #body diversity #fat/plus sized character #novellas and short stories #River of Teeth

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alinacapellabooks · 6 months

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HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT! THE TENGU AND THE ANGEL RELEASE DATE!

Hello, hello, dear followers, and all else who are viewing this post! I have some very exciting news for you all! My debut novel, The Tengu And The Angel, will officially be releasing on Kobo, and Amazon, on the tenth of December, 2023, so there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to grab your copy! Oh, but why would you want to grab a copy, you might ask? What's the book about? Those are brilliant questions, my friends, and I'm going to tell you the answers right now!

The Tengu And The Angel is a friends-to-lovers romance about two roommates falling in love, and learning to let go of their pasts. Eighteen year old Kunio Yoshioka has just fled his abusive mother's home in Northampton, and he's journeying up north in search of a new home, and a fresh start in life. He's armed with nothing but his dreams of being a successful artist, and his vivid imagination. He thinks of his new adult self as a tengu; strong, proud, and capable of things his child self could only dream of. Twenty year old Nathaniel seems to have it all; he's gorgeous, he lives in a beautiful apartment in the centre of Newcastle, and he's the owner and founder of Black Rose, a Victorian gothic online boutique. Kunio thinks of him as angel; he's faultlessly polite and kind, and he goes above and beyond to help him when they first meet, even though he doesn't know him. He's also painfully insecure, and he lives under the thumb of his toxic 'best friend', Theo, who uses his mental illness to control him. When Nathaniel takes Kunio in, the two form a close friendship, which slowly blossoms into love. Can the two of them learn to put their pasts behind, and make their relationship work? Get your copy, and find out, in December 2023!

Meet The Characters:

Kunio:

Nathaniel:

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bisaster-energy · 2 years

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it's fucking hilarious how mad people can be about hair color like guys PLEASE

#i get u wanna be 'as accurate to the book as possible' but this shit really aint important 😭#plus annabeth overcoming the stereotype of being ''a dumb blonde'' is WAYYYYYY outranked by #um #being a black girl 😐#im so tired of ppl genuinely not wanting a black annabeth and saying it's because of her hair shut up #u want a blonde mc HERE have a blonde percy no dye necessary 💕#let the poc kids have this W im begging u #it's not hurting u 😭#sorry i just had to get this out cos omg u know how ridiculous u sound being genuinely upset about this?? wack #pjo

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kodiescove · 1 month

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Tfw you're books SO good that you wish your attention span was better and you kinda high key wanna buy the next book in the series now instead of waiting even though you're Hella broke.

#the kingdom of copper by shannon chakraborty #the kingdom of copper #shannon chakraborty #islamic fantasy books #islamic books #arabic books #arabic fantasy books #african MC books #poc books #bi books #bisexual books #queer books #fantasy books #books #bookblr #booklr

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alixx-black · 2 months

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Barista Benito y Amigos: The Tales of "The Chipped Coffee Cup" Crew

NEW CHAPTER: A Fist Love Fairytale Benito Ramos is a first generation Mexican-American from a family of hardworking immigrants who have who have pursued a better life together in America. When Tío Carlos opens "The Chipped Coffee Cup" while following his dream, it becomes the backdrop to everything important in Benito's life. From first dates to broken hearts to getting into college and more, follow along as Benito grows through all the wild things that make everyone human This a collection of short stories where each chapter is a self-contained addition to the experiences of Benito Ramos. The characters in this story are bilingual. The primary language of this writing is English but will feature characters speaking Latin Spanish to one another throughout.

#coffeeshop #comingofage #feelgood #fluff #lgbtq #newadult #youngadult #short-story #books #lgbt romance #young adult romance #new adult romance #anthology #poc mc #latin mc

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