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torihbu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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 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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
midnightgremlin's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Hate crime
diannasbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.75
The narration in this book was amazing!!! The story was amazing! This story had so many layers to it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
maresuju's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
stacy_27_'s review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I know I would never be in a horror novel because after the first plate move or spooky hand I would be goneeeee.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Fire/Fire injury
anxious_librarian's review against another edition
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."
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."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
ashleytalksbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.75
I’ve had this book for over a year but finally started and finished it in one day after The Weight of blood. I’m officially a Tiffany D. Jackson Stan and am going to read all her other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury
stephanielee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Teen Mari moves with her mother, stepfather and 10 year old stepsister from California to the midwest. Immediately Mari feels like something is off about the house and neighborhood they are in and then she also has to deal with her stepsister Piper being bratty while trying to fit in. We don't know at first what happened to Mari in California, but it is alluded to that she did something bad. We eventually find out what happened to Mari and it is important in understanding why she acts and feels the way she does. When Piper starts talking to a "friend" who doesn't like Mari and wants her gone, Mari starts trying to find out what is wrong with their house. With the help of a friend she makes, they dig into the history of the town and the house and find more than they ever expected to uncover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury
chris_reads's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Drug use and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Racism, Self harm, Stalking, and Classism
achay91's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Toxic relationship