Amanda DeWitt

Las Vegas meets Six of Crows, when Jack Shannon assembles a crew of asexual teens he met through fandom forums and leads them on a heist to prove his incarcerated mother was set up by a rival casino owner. 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 break into Carlevaro’s inner sanctum and find what he’s holding over his mom’s head, but Jack’s going to need help. He recruits his closest friends, his online asexual support group, to form his team. All he needs to do is infiltrate a secret high stakes gambling club, save his mom, and dodge any dark secrets about his family he’d rather not know, while hopelessly navigating what it means to be in love while asexual. Easy, right? From debut author Amanda DeWitt comes a gripping, suspenseful casino heist, starring an entire crew of asexual teens!

A Heist

Aces Wild

*It was just brought to my attention that there is an ableist plot point in the ARC of this book. I don’t know how I skipped over it, but I apologize for not noticing it on my own. Peachtree Teen has announced that they will be correcting this.*

While this book took a little while for me to get into it, it was definitely worth it in the end. I really loved the entire friendship aspect throughout the book. This was a very fast and super fun read. 

Moving on, the heist wasn’t this ‘omg super awesome adventure’ type of heist. This was a group of like modern day teenagers trying to potentially pull of a “heist”, which I felt this book captured very well. 

The characters were all super great. My favorite was either Lucky or Remy. They are all asexual, hence the title name (along with the whole blackjack thing).. Remy is non-binary and they’re able to read Jack like a book. Gabe is the oldest (18) and constantly teased for being ancient. Georgia is the mediator and very good at handling feelings. Lucky had the most personality and I loved it. Jack needs therapy and maybe some more group hugs.

Overall, I loved this book. It made me laugh and while it was somewhat predictable, it was still enjoyable and amazing to see more asexual representation in such a fun book.

An absolutely fun read, and so refreshing to read an ace-positive book, let alone an ace-centric one.

Protagonist Jack is a bit of an aspiring Kaz Brekker, though in personality he’s a bit more like Wylan. There is more of a “heist vibe” than a specific heist, and the vibrant setting provides all the highlights of Vegas without ever having to go to Vegas. Win-win.

Liz Griffin

An absolutely fun read, and so refreshing to read an ace-positive book, let alone an ace-centric one.

Protagonist Jack is a bit of an aspiring Kaz Brekker, though in personality he’s a bit more like Wylan. There is more of a “heist vibe” than a specific heist, and the vibrant setting provides all the highlights of Vegas without ever having to go to Vegas. Win-win.

I liked the beginning and end but the middle was boring... the big reveal at the end wasn't super revealing.

Brooke Barnett

Amanda  DeWitt

thank you to peachtree, peachtree teen, and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

aces wild: 80% friendship, 17% heists, 3% mentions of moms.

when i first heard about this book many moons ago, i nearly fell out of my seat due to the premise alone. a mostly aspec cast going on a heist, getting into messes and whatnot. sign me up , please and thank you!

and now here we are today, i’ve just finished reading my arc of this lovely little gem. this book may not be my perfect cup of tea (odd pacing, lackluster ending, etc — we’ll get into that.), but what i can tell you is that it does a few things i adored. first, as i think all my fellow aspec people adore (this is just a personal theory via anecdotal evidence, don’t take this as gospel haha), we’ve got a beautiful little found family happening. i love how it’s portrayed a little community of aspec characters, all with varying experiences/labels, who have bonded over together about their shared niche and nerdy interests. a group who happens to be brought together because they’re ace and not because that’s their only shared trait.

but okay, let’s move on our main man jack. because boy oh boy is he a character. he grew on me throughout the book for sure, mostly because i truly related to his unstoppable disaster ace energy. it’s truly a vibe, and i was here for it. however sometimes his narration was a bit much, especially when trying to break the fourth wall. unfortunately, it just brought me out of the story more than enhancing it.

and okay, while we’re at it, lets mention a few things that irked me. i guess the obvious one is that the ending felt… unfinished. we didn’t receive much of a conclusion with a will they/won’t they situation. as much as that final chapter attempted to tell us not to worry about it, i just can’t?? i also just found the pacing to be a bit off. this was mostly in tandem with the ending, which just felt a bit rushed. i guess i just wanted to learn more about our aces wild group as flawed but fleshed-out individuals (and their group dynamics) before heist shenanigans began. we really didn’t get much.

but, all in all, despite its flaws, i think this book is a beautiful little addition to an ever-growing index of aspec literature. i cannot wait to see what amanda dewitt writes next. this was a strong debut from an author that is definitely on my radar now.

Aces Wild A Heist

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