on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
- Get link
- Other Apps
Young Adult. Realistic Fiction. Mystery.
Rating: 4/5
Started: 15 June
Finished: 16 June
Summary:
When secrets they very much wish to keep hidden are texted to their entire rich private school by someone known only as "aces," students Chiamaka and Devon must find who is behind it all before their chances at a future are completely ruined. But between the school's toxic culture of normalizing knocking people down in order to succeed, and being the school's only two Black students, Devon and Chi struggle with who to trust.
Thoughts:
The first half was hard to get into. The second half was wild and a little bit heartbreaking. There were no character interactions that brought me joy — which is one of the things that I generally need in order to really enjoy a book— but I was surprised to find that, by the end of the book, despite not caring much about the protagonists themselves, I did care about the story. It was suspenseful, and while the mass-texts exposing people's worst secrets felt a little unoriginal, especially combined with being the anonymous exposers being called "aces" (a little to reminiscent of A from Pretty Little Liars, perhaps?) the farther I got into the book, the more unique it felt. The school felt pretty dry, but apparently that was intentional, and the layers of racism and homophobia were as interesting and integral to the plot as they were horrifying. Overall, I wouldn't read this book again, but I'm glad I did.