Reviews tagging 'Racism'

White smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

97 reviews

danaslitlist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Never in my life have I wanted to kick a child more than I wanted to kick Piper.

This is my second book by Tiffany D Jackson after reading The Weight of Blood and I think that did this one a disservice. Because I absolutely loved TWoB so much it was going to be hard for any book by her to be as good. It’s not that White Smoke isn’t entertaining, it’s just that TWoB was so great this one pales a bit in comparison.

However! I highly recommend this one as well. This is the tension and gaslighting  of  Rebecca  meets  the eeriness and unsettling atmosphere of Get Out.  There were plenty of moments that had the hairs standing up on the back of neck and me shaking my head saying “nope nope nope”, in the best way. Marigold is unreliable, unlikable character (for the first half) who gets you on her side due to the behavior of the majority of her family. I think this works really well to allow the reader to feel isolated and trapped within the events just like Mari.

I think the ending was a bit sudden and wish there was more of a dedicated conclusion but for those who don’t mind that type of conclusion there won’t be a problem. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Drug use

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Death and Animal cruelty

librarybookscene's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.5

Creepy. Upsetting. Real. This book is about a haunted house in a community that has been destroyed by greed, power, classism and racism. My heart was in my throat several times. Great YA horror story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Murder, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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

onceandfuturereaders's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Okay, I started this as an audiobook and I’m so glad I switched to the digital copy instead (shoutout to my library for having both available at the same time) because there’s no way I would have been sleeping after listening to this whole book. It’s super creepy! 

This was an excellent spooky season read - it’s got haunted vibes, mixed with a mystery, mixed with relatable drama in a newly blended family. I was truly not expecting to be as creeped out as I was (in the best way). I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say my biggest complaint is that the ending felt very rushed and open to interpretation vs being tied up nicely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Addiction, and Drug use

ecn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

Maybe I’m a sucker for spooky/ghost stories, but this book was SO good. The twists were interesting and gave me what I wanted out of a story - to the point where I didn’t even mind the predictable parts

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Classism, Addiction, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury

thehappylittleelf's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

This was awesome. In my perfect world, I would've booked a bed & breakfast in an ancient with a roaring fireplace with nothing but the fire and my book light to read this book. It's creepy and suspenseful and the way the conflicts in the book are executed perfectly to take advantage of Marigold, the main character's, weaknesses created a compelling and tense story. Some people thought the ending was too abrupt, but I thought it was appropriate. 
I'm a new fan of Tiffany Jackson. I will absolutely read her other books. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Gaslighting

queenshrike's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

Rather slow to start. I feel for Mari more than I like her. There were so many threads here that you could have potentially just made 3 books about each storyline and then connected them.

It ends so abruptly that I can't even really say I finished it. It leaves room for a sequel simply with all the loose ends.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

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.

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism