Thank you to Harper360YA for the ARC!
Themes: Blended family, discrimination, addiction
I'm such a fan of Tiffany D. Jackson so when I saw White Smoke was coming out and Harper360YA were like do you want a copy? I jumped at the chance.
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.
I love a good horror. No one I know will watch horror movies with me so yes I watch them by myself 'cause I'm a G! But I definitely don't read enough horror books but one with Black characters is really all I need. Mari and her family move to a really weird town that holds lots of secrets. Her step-sister Piper really jarred me for ages but I promise that she does grow on you and Piper is the one who keeps talking about Ms Suga who doesn't want Marigold in her house. And she is very clear that is is HER house.
The twists in this book kept me turning the pages and when the mystery of Ms Suga is revealed I actually gasped!
I love complex characters so Mari in my opinion is great - she's a former drug addict, has anxiety and is pretty self-consumed and I love that she is real and complicated and her biggest desire for most of the book is just to get high. Yusef is cute and likes Mari despite her shit but hates her love for drugs which is refreshing for a Black male character. I really like Erika - any girl that is unapologetically herself is a bit of me.
But more than horror it's also about community and family and discrimination. A great book to read even outside of spooky season.
5/5
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