Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - White Smoke

this was an action-packed thrill from start to finish. there were multiple plots going on at once (some more developed than others), but between all of it, i never got confused. i thought the gentrification subplot was a bit under-developed—there's only so much you can fit in 350ish words. but the main character's PTS/anxiety subplot and the main "haunting" of the book were extremely well-written, well-paced, and compelling. everything totals up to present the horrors of reality. just when you think you know what's going to happen next, you'll be surprised by this book!

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creolelitbelle's review against another edition

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I listened to the first 44 minutes of the 9 hour audiobook, and this is my cautionary tale to myself -- when deciding against a book, do not forget about the negative reviews that caused you to steer clear. Marigold has severe anxiety about bedbugs in the beginning of the book, which I do not want to hear about. I also have no desire to hear about her fixation on weed. I appreciate mental health rep in a book, but as someone who does not experience general anxiety, I do not want to be thrown into the head of someone who is without any warning. The premise of the book says nothing about all this, which could be a draw for those who want to read it and a deterrent for those who rather not.

The blended family is done rather awkwardly as well. Piper and Alec are very much a single unit. I understand Piper acting the way she does, but Alec is an adult who does nothing (at least not in the first bit when they move into the new house) to alleviate the situation with anyone. The last 2 books by Jackson that I read were very good - The Weight of Blood & Monday's Not Coming. This one failed for me with factors that disturb me to experience.

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midnightgremlin's review against another edition

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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

4.0

This is not your average haunted house story, it tackles so much more than simply the fear of living within the walls of home belonging to someone or something else.
I enjoyed the mental health representation of anxiety, panic attacks and obsessive compulsive behaviours attached to anxiety. The way that addiction is portrayed as well, the fact that there is a toll on both the addict/recovering addict and their close friends and family members.
My least favourite characters happened to be Alec and Piper though they both do end up somewhat redeeming themselves by the end of the story.

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typedtruths'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? It's complicated

3.5

▷ Representation: Black mc with anxiety & entomophobia; Black scs.

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maresuju's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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anxious_librarian's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Well that ended abruptly!! (How dare Jackson not include an epilogue!) But oh my gods was it good!

After reading You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight I was craving another scary book and WHITE SMOKE has been on my tbr forever. This is my first time reading Tiffany Jackson, and I can see why everyone loves her writing. The town, the house, the characters, felt flushed out and so real! This book felt so grounded in reality which only made the scary aspects more haunting.

Jackson created a perfect spooky atmosphere. Mari's bedbug phobia and severe anxiety were a clever way to ramp up the feelings of unease surrounding what was going on. You're relatively sure something is going on, but it's never clear which instances are paranormal and which are a result of Mari's own issues.

Speaking of Mari's issues, I really enjoyed how what she was going through connected to Maplewood. There's a lot to be discussed here, from racism, gentrification, targeted legislature. I'm still mulling over everything I read but needless to say I'm going to be thinking about this one for a very long time. I appreciated how Jackson was able to show this community through Mari's eyes. She's not a bad person, but she is flawed and a teenager. Learning to see the bigger picture over thinking of only her own wants was such a well done part of the story.

I only had a few small complaints:
1) I didn't think it was always clear when Mari moved from one part of the house to the other. She'd be in her bedroom and the next sentence she'd be opening the fridge downstairs. It feels like the kind of cut that would work well in a movie but can be jarring in a book. Everything else about the writing was stellar!

2) Not enough interaction between Mari and Piper, who is essentially the antagonist. I get why they're on apposing sides but they still hardly interact, it makes it hard to hate someone we haven't gotten to know. I wanted to throw stepdad in the woodchipper more than I cared about what Piper was doing.

3) Epilogue! We needed an epilogue desperately! Even in the form of a podcast transcript or newspaper clipping I feel like we needed something to wrap things up.

Overall, I'm so happy I finally read WHITE SMOKE. Make sure you don't skip the author's note at the end! It adds some interesting context and has an amazing quote that encapsulates the message of the book.

Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ | Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Here are some quotes I saved [there were more poignant quotes but it's really hard to highlight on CloudLibrary, also I didn't know you could highlight until I'd nearly finished😬]

"Truth is, the ground is spoiled here, always has been." He looks at me. "And you can't grow where you're not wanted."

"Forget it! I'm not going down to the cellar of doom in the middle of the night!"

...spotting the perfect pumpkin right by my boot. "There! Got one." I lift it up in the air. "And I shall name you Sweets and I shall carve your eyes and smile with a steak knife."

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