Review: Aces Wild: A Heist by Amanda DeWitt (Spoiler-Free)

~ Thank you so much to Peachtree Teen for an early copy in exchange for an honest review! RELEASE DATE: September 6 ~

'If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times... coaches don't play.'

I'm so sad I didn't rate this higher. I've had my eyes on this release from the moment I heard about it. I mean, seriously, you show me "modern-day asexual Kaz Brekker" and have "heist" in the title and I'm sold. But unfortunately, much like Portrait of a Thief I think this book fell victim to inaccurate marketing which is such a shame because there is definitely an audience for what this book really is, if only it was pitched that way.

So while this isn't really a heist story, it is a cute coming-of-age story about an online queer (ace) friend group. It reads quite young and I think a lot of middle or high schoolers would enjoy it more than older readers (which is completely fine! it's YA!).

The characters are a little flat and I wanted more from the plot. I think committing to a character-driven story or a plot-driven one would have worked better than trying to meld both.

Overall, I'm so grateful for being given the opportunity to read this early and I hope it finds the audience that I know will love it!