Name: Nik ✨'s review of White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
Item: White Smoke
Rating: 5
Author: Nik ✨

Tiffany D. Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson! Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper. The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That's only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there's a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone. But "running from ghosts" is just a metaphor, right? As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn't limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.

White Smoke

Wesselhoff 

I was a little hesitant about starting this one because horror/ thriller isn’t my preferred genre. I’ve never felt the chills I think I’m supposed to when watching or reading it. I usually avoid it altogether so I don’t get disappointed. However, I was shaking in my boots are certain parts of this story, and I don’t exactly know how Tiffany D Jackson accomplished that. Something about the way she writes makes me feel like I’m there experiencing everything, which has never happened to me in horror books before. The use of an unreliable narrator just adds to the overall effectiveness of the story. Without spoiling everything, I enjoyed how this book mixes fantastical elements with real world horrors and is rooted in uncomfortable truth.

Nik ✨

3 stars - This has been in my TBR for quite some time now and tbh it’s not what I expected from a psychological thiller, not negatively tho but yeah.

I fell in love with Tiffany D Jackson’s writing style while reading Grown, and this just solidified it. Loved loved loved the characters. The pace was okay, the ending was rushed imo, and there were some loose ends that would be better tightened up, like not knowing what happened to Erika after she got arrested? Who planted that green cauliflower in her locker? What happened with the town after everything? It also took a bit too long for certain things to happen, and for the mc to take action. The house is haunted and the mc basically shrugs it off before investing. Overall a good book and I can’t wait to read her other books

Joy KBA

3 stars - This has been in my TBR for quite some time now and tbh it’s not what I expected from a psychological thiller, not negatively tho but yeah.

I fell in love with Tiffany D Jackson’s writing style while reading Grown, and this just solidified it. Loved loved loved the characters. The pace was okay, the ending was rushed imo, and there were some loose ends that would be better tightened up, like not knowing what happened to Erika after she got arrested? Who planted that green cauliflower in her locker? What happened with the town after everything? It also took a bit too long for certain things to happen, and for the mc to take action. The house is haunted and the mc basically shrugs it off before investing. Overall a good book and I can’t wait to read her other books

Melissa Palmer

Perfect read for this time of year. Mari's family moves cross country and their new house seems to have some odd things going on with it....legend has it that it's haunted. Is it? This book was creepy good. It reminded me of Mary Downing Hahn's book but at a young adult level. I loved it.

Julia McKenzie

I had better expectations for this book and unfortunately was extremely let down. The writing style was very unappealing and was so informal it became hard to read.

The main character 'Marigold', was entirely based off of wanting weed...and was a terrible main character due to how she treated literally around her and once she realised what she was doing didn't even change!

The horror/thriller plot line was confusing and extremely slow placed. You would be teased with an interesting encounter and then the story would go back to weed and totally forgotten about, so many missed opportunities. This book should not be characterised under this genre.

This was such a good read and i really wanted to go into more detail but im afraid ill spoil it for people who havent read it yet. It really gave me the haunted house vibes i wanted and the twist in the end had me shook. I am so happy i read this book! It low key kinda creeped me out and i love that about a book. Please read it. I loved it and Tiffany D. Jackson has a future in horror/paranormal writing. I would read any horror/paranormal book she puts out there. 

Kaitlyn Grooms

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

Holly

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

Alexa M

**4.5
this book came out yesterday and i already finished LOL so freaking fast paced and interesting. our main character had so much depth and the plot was very entrapping. this was really good for a YA thriller, i just feel like the ending was super rushed :/

lisa roeling 

Erin Nisbet

Omg! This …. Wow! I’m utterly speechless and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight! Such a good halloween read

This is my First Tiffany Jackson Book and what a ride it was. It kept me griped with every page turn and perfect for the Spooky Season. It’s a book that you could easily read in one sitting with the Lights on. It’s a very enjoyable read that will leave you at the edge of your seat and screaming at the book for sure as well as a little surprised here and there thrown in for good measure.

Throughout the Book we follow Mari and her family as they move from California to Cedarville in the Midwest. Mari's mom accepts a job with the Sterling Foundation as an artist in residence, and the family move into a renovated home on Maple Street. They're given the house for free as part of Mari's mom's contract with the Sterling Foundation and Mari hopes that this will be the fresh start she needs.

As you would expect from psychological thriller/horror things don’t go to plan for the family. Soon things in the house are going missing, Mari is hearing footsteps in the middle of the night, and her younger stepsister Piper is talking to someone who doesn't appear to be there.

I don’t want to say much more than that so that you can go into the Book Blind as I think that it’s the best way to go. Overall, though, this was a dark, intense, gripping read, with engaging characters, and several great twists at the end. Although I didn't enjoy the mentions of bugs, I couldn't stop picking this up at every chance I got because I needed to find out what was haunting Mari's house and how things were going to end.

Ian Brakspear

This is my First Tiffany Jackson Book and what a ride it was. It kept me griped with every page turn and perfect for the Spooky Season. It’s a book that you could easily read in one sitting with the Lights on. It’s a very enjoyable read that will leave you at the edge of your seat and screaming at the book for sure as well as a little surprised here and there thrown in for good measure.

 

Throughout the Book we follow Mari and her family as they move from California to Cedarville in the Midwest. Mari's mom accepts a job with the Sterling Foundation as an artist in residence, and the family move into a renovated home on Maple Street. They're given the house for free as part of Mari's mom's contract with the Sterling Foundation and Mari hopes that this will be the fresh start she needs.

 

As you would expect from psychological thriller/horror things don’t go to plan for the family. Soon things in the house are going missing, Mari is hearing footsteps in the middle of the night, and her younger stepsister Piper is talking to someone who doesn't appear to be there.

 

I don’t want to say much more than that so that you can go into the Book Blind as I think that it’s the best way to go. Overall, though, this was a dark, intense, gripping read, with engaging characters, and several great twists at the end. Although I didn't enjoy the mentions of bugs, I couldn't stop picking this up at every chance I got because I needed to find out what was haunting Mari's house and how things were going to end.

Maegan Kennedy

Rating: 4⭐️

Thank you to HCC Frenzy for sending me an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Trigger warnings: addiction, recovering addict, mention of overdosing, marijuana addiction, arson, murder by fire, bug phobia, anxiety attacks, anaphylactic allergic reaction, kidnapping and being bound by ropes

White Smoke follows Marigold, who is a recovering addict, as she tries to run from the demons from her past, as well as fighting the ones that are haunting her and her family. 

I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this novel and about how scary it is. Now, I’m a scaredy cat when it comes to scary things so I was expecting to be terrified to read this at night. That wasn’t the case though. I didn’t think this book was scary at all. It was more of a thriller. There were some intense moments the characters faced in the haunted house that had me on the edge of my seat out of curiosity. 

Besides focusing on the ghosts in the house, this book really focused on Mari’s recovering addiction to marijuana. After overdosing in California, her mother made the decision that the family need a fresh start so they moved because of her work. I understand why Jackson made such a big deal over Mari’s addiction and sobriety, but as someone who isn’t into using that type of recreational drug, I felt that it was a little excessive. Drug addictions are very important and need to be addressed so the victim can be helped, but I think this was just a lot of mention of her needing a quick hit and things like that. 
She also mentions her bedbug phobia a lot, but that’s where her anxiety stems from so it’s understandable. 

I still really enjoyed this book though. I liked the characters and how they grew as a family throughout the book. And the setting was interesting. This whole book kind of reminded me of the Halloween movie, Monster House. Might just be me though. 

Overall this is a fun book to read at Halloween time, it’s just not overly scary.

Liz Griffin

Fans of haunted houses or the show Euphoria NEED to pick up this book. This is one of those instances that proves a protagonist doesn’t need to be “relatable” for a book to be riveting and entertaining.

Marigold and her blended family move in to a renovated house in Cedarville, but everything from missing equipment to faulty lights and locked basement doors make this house anything but inviting. Marigold uses weed to mitigate her anxiety and OCD (which flared due to a bedbug incident at their previous house), and she discovers from people at school that the new town law enforcement cracks down harshly on dealers. She’s on the prowl for her next fix, but something in the house has it it for her.

Content notes: contains teens drinking/doing drugs, coarse language, jailed family members, race-based gerrymandering, and religious gaslighting.

London Lynn

This book was a slap in the face and I loved it. It was definitely a horror book but the horror took on a new form as the reveals are made. Gentrification, racism, the war on drugs, for-profit prisons...it's all here. It was a sobering look into some of the struggles Black Americans face but done in the form of a ghost story. I also loved the main character and her growth. The anxiety representation was a fresh take too. And the narrator was AMAZING!!

Carol

I read this one as an audiobook. Usually I find audiobooks less scary but this one had some genuinely well written, tense/creepy scenes that I really enjoyed! Some passages in this one will really make your skin crawl. 

The story was definitely quite enjoyable for me and had enough moving pieces to keep you guessing. That said, I feel like there were some loose ends I would have liked to see resolved and the book ends quite abruptly (I had to rewind to make sure I hadn't missed anything).

This one really reminded me of When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole. It had a similar message regarding institutional racism and gentrification, however a tighter ending may have delivered this message with a more powerful blow.

Lauren Attaway

I had this moment reading this book- and this is not the only YA I read this week, where I wondered if I was being an old judge-y person. It felt incredibly young and out of reach to me, and I just had to keep reading past it until I got pulled into the story.  

After a rocky exit that forces her to abandon her former life, Marigold and her very blended family get a chance to start over in a small midwestern town, staying in a house provided to their mom for free. Naturally, it appears the house and the town are haunted by their past. Being black in America is its own horror story, and I appreciated that the book did not shy away from the racism of lived experience that layers every part of Mari and her family’s life, along with the black people living in their new town. This is a clever spin on a classic haunted house story with enough conversations about race, gentrification, and class to feel modern and needed at the moment. Some solid scares as well make this perfect for young horror fans.

The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson! Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper. The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone. But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right? As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.

Victoria Justice

Its not that I didn't like this book, but I had read reviews saying it was creepy and I just didn't feel that while I was reading it. Also, the ending was so abrupt, everything seemed to happen in the last 4 chapters.

Rainey Michelle

** spoiler alert **
           This was such a good read! I didn't expect the end at all!

Tiffany Robinson

This book was so crazy, but I really enjoyed it! I will say that I was not the biggest fan of the ending. I felt like it left a lot of unanswered questions.

I liked this book a lot and will definitely check into other books by Tiffany Jackson.

Sarah Williams

UH WOW. Okay. One of the creepiest books I’ve read maybe ever and really well done. I almost didn’t want to read this at night, that’s how spooked I got! And I never get scared from books! 

This would’ve been closer to a 5-star book for me were it not for (1) how frustrating and unlikeable so many of the characters were, and (2) how it ended. Still, this was fantastic and it’s a testament to how much I loved the rest of this book that I still loved it despite disliking most of the characters! 

Sam Pulliam

Phenomenal. The type of scary changed in the last third but just as strong as the beginning. Tiffany D Jackson never disappoints.

Cat H

4.5 stars. I want to give this a full 5 stars, but I needed more from the ending. It’s not an open ending that feels satisfying for the journey, and omg, what an incredible journey White Smoke takes you on.

A family moves into a “newly” renovated house full of history and dark secrets. Marigold is a teenage girl coping with past mistakes while adjusting to a new Step-father and little step-sister. Mari’s crippling anxiety takes a turn for the worse as it becomes clear their new house is haunted and wants them all to get out. 

Honestly, this book managed to give me the creeps. Jackson’s incredible description made me feel like I was trapped alongside Mari in this haunted house. It’s atmospheric, gripping, and so fast paced that the terror feels real. All the characters feel fleshed out no matter how small an appearance and every back story adds to an intricate tale of deception and greed. Gentrification, riots, false incrimination and imprisonments all link back to Mari’s new house. 

One aspect I didn’t love was the focus on Mari’s desperation for weed. At first I found it annoying and too repetitive. However, it’s revealed why she has a dependence on weed, but even then the whole “secret garden” just felt like an unnecessary plot point. The town’s history makes sense, but when it’s for Mari’s own personal gain I guess it depicts her self-centered mindset. Also, as stated earlier, the ending just was not satisfying. This book could have been 50 pages longer and I would have devoured them. I’m probably just being petty. 

Highly highly recommend this book! Great fall read. Spins the haunted house trope on its head! Amazing!!!

TW: entomophobia (fear of bed bugs), annoying little kid, animal injury, child injury

Lisa W.

Blinks… wait, where’s the rest?! I’ve got questions and I’m assuming Tiffany’s got answers. Do horror books get sequels? Because there’s a lot of loose ends that need tending to.

I’m not sure how to rate this? Because I loved the book but hated the “ending”. Many people say it was a rushed ending but it didn’t end. It simply stopped. Was this suppose to be a cliff hanger?

Lauren Lopez

This one was so, so good. 

The Get Out elements are immediately noticeable as Marigold and her family move to Maplewood. The haunted house elements? Immaculate. I could easily imagine the setting as it was described.

Once again the audiobook was great. The narrator did a fantastic job of capturing Marigold’s voice and interpreting the other characters. Even the sound effects for the spooky things happening in the house were spot on. 

There was so much happening throughout this story and I think Tiffany D Jackson does such a great job of bringing each of these elements full circle. It’s always fun to have that a-ha moment once something is finally explained or revealed.

I wish there had been more shocking reveals sprinkled throughout the story instead of everything happening at the very end. The story felt very slow burn because of this, but I feel like this type of story needs to be faster paced. 

I’m also a little disappointed in the end because it didn’t feel quite complete.

Wesselhoff &
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson

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