Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Giftig rök

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Giftig rök by Tiffany D. Jackson

135 reviews

meant2breading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is the level of horror I can handle reading, more eerie and mysterious that is chilling and thought provoking vs. lots of describing gory or grotesque visuals. Jackson is a great storyteller!! I loved that we felt the suspense and energy of the house and town immediately so it was a book I didn’t want to put down. I read this in about 8-9 hours. White Smoke felt like an easy read, but the author does a great job at tying in complex individual and societal struggles such as addiction, mental health struggles, social injustice, systemic racism, and gentrification.

The only reason this wasn’t a higher rating for me was due to the ending.

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dragoninwinterfell's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson was the perfect creepy read to end October with.

This novel intentionally hits the haunted house story beats with a family moving to a new town to live in the mysterious house that is the subject of local urban legends. I love how Jackson had her heroine Mari note this even as those typical conventions are turned on their head as the overall take away is that the true monster is systemic racism.

The strongest elements of this novel are the characters and complex relationships. Mari is an excellent protagonist to follow this horror mystery with. She is a teenager struggling with intense anxiety and drug addiction as well as the divorce of her parents and the blending of her family with a stepfather and sister. With all of that in play, it's actually realistic that she not come to the right conclusion with every clue and that those around her struggle to believe what she says. Even Mari, and therefore the reader, doubts what she's seeing and hearing as they could be impacted by her high anxiety and paranoia or her drug usage.

I particularly appreciated the way Jackson depicted Mari's anxiety since that's something I struggle with too. So, I could relate with many of her coping strategies and the feeling of being triggered. This heightened stakes of the story for me as the tension escalated.

I do think that Jackson pulled some punches. But I can more easily get past that when it comes to a young adult novel than I could with an adult novel. Otherwise, the story, characters, and dynamics were very realistic.

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kit_kat006's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Oufff, I really really want to love this. It was underwhelming. Clearly, do not read this if you have anxiety related to bed bug. I had a lot of trouble getting into the story. Once a got into it, I just felt let down by the ending. What was this end?

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quinnpjd930's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Another knock-out from Tiffany D. Jackson! A haunted house horror that will have you thinking one it's going one way and then another and another.

Mari is a flawed protagonist, dealing with anxiety, obsession/trauma of bedbugs, and weed addiction. Nevertheless, she's still a character you root for as her house becomes more and more haunted. Once again you kind of want to slap the adults because they. do. not. listen!

So the annoying adults and the abrupt (in my eyes) ending are the only reasons I have for giving this a 4.75 instead of a full 5.

I read a good portion of this at night and would say it's on the creepy/eerie side rather than full-on scary, nor is it a gore fest. However, since Mari is absolutely terrified of bedbugs there are a lot of detailed descriptions of bed bugs so if you're squeamish about bugs as I am proceed with caution.

And one last thing for sensitive souls:

Breathe easy because the dog does live

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hokulani_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i was so blown away by the end. i guess i always am with jackson’s books. i think it tackles problems like corruption and the united states’ justice system very well.

i thought at first it was more of a tame haunted house read but by the end i knew it was so much more.

i could appreciate how each character is written differently and they all had their own flaws. in the end it teaches a lesson of how everyone’s human, and forgiving and growing forward is important. also not being afraid to speak out.

something else i liked about the book was how mari’s “incident” was hinted towards and was slowly revealed towards the end of the book.
jun 25 2024

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