Reviews with content warning for Racism - White smoke

I put "psychosis" in the trigger warnings as Marigold has delusional parasitosis and there was no TW option for bugs or delusions. She also has a strong attack of these delusions at least once, which is why I put "panic attacks" (closest thing there).
Anyway, that info aside, I loved the book!! The writing style wasn't 100% my thing, but I loved the horror, the psychological thriller aspects, the characters, and the themes of the story. Also, the sibling dynamics are just the best.

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onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I’m drawn to Tiffany D. Jackson books because the writing is great and there is always a deeper message to glean. White Smoke is YA fiction classified as horror / psychological thriller and it straddled the line between horror and tense thriller. I had both the audio book and the physical book and preferred the audio for the suspenseful moments (doors creaking, etc.). I saw in her interviews that the author’s goal was to scare readers, and there was one part where she succeeded with me. I was sitting in the school parking lot for pick-up while listening to the audio book and the car next to me slammed their door right in a tense part – I jumped in my seat.

In this storyline, we meet teenager Marigold and her newly blended family as they are moving from California to a fictional Midwestern city. Her mom has taken a job that includes a rent-free house as a part of a program to rebuild the neighborhood.

Shortly after moving in, Marigold is noticing odd things about the house, the neighborhood, and the company her mom works for. It’s hard to place if it’s supernatural or someone messing with them and that adds to the suspense. It reminded me of Turn of the Key (Ruth Ware) and These Toxic Things (Rachel Howzell Hall) with a dash of YA high school & sibling drama.

If it were just about the thriller, I’d have enjoyed it and put it in the “liked not loved” category. BUT, of course it wasn’t and I am so thankful that YA books exist to help younger readers develop their critical thinking on systemic issues. This book tells the story of a predominantly Black community torn apart by the War on Drugs, then rebuilt by a large development company who took advantage of the legalization of cannabis to open a dispensary while doing nothing to advocate for the release of people incarcerated on cannabis-related charges. It’s not the focus of the book – it’s first and foremost a thriller – but it’s the undercurrent. Think YA Jordan Peele, which the author said was her goal.

Overall, this is a solid read that is appropriate for a teenager and enjoyable for an adult, if you don’t mind a few scenes where the teens in the book are living in the awkward self-doubt / questionable decision phase of life.

If you are so inclined, there are organizations fighting for the criminal justice reform and the release of individuals with maximum sentences on minor cannibas charges. I suggest following @lastprisonerproject or @rootandrebound if you want to learn more and support their missions.

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mr_cain's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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nerp's review against another edition

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dark informative 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

5.0

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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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

5.0

WHITE SMOKE features Mari, newly moved to small-town Ohio, trying to convince her family that she won't make the same mistakes as before. But the house is creepy, her stepsister is bratty and creepy, and weed is the only thing that might let her stop obsessing that every tiny speck is a bedbug here to ruin everything.

Mari has anxiety and a fixation on bedbugs because of a prior incident. Throughout the story she has panic attacks and ideation about bedbugs, including but not limited to obsessing over whether she's seen them, and trying to cope with the idea of them by thinking about bedbug facts. These serve to both instruct the reader about the pests, if they're not currently aware, and to show what and how much Mari thinks about them. She's also dealing with constant cravings for weed, because it's the only thing that helps her (obviously very severe) anxiety. Half the town's Black folks were locked up years ago for anti-drug laws that aren't laws anymore, which means that even though she might be able to get some, attempting it has higher stakes than it did when she lived in California before.

Mari has a pretty good relationship with her brother, but a very tumultuous one with her stepsister, Piper. She sees everything Piper does as negative and manipulative, even though Piper's behaving well within the bounds of someone would act who is a stressed-out ten-year-old kid in a new place with no friends and a new stepsister who seems to hate her.

One of the most basic questions in any horror story as things slowly get worse is "why don't they leave". The reasons here are relatable, basic, and immediately understandable. The first one is the house they just moved into is part of an agreement for Mari's mother to work on a project there for three years. The house is free... unless they leave early. That alone is enough to justify a hell of a lot, and then other reasons abound from there. The worldbuilding is excellent, truly magnificent. It's the foundation for a late-book reveal which had me in awe, all while being completely consistent with several possible explanations for what's happening, right up until the actual answer is made clear.

The audiobook narrator is excellent, they were a phenomenal part of my experience of the book. Their various voices fit the characters and really brought them to life in way that suited them and the story as a whole.

I have no notes, no quibbles, no qualms. Just a damn good book which any fans of horror/thrillers should read ASAP.

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

i launched into white smoke ready to LOVE it. and i did have fun! there were things that jackson did really, really well (i’d love to explore her other books). but there were a lot of loose threads and big misses for me.

the good:
- atmospheric horror and good building of tension; plus the haunted house elements and general “eerie” feelings
- the commentary on gentrification and criminalization of weed (and the general war on drugs) and manipulation by those in power were well-integrated and definitely digestible for young readers (sometimes a little too hard hitting for adult readers).
- great characterization of our lead, marigold. i felt like we really got to know her.
- exploration of a blended family & the sweetest sibling relationship between marigold and sammy

the not-as-good:
- i was physically pained at the way marigold was treated by her family. it was so heartbreaking to watch them villainize her instead of HELP her. this girl had severe, severe anxiety and paranoia. at not one point does her mother try to bring her to a therapist or get her professional help, and no one explores any further way of supporting her. she’s so desperate to heal her trauma that she is hyper fixating on weed .. and her family (who should be her support system) are just calling her a junkie / drug addict every chance they get. why on earth wouldn’t her parents support her (maybe look into medical marijuana so she could access it safely)?!
- the opening was very, very slow and WAY too much of mari’s internal dialogue was focused on weed and bed bugs. the repetition was hard to get through. there were scary things happening around her .. but she didn’t really decide to get involved until the second half of the book. why was the first 30% SO slow and only for us to get one of the most abrupt thriller endings i’ve ever read?
- while the commentary i mentioned above was great, jackson falls a bit into the trap of wanting to say SO many things (gentrification, war on drugs, mental health, mass incarceration, televangelism, etc. etc.) at once that several threads started getting lost. it ended up getting a little messy.
- i guessed the ending pretty much immediately, which made me frown at some of the bigger plot holes during the buildup. predictability isn’t a negative for me, but the issues with the “twist” were. i also think jackson could have had a bit more fun here; the buildup of horror was so great that i wanted to be a little more shocked and delighted at the ending.
- finally, i felt that the character of piper was a little too “adult-cartoon-villain” level cruel at the start. it was unbelievable .. i wished she’d been given a little more depth at the start. and mari’s treatment of her & the way she spoke about her was so sad, too. like .. definitely call out alec for his bad behavior. don’t be so hateful to the 10 yr old kid who suffered a major loss and has been hopping around from place to place! i wished mari came around to her sooner. i would have loved some sister moments.

CW: racism, panic attacks/disorders, drug use, addiction, fire/injuries from fire, death, phobias

Content Warnings

lupitabaeyongo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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