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A review by catearca
Up in Smoke by Nick Brooks
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the copy of Up In Smoke, this review reflects my personal thoughts.
Up In Smoke is a YA mystery/thriller in which we follow main character Cooper in his quest to solve a crime before his best friend is charged for it. These characters live in a rough neighborhood in Washington, while protests over the recent killing of a black teen have been happening more and more often. Cooper gets involved in something he shouldn't and that ends up putting him closer to the crime than he expected. This gets even more complicated when the person helping him solve the crime is his best friend's sister, Mo, who also happens to be Cooper's long time crush.
This book follows two black teenagers trying to find the truth in a web of ever more complex clues and red herrings, where police are involved and a lot seems to be at stake.
Some things in this book worked for me, while others sadly fell a little flat.
The teens appeared to be teens, which I appreciated, they sounded like teenagers and they acted like teenagers most of the time too. Yet they got into situation that need a little too much suspension of disbelief for my taste. Very few consequences and a road to the answer that seemed a little too easy to navigate.
The mystery itself was interesting and well constructed, but the pace felt at times a little too rushed.
The chemistry between the two main characters was there, I didn't particularly think it was a true "forbidden romance" but I was rooting for them since the beginning.
I thought overall it was a good quick read with some messages that at times they did feel a little "holier than thou" but that are still important to write about. It reads really quickly and I would definitely recommend it to a younger audience, who I think would enjoy it more than I did. The quick pacing would really help new readers stay hooked on the plot.
Up In Smoke is a YA mystery/thriller in which we follow main character Cooper in his quest to solve a crime before his best friend is charged for it. These characters live in a rough neighborhood in Washington, while protests over the recent killing of a black teen have been happening more and more often. Cooper gets involved in something he shouldn't and that ends up putting him closer to the crime than he expected. This gets even more complicated when the person helping him solve the crime is his best friend's sister, Mo, who also happens to be Cooper's long time crush.
This book follows two black teenagers trying to find the truth in a web of ever more complex clues and red herrings, where police are involved and a lot seems to be at stake.
Some things in this book worked for me, while others sadly fell a little flat.
The teens appeared to be teens, which I appreciated, they sounded like teenagers and they acted like teenagers most of the time too. Yet they got into situation that need a little too much suspension of disbelief for my taste. Very few consequences and a road to the answer that seemed a little too easy to navigate.
The mystery itself was interesting and well constructed, but the pace felt at times a little too rushed.
The chemistry between the two main characters was there, I didn't particularly think it was a true "forbidden romance" but I was rooting for them since the beginning.
I thought overall it was a good quick read with some messages that at times they did feel a little "holier than thou" but that are still important to write about. It reads really quickly and I would definitely recommend it to a younger audience, who I think would enjoy it more than I did. The quick pacing would really help new readers stay hooked on the plot.