Reviews tagging 'Gore'

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

18 reviews

wrensreadingroom's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.25

Not my favorite Tiffany D Jackson book, but still really, really good! Setting Marigold up as an unreliable narrator was an excellent decision in terms of adding to the sense of dread throughout the novel, not only because you couldn't tell whether the horror elements/the supernatural was in her head or real until closer to the end of the story. The looming, constant presence of a darkness both internal and external kept the suspense up throughout, and made me genuinely worried for this child who is regularly ignored or disbelieved by the adults in her life. I wish that some of the interpersonal character relationships were treated differently; I don't think this story needed a romance element, and that in fact it detracted from page space that could better have been spent developing Mari's familial bonds with her siblings (esp. with Piper; I feel like we should've known more about that from the jump), and that the complicated and sometimes shitty way Mari treats all her friends would've been betrayal enough in Yousef's eyes without adding in the element of "he has a crush on her and feels used and betrayed". The twist of the

rich white folks planning to take over the town, push out the Black population, and use the citizens themselves to burn down a neighborhood to make the takeover easier

felt incredibly real, and I loved the ending note of the story was one of taking action against it. This story was about Mari surviving. What comes after is a different story, one that may be even more fraught. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism and Classism

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

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

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

psistillreadyou's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Police brutality, Racism, and Gore

Minor: Pedophilia

hollyk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

WHAT WAS THAT ENDING???????

The ending felt a little messy and several threads were not tied up or even given a hint at what could potentially happen.

Really good though, creepy, and horror-filled. This book also tackles addiction, so be warned if that is a trigger for you

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry

thatenbyisisreads's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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? No

4.0

This book had a bit of a slow start for me, but it picked up eventually. I made the grave mistake of reading this at night and I had to double check that I was alone in my room.. Don't be like me unless you like scaring yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Child death

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

My biggest gripe is the ending. I would have liked to see what happened directly after the events of the last chapter,  when

The Foundation is finally exposed

. Maybe the author left it ambiguous because in real life, those with money, power and privilege usually win.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Pedophilia

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Drug use, and Violence

emily_mh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I could not put this book down! It was so gripping and fast-paced. Jackson did a superb job at crafting a super tense, atmospheric storyline that was rooted in and explored systemic racism. The MC of the story, Mari, was so dynamic and undergoes really meaningful development. I also liked the focus on sibling relationships. I cannot wait to read more of Jackson’s backlog because this has just solidified to me how much I enjoy her writing. 

I docked a half star because at first the plot is a little directionless, and the ending could have done with a bit more resolution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Racism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gore, Classism, Violence, Cursing, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Colonisation, Excrement, Sexism, Transphobia, Vomit, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death, Car accident, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Rape, Child abuse, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Child death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Confinement

Graphic warnings for insects, gentrification, imprisonment, anaphylactic shock, divorce Moderate warnings for eye trauma, sleep paralysis, self injury, blackmail, missing loved one Minor warnings for loss of a loved one, bomb, menstruation, theft Use of the ableist s-slur. It is my understanding there is a different culture around this word in the US? But I don't know why it was not edited out in the UK/Commonwealth copy.

jackelz's review

dark mysterious medium-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

This was creepy AF. That’s it. That’s my review. 

 

Tiffany D. Jackson is an auto-buy author for me. What I love most about her books is that she brings up some seriously heavy topics but doesn’t do the thinking for you. 

 

In White Smoke, Jackson brings up how marijuana laws, mass incarceration, and gentrification disproportionally affect people of color. These laws have sent a majority of the town’s population to jail. None of these issues are fully addressed, because BIPOC are exhausted, and that’s not the plot of the story. Jackson just plants ideas in your head and inspires you to do the work. 

 

I loved Mari’s character development. She had a lot of shit to figure out, and the creepy new house didn’t help matters. Sammy was the best little brother. And I loved the platonic friendship between Yusef and Mari. 

 

Also, can we talk about Piper for a sec? She was the absolute worst. I know this was done intentionally, but I just can’t get over how much I disliked her as a character. She was a snobby, little (white) brat and she got away with everything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse and Kidnapping

Additional content warnings: extreme phobia/delusional parasitosis (bed bugs), accidental overdose, sleep paralysis, gentrification, predatory prison systems, child endangerment, anaphylactic shock, attempted murder