Reviews tagging 'Racism'

White smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

97 reviews

cheerful_bursts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.75

I did a mix of audiobook and text. This book definitely gave me the spooks when reading it at night. It kept me curious and wanting more. It was a great mix of mental health, fact, and lore. The audiobook was cast well but the narrator didn’t always correctly capture the emotions. Id definitely give it a reread. 
An animal is effected in the book, check spoilers

No animals die in the book.

Does the ending wrap up? check spoiler:

Ending isn’t conclusive on all plot points

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Extreme Gentrification

lovestory26's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

emably's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

The pacing was slow at first, but manageable. Once it really started to pick up, it ended abruptly with little resolution. Lots of small pieces of the plot felt like they were given a lot of importance only to never be elaborated on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Blood, and Gaslighting

jnxd_'s review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

chilling & mysterious and keeps you reading but overall didn’t enjoy it. Mari is basically Rue who got clean but still in desperate need of a therapist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

saldre's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

White Smoke is a well written YA horror book with quirky, relatable characters that you care about. I enjoyed the spooky haunted house parts of the book and the mystery around it. The author did a good job accurately representing anxiety/panic attacks and substance abuse issues. I truly felt Mari's anxiety about bed bugs. In addition, there are some important topics discussed including gentrification, racism, blended/interracial families, etc. The only part I didnt like was the twist and abrupt ending to the book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

I loved this book so so much. I absolutely could not put this down. I ended up reading it in one sitting it was just so good. It gave me very paranormal activity vibes but honestly the ending was so much scarier. Definitely gave me chills. 

Since I can't add it in the content warnings there is definitely a lot of talk of bugs which can definitely be a bit uncomfortable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Child abuse

cyan_altaria's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

This book was ok, but some of the character's actions seemed off.  The mom seemed to be significantly more concerned about Mari's weed habit than her debilitating anxiety, which didn't sit right.  Piper was incredibly annoying, and I didn't have any sympathy for her, even when I was supposed to at the end.  She felt too immature for a ten year old, and she did somethings that she barely got punished for, like breaking Mari's incense.  The book also doesn't feel like it has a complete ending.  It should have gone on for a few more chapters, or at least have had an epilogue.  Finally, too many bedbug facts.  I get it's one of Mari's ticks, but it should have been toned down.  I do appreciate the vibes and the spooky atmosphere.  I also liked Mari's relationship with her brother and Yusef.  All in all, I found this book to be rather mediocre.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

kirkevincent's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The MC of this book is 16, but other than that I'm not sure why this book was classified as YA since it deals with a lot of really heavy themes and has a strong focus drug use/dealing/addiction/overdose/growing marijuana (illegally). However, the book is pretty well done with the true horror being the gentrification of the city it is set in and what lengths a community will go to in protecting their own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Bullying

main character has an extreme fear of bed bugs and there is a lot of discussion and description of paranoia and psychotic episodes. teenagers use drugs and alcohol, MC has overdosed in the past. dog is often imperiled and is injured/sick/rushed to an animal hospital. character with a food allergy experiences anaphylaxis and almost dies.

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

I love Tiffany D. Jackson, but there's not much I can say about this one that hasn't already been said... I really liked the premise and, as always, the way Jackson handled the topics of racism and addiction was so impactful. But the book itself was too long (especially on audio) and the ending was such a letdown.

You know an ending is strange when I'm saying that ghosts would have been "more realistic" than what actually happened. How could they not have noticed two people living in their basement for months? And you expect me to believe that whiny Harper didn't give it all away?

This seems to have been Jackson's first foray out of the contemporary genre and it's great that she got to experiment. I just wish the ending could have been as satisfying as the rest of the story!

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Content Warnings

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