When I heard that there was going to be a book about an all-asexual online group of friends attempting to break into a high-stakes gambling club, I couldn’t believe my luck. Aces Wild follows Jack Shannon, who is faced with a new and scary reality: his mother, the seemingly untouchable owner of one of the most popular casinos on the Las Vegas strip is charged with fraud and sent to jail, which causes Jack’s entire family life to blow up. Determined to get revenge on his mother’s behalf and sure that he knows who snitched to the cops—a rival casino owner and Jack’s mother’s old boyfriend, Peter Calevaro—Jack summons his group of online best friends who all happen to be ace—his Aces Wild.
I think there’s much to be said about expectations when it comes to novels and mine were incredibly high considering the way this was pitched as “asexual Kaz Brekker (from Six of Crows) does a Las Vegas heist with his asexual crew”. And that in part was why I felt a bit disappointed with the novel overall. I was so hyped for a heist which…we don’t really get and I was so excited to find myself represented not in one, but multiple characters in a YA book but due to the relatively large cast of characters and the story predominantly focusing on Jack’s somewhat solipsistic attitude throughout most of the story, we didn’t really get to know the other characters beyond a few defining traits and a key moment here or there between them and Jack that solidified their presence in Jack’s life—and in Vegas.
Overall, the relationships and characters felt a bit underdeveloped and I would have loved a bit more depth to it all because I could see so much potential in all the characters and how they became almost this found family around Jack. Similarly, I would have wished for a bit more when it came to the explanation/exploration of asexuality. While I’m versed in the topic (lol, obviously since it’s my community), it felt almost brushed off in the novel as the only explicit explanation that’s ever been given is that being ace means “the lack of sexual attraction”…true, but most of these characters belong to different places on the asexual spectrum and a bit more nuance would have added a lot here for readers that are unfamiliar with the term. But again, that was totally a “it’s me, not the book” situation because the book wasn’t focused on sexual identities and I went into it with the wrong expectations.
All that being said, I still had a really good time reading Aces Wild. Though this debut did fall into the dreaded “telling rather than showing” pitfall, especially with Jack’s characterisation, there are a lot of elements this story had going for it: Dewitt knows how to create an intense atmosphere and visualises the characters’ surroundings in depth that you can picture them plotting together. By far my favourite part were the excerpts we get to see from Jack’s online chat with his ace friends and their banter in-person that was just as fun as via the internet. I also liked how realistic this online friendship was portrayed throughout the story—how sometimes friends who live thousands of miles away can feel closer to you than the people right next to you and how chaotic a friend group like that can be—as well as the pressure and anxiety that comes with meeting them for the first time in real life.
There’s also a lot of growth on Jack’s part as he muddles his way through this new crisis his family is facing and is testing his boundaries with his sisters and his fraught relationship with one parent while the other is in jail. There are also some twists and turns and unexpected helpers along the way that kept the plot moving fairly quickly and didn’t allow any dull moments to drag down the pace. We even get a little romance between Jack and one of his friends and I loved how their being asexual was still validated after their romantic interactions—I know that’s going to mean a lot to readers everywhere. All in all, Dewitt shows great potential in Aces Wild and I’m excited for what’s to come from this new voice in YA.
Featuring a Las Vegas casino heist, a chaotic crew of asexual teens and twisted family relationships, Amanda Dewitt’s debut Aces Wild offers a fun romp with a witty and vulnerable main character and a love letter to internet friendships.
Aces Wild is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 6th 2022.
Will you be picking up Aces Wild? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
What happens in Vegas when an all-asexual online friend group attempts to break into a high-stakes gambling club? Shenanigans ensue.
Some people join chess club, some people play football. Jack Shannon runs a secret blackjack ring in his private school’s basement. What else is the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul supposed to do?
Everything starts falling apart when Jack’s mom is arrested for their family’s ties to organized crime. His sister Beth thinks this is the Shannon family’s chance to finally go straight, but Jack knows that something’s not right. His mom was sold out, and he knows by who. Peter Carlevaro: rival casino owner and jilted lover. Gross.
Jack hatches a plan to find out what Carlevaro’s holding over his mom’s head, but he can’t do it alone. He recruits his closest friends—the asexual support group he met through fandom forums. Now all he has to do is infiltrate a high-stakes gambling club and dodge dark family secrets, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right?
