Aces Wild is a book that’s been on my TBR since before it was released in 2022 and I just never got around to it – but I never forgot about it! I was in the mood for something different so decided to finally pick this one up and y’all have been sleeping on this one! It was so much fun!
Title: Aces Wild
Author: Amanda DeWitt
Series: Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Queer, Mystery, Thriller
Aces Wild, summed up, would be this – teen asexual heist story. I don’t know about you, but ace rep or heist alone would be enough to interest me, but put them together!? SOLD! This book works so well!
Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack club at his boarding school – and he’s very good at it, because he comes from a Las Vegas casino family. He doesn’t have any “real life” friends at school, but that doesn’t matter because he has a tight group of online friends. When he gets the call his mom has been arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime, he immediately goes home to Vegas.
He knows his mom is too slick to have gotten caught without someone framing her, and he knows who that is, he just has to figure out how to prove it. This is where his online friends come in. He’s allowed to “invite some friends” over per his older sister/guardian so why not invite these people he’s never met irl before!
All of his online friends are also asexual, just like Jack, which is how they became friends in the first place. I love love loved the ace rep in this book and how it was there, but not forced on you the entire story. Jack may have a crush on one of the people in his friend group, but isn’t sure how to articulate that and he has to work through being ace and having a crush. But they have bigger problems, like how to be teenagers and get into casinos and gambling dens.
This is a fast paced heist story that I never wanted to put down, I always needed to know what was going to happen next! I loved the friendship of this group and it shows how even if you’ve never met before in person, you can still know someone else from talking online.
The only complaint I have is the ending felt too rushed and cleaned up a little too easily – but I really enjoyed the journey of this book and that’s what really matters in my mind.
I really enjoyed the narrator for this story and thought it was well done! Would recommend the audio, but you wouldn’t miss out if you didn’t listen.
My Rating:
If you’re looking for asexual representation with high action heist story, look no further! While I wouldn’t call this the best ace rep I’ve ever seen, I would say its very good and well done. The heist part of this is so fun and I never knew what would happen next!
Frayed Books 