White Smoke
By: Tiffany D. Jackson
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Genre: YA Horror, Thriller
Page Count: 384
Synopsis: 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.
This review will be spoiler free
Hi bookworms, before I get into the review I want to send a big thank you out to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC of this book for an honest review. I know I am a little late in posting the review, but better late than never!
I will start by saying horror is really not my thing, I read a couple Stephen King books as a kid (seriously who let an 11 year old read Under the Dome??) and it really put me off the genre, I scare easy. But this spooky season I just had a desire to pick up horror books again and give them a second try. Let me tell you this book was the perfect way to turn my feelings about the genre around.
Overall I would say the book was very captivating, the scene was set perfectly, the small undercurrent of unease and nervousness that ran through the story really helped se the tone and of course the horror elements were perfectly executed. The story went beyond just horror, also touching on issues of race in a really interesting way that definitely reminded me of the film Get Out.
Mari kind of annoyed me as a character, she was suffering from past trauma and current mental health and anxiety issues, but I felt like we often got too trapped in her head and it felt a bit tedious after a while. However, I do think that was kid of intentional, that her anxieties bled out into me as the reader.
The only reason I docked it a star, because honestly otherwise in my opinion it was an excellent horror read with lots of surprising nuance and heart, was the ending. I realize that at least in movies, horror stories tend to end unresolved or open ended, adding to the suspense of the whole genre. However, this ending felt like it was in the middle of the story and as far as I know this is a stand alone. Personally it felt too abrupt for me and kind of a jarring way to end an otherwise really great book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good scary read that is more in the paranormal arena than gore, but read it with all the lights on!
Have you read this book? le tm know your thoughts in the comments! What are your thoughts on the horror genre?
NoReadsTooGreat 