An Interview with Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Author of Ace of Spades

May 31, 2021 | 12:00 PM

An Interview with Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Author of Ace of Spades

By Team Fierce Reads
An Interview with Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Author of Ace of Spades
Is Gossip Girl one of your favorite shows? Did you love the movie Get Out? Do you devour every thriller you can get your hands on? Then you absolutely won’t want to miss Ace of Spades. But if you need some extra incentive to convince you to add Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut to your TBR, be sure to check out this interview with the author! What makes Chiamaka and Devon fierce? Their courage to dream If you could give Chiamaka and Devon one piece of advice, what would it be? I would tell Chiamaka to not take life so seriously she misses out on just enjoying small moments. I would tell Devon that having no friends is one hundred times better than having one million toxic ones and to value his happiness too, not just the happiness of others. What's the most interesting thing you learned while researching Ace of Spades? The mechanics behind successfully committing arson. If you'd met Chiamaka and Devon as a teen, would you have been friends? I think Chiamaka would have been mean to me and I don’t think Devon would have been very interested in being my friend (he probably would have found me a bit too chaotic for his tastes)—I was a very hyper nerdy teenager, someone that wouldn’t have vibed at all with Devon or Chiamaka. What's one fun fact most people don't know about you? I am the biggest music fan and could not live without it. I  listen to every genre of music, classical music, kpop, rock, afrobeats—music is literally my life. What's your favorite part of being an author? Getting to make stuff up that other people get to enjoy. What's the most challenging part of being an author? Having to make stuff up in a way that people will like and understand. Which 3 YA characters would you want to help you solve a mystery? Pip from A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, Ishu from Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar and Deka from The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna What 3 words would you use to describe Ace of Spades? Dark, queer, chaotic But that's not all! There's more of our interview with Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé waiting for you on the Fierce Reads blog, so go check it out. Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully. When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too. Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures. As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly? With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

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