Reviews tagging 'Murder'

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

27 reviews

hokulani_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

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!

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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

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! 

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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

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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

onemamareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Read my review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/white-smoke

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cass_lit's review against another edition

3.5

Ok. I have some loves and some dislikes here. 

What I loved:

• The haunted house. I love a haunted house. Especially when the twist is something like this (and I really wasn’t expecting it here!). I was scared, which means it did its job. 
• The underlying critiques and commentary on gentrification and the “war on drugs.” There was some really great parallels, although they weren’t as explored as I would have liked (more on that in a few).
• The happy ending that two (🥲) of our characters got.

What I disliked:

• I get that our narrator is a teenager, but the evil step family plot had me so annoyed. Maybe it’s because I’m from a blended character, but it seemed pretty obvious from the very first intro to her (and later brought up) that Piper’s dramatics are coming from a sad, scared 10-year old who is mourning her old life (and her grandma) and having to do it all alone while it seems like her dad has her stepmom and her step siblings have each other. I was so sad for her basically the entire book. 
• While I hated the weaponization of Marigold’s past against her and I am generally pro-weed personally, I get where the adults’ concern for a 16-year old who has struggled with stronger drug addiction comes from. And again, I know she’s a teenager, but she was getting kinda woe is me there for a bit.
• The END. It just ENDS. There was literally so much left unsaid and undone? I don’t know what’s happening to everyone else. I don’t know what’s happening to the town. I would love for the issues with the mob boss family to have been spread far and wide, and for the issue to be fully addressed to the world. I don’t even know if I know what happened to our unsung hero? Which is cool if there’s a sequel planned (I haven’t seen anything about one), but a lot of it could’ve just been wrapped up with a nice epilogue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury

lovealwaysadi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Racism, Excrement, Grief, and Alcohol

whatiqreads's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury