Why did I take so long to read this ARC?! In a similar vein, why hadn't I read Tiffany D. Jackson before this book? I'm annoyed at myself.

"White Smoke" is a YA horror novel that definitely lives up to its billing as "The Haunting of Hill House" meets "Get Out." In it, we meet Mari and her blended family who just moved to Maplewood Street from California to start a new life. However, it turns out that their new house seems to be much more haunted than a house should be. While normally I would go into a bit more detail in the synopsis, I'm afraid to say more without going into spoiler territory.

This was such a creepy, spooky, fast-paced read perfect for readers who dip their feet in horror. The plot was interesting and had some unexpected twists. The spooky elements were rather unsettling and atmospheric, which is perfect for fall. I loved the discussions on addiction, racism, gentrification, and incarceration. However, it did end rather abruptly, and I would have liked to read a little bit more in the end.

content warnings: addiction, racism, fire

WHAT IN THE WORLD?????

Content Warnings: Addiction, Blood, Drug use, Mental Illness, Racism

I'm so creeped out right now and currently writing this immediately after finishing the book (and it'll show in the review - apologies in advance for incoherence and disorganized thoughts). This is how a good thriller should make the reader feel afterwards (and throughout...because believe me, I was creeped the hell out from start to finish)!

Tiffany D. Jackson has done it again; crafted another brilliant and educational story (covering topics from mental health and addiction to gentrification and environmental racism) that makes the reader genuinely feel a whirlwind of emotions that sweeps them along for the ride with the main character. Creeped out aside, I found myself angry, nervous and freaking out - it truly felt like everything I was reading was unfolding in front of me like a movie.

Our narrator, Marigold (Mari), feels unreliable given her past which is explored throughout the novel. She left me wondering if I could trust her, and, as infuriating as she could be, I also found myself sympathizing with her and identifying with her in some aspects; Jackson writes her Black characters for her Black audience - there's always a relatable aspect to them and I adore that about her writing.

White Smoke is an incredibly intense, creepy, atmospheric and thought-provoking read; perfect for the lovers of spooky season! I dare you to try reading it at night right before bed!

A recovering addict with an anxiety disorder moves with her family to a decaying neighborhood in Cleveland and soon learns that her house may be haunted by a dead woman and her community by an all-too-alive racist legacy.

Jackson makes her pivot from psychological thrillers to horror look easy in this ghostly, unputdownable novel about a girl overcoming fears and prejudices to take on both supernatural and human threats to her family and community. As in all of Jackson's work, the characters are multifaceted, the family and community dynamics complex, and the social justice themes prominent, accessible, and timely. Fans of YA horror and/or psychological thrillers will not want to miss WHITE SMOKE, which is also an essential purchase for any YA library collection. If depictions of marijuana use won't turn off your gatekeepers, this title could work well in teen book clubs, too.

Marigold Anderson and her family have moved to Cedarville for a fresh start. Change is good. Change is necessary. Change is needed. Or at least that's the mantra she keeps repeating to herself. As part of an artist's residency she and her newly blended family will be living is a restored historic house. They're so happy they don't even care that they're not allowed to step foot in the basement. But suddenly Mari is seeing things and they're hearing rumors about their new home. The neighborhood has a very tense history

What is with gentrification thrillers and bedbugs? I will say it instantly made me think of When No One is Watching. As did the corporate conspiracies. I had to deal with a bed bug infestation before and I'm still traumatized so I felt Mari on making sure everything is clean. If I think I see a random black dot on my sheets or my skin just feels too itchy I freak out too. My fear is nowhere near as debilitating as hers but just seeing or hearing the word bed bugs makes my skin crawl. Random bed bug facts were one of Mari's tics. But those didn't really add anything for me.

I don't recommend the audiobook because I found the narration to be kind of flat. She has a nice standard contemporary voice which worked well for the scenes where they were just hanging out but her voice didn't change during the more action packed scenes. I've listened to author horror novels on audio that really set the tone and this narration didn't. I ended up going back and rereading the entire middle sections.

This was a fast-paced read that packed a lot of social commentary in it but I don't think it really took the time to deep dive into said commentary. It felt like two books to me. The legalization/criminalization of marijuana storyline could've been in it's own book by itself. And I felt like there was some fear monger when it came to the discussion about weed. She overdosed on fentanyl laced weed but not the Percocet she was snorting! I'm not even someone who endorses teens smoking and I wasn't a teen who did it but most of my friends did. It's very common so I actually thought it would be normalized here. Instead it's easy for Mari to write off the creepy things like being followed and watched as paranoia over her anxiety and weed habit.

The last 25% was where it really started coming together for me. I didn't see that twist coming! And then it abruptly ended. I liked the commentary around the blended family making things work despite their differences. I think that I would've loved this book had it left some of the other plots to a different book. It felt like a detractor breaking up the momentum of the story. I never got that heart-racing sensation I craved. I did feel itchy from the bed bug scenes. When the main focus was the scary things going on in the house the book worked best. I would've liked the writing to be a little more descriptive though because I couldn't picture what the house looked like. It's not a bad book but it's not the must read horror of the season either. Bad Witch Burning had perfect narration and strong well discussed social commentary that wove in seamlessly with the fantasy/horror aspects.

I was really excited to read this book. Everyone was talking about it. So I gave it a chance and I'm totally not regretting it. I couldn't put this book down. This book was so intense, I absolutely loved everything about it!. It had everything I enjoy in a book mystery, creepy, action, drama, haunted house. There were so many details and a little back story. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and creeped out. Oh, and you can't forget that cover it's absolutely beautiful!! I really enjoyed the story and Tiffany's writing. I will be looking for more of her books.

While the ending felt just a little rushed, the entirety of the book is well deserving of five stars. Relatable characters, well-developed atmosphere, and a plot feeling just a little too close to home combine to make a fantastic YA debut.

What. TF. Did. I. Just. Read. This is a MUST READ horror, perfect for spooky season.

There is a big bedbug CW so if you are triggered by bugs I would re-think it!

I don't even know how to explain this book without spoiling it. Mari and her blended family move from California to a small Midwestern town of Cedarville where houses are abandoned, the prisons are overrun, and there are eerie and spooky things happening both inside her house and outside. Mari need to decide what is real and what isn't while ultimately trying to figure out what exactly happened to Cedarville.

"We've seen this place hack our family trees to shrubs."

It took me 6 days to read this book because I couldn't read it at night. It is so creepy. And extremely thought provoking. And it made me really angry. The ending!!! WHEW. Tiffany D. Jackson is out here trying to scare me and ruin me. Please read this book!

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's for my copy to review.

I’m a big fan of Tiffany D. Jackson and an even bigger fan of horror stories, so White Smoke was a must read for me. It’s a modern haunted house story that tackles social topics like gentrification and the prison industry, as well as mental health issues like drug addiction and anxiety disorder.

Marigold “Mari” Anderson and her newly blended family just moved to Cedarville. Her mom won an artist in residence program that comes with a free house, but the problem is this house is the only one standing on the street. Their new home feels wrong as soon as the exit off the freeway. The houses in the neighborhood are falling apart, the businesses are boarded up, and the houses on Maple street are burnt up shells (with the exception of the Anderson’s new home). The construction workers, who are finishing up the remodel, rush out of the house as soon as 5 pm hits, as if spending one more minute inside the house will kill them. The more time the Anderson family spends in the house, the weirder things get. Things go missing, someone seems to be walking around at night, a horrible smell keeps randomly encroaching on them, and Piper, Mari’s stepsister, claims to have made a new friend whom this house belongs to.

On top of this, Mari is recovering from an addiction to Percocet which led to her overdosing. Her addiction was brought on by her severe anxiety and phobia of bed bugs. While she kicked the Perc habit in rehab, she still relies on weed to manage her anxiety. Unfortunately, weed is not something that is easy to get when you are new in town, and Mari finds it will be even more difficult, when she learns that most of the town’s men are stuck in prison for life from simply possessing a single joint. As things get stranger in the house, Mari’s anxiety and need for weed gets worse, and puts stress on her already tenuous relationship with her family.

Jackson is the queen of social and psychological stories. There was a lot crammed into this novel, yet it all worked. It was so easy to feel the tension and frustration that Mari feels with her family, especially her spoiled stepsister, and the relief that being believed by Sammy brings to her. The undercurrent of racism that runs through this town, and the way the rich white citizens are able to manipulate their black neighbors so easily to turn Cedarville into a white supremacist utopia was simultaneously thrilling and horrifying to read about. This alone may have been enough horror, but White Smoke still had the ghost story as the main conflict. The horror aspects of the book were a slow burn, but really well done. The strange happenings remained just spooky and mysterious enough prior to the big reveal, though, the big reveal’s twist was not quite as surprising for me since an episode of Supernatural already did this twist on the ghost story. Still, as an avid horror fan, I really enjoyed the way this novel played out (until the ending).

Why did Tiffany D. Jackson choose to ruin an otherwise wonderful story with such an abrupt and inconclusive ending!? This book quite literally ended right in the middle of the action. This was such a good read for me, and then the ending soured the entire reading experience. Jackson could have still left the ending open ended, while giving us at least some semblance of a conclusion. I will definitely still recommend this one to others, but you’ve been warned.

Tiffany D. Jackson’s next book, White Smoke, is almost here. And just in time for the spookiest time of year. Marigold Anderson is haunted by her past, unable to really run away from it. When she and her newly blended family move from California to the midwestern town of Cedarville, she views it as the fresh start she needs. Despite moving into a newly renovated house, Mari’s neighborhood is unsettling. Every other house is derelict. Her neighbors are less than welcoming. Oh, and her family’s house is full of strange noises, rotten smells, faulty electricity, and a “friend” of her stepsister’s that wants Mari gone. As Mari battles herself and the house, she also discovers Cedarville holds terrifying secrets of its own.

A Head Full of Ghosts
A telltale sign of a good book is a captivating protagonist. That’s what Jackson brings with Mari. Early on, she sets the stage for revealing Mari’s ghosts. She first grasps readers’ attention with Mari’s phobia of bedbugs, leading to vague hints about prior incidents. This in turn sets up Mari to add to the unsettling atmosphere. Whatever she’s running from (which does get revealed) sows the seeds of doubt, almost painting Mari as an unreliable narrator. Mari herself doesn’t trust her own instincts with the house. She often writes off everything she experiences. As such, readers can’t help but read on and learn more. Mari is far from perfect. However, she actively works to improve. Readers will worry about Mari and hope for a positive outcome. Despite the ups and downs, they’ll want to stay the course with her.

Family Matters
The family dynamics add another layer of tension. The Anderson-Greens are a blended family. Along with Mari are her younger brother Sam and their mother Raquel. Then are Alec and Piper, Mari’s stepfather and stepsister. Mari generally seems to tolerate them. But her patience only extends so far. There’s a very “Anderson versus Green” undertone just present enough to leave readers questioning whether Alec and Piper are fully trustworthy. Jackson creates apprehension that moves the story. As activity speeds up within the house, Jackson shoves one major reminder to the front: When children befriend unseen forces in horror, RUN.

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
More unsettling still is Maple Street and Cedarville. Continuing from above, the unseen forces don’t lie solely in the house. Jackson gradually builds the mystery. As soon as readers learn about the house, they will immediately think, “Hmm, now this seems too good to be true.” Despite every explanation Jackson provides, nothing ever feels quite right. She expounds on that feeling. Everything about the house begins to tie in first with Maple Street. One picturesque house surrounded by dilapidated ones? That’s definitely not shady. What could possibly go wrong?

Jackson continues to pull readers right to the very edge. And she uses Cedarville to do so. Even this nice little town has some not-so-nice little secrets. Jackson creates such a feeling of unrest. She cleverly bides her time drawing it out. Readers won’t know who to trust, even when she makes it clear. Furthermore, the distrust readers encounter also exists within the book’s universe. Jackson paints a vivid picture of residents betrayed by their own town. She examines the profound and disproportional effects the prison system has on the Black community. I was also particularly struck by how she ties in religion. Every facet of this town is deliberate. They seamlessly connect to one another.

Your New Favorite Horror Read
If you’re looking for a thrilling read this spooky season, look no further. White Smoke is it. The way Jackson brings this story to life is astounding. She masterfully brings the creeps and chills. From the first page, readers sense that something is a little off. The suspense Jackson brings holds up to the very last page. She instills classic elements of ghost stories to write something vastly unique. Every major question that arises receives a satisfying answer. Her ending offers a surprising twist, but in a way that fits neatly into the story; it’s not there solely for shock value. White Smoke is a book that demands to be devoured in one sitting (and then devoured again and again). It’s the kind of psychological horror that will altogether terrify and leave readers begging for more.

An incredible, dark, spooky, ghost story, with a powerful undercurrent of real atrocities. Jackson is a master at taking reality, twisting it different ways, and coming up with something both disturbing and remarkable.

The story focuses on a blended family plopped down into the middle of a dilapidated but soon-to-be refurbished neighborhood in the suburbs of Chicago. The house they live in, however, doesn’t seem to be as vacant as they thought…

Equal parts terrifying and captivating I had trouble putting this one down…and your brain will be rocked by the time you reach the end. A great story for spooky season, and even better one for modern times. This is a story we need!

Tiffany D Jackson strikes again! While this wasn’t my favourite of her books, it was definitely spooky and atmospheric and the writing was amazing. I think the ending left a little to be desired but I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the characters. I think the mystery element and the connecting of the dots just needed a bit more work — you want to figure out the story WITH the character, as opposed to not really having clues until she does.

White Smoke was so very readable, I enjoyed it immensely. We meet Mari, who is moving with her family to some creepy house in a Middle America town. From the start, things seem "off", but Mari is going through a lot of her own stuff, and her family sort of brushes off her concerns. Mari has some mental health issues (including a pretty serious fear/panic of bed bugs) and has used drugs in the past to self-medicate. As such, there are some tensions within her family, especially when it comes to their trust of her.

The book does a great job of being a commentary on some big issues. Racism, including gentrification and clear overimprisonment of Black residents (for extremely minor "offenses" like marijuana possession) plays quite a big role in the story, as does mental illness. And I loved that the story focused just as much on Mari's growth as it did the mystery! So often, mystery/thriller novels neglect the characters for the sake of the thrills, but this book absolutely delivered on character development. Also, Mari has a brother named Sammy who reminded me so much of my own Sammy that he was impossible not to fall in love with. I loved Mari's love for him, too.

I really enjoyed the twists in this story too. My only minor qualm would be that there were some loose ends left untied at the end. I had been hoping for a few plot points to have been resolved, and they weren't quite. But it's an otherwise awesome book with a really well developed main character, and I was very invested in the outcome.

Bottom Line: Very readable and full of great characters, important messages, and awesome twists, White Smoke is definitely a great addition to the mystery/thriller genre!

Not going to lie, I felt like this was very much over my head but I still enjoyed it. This book releasing in the perfect amount of time to gain traction before Halloween. I absolutely love it.

Tiffany Jackson has once again given us a straight-from-the-headlines thriller but this time with a horror twist. This story was tense and taut with suspense and had me guessing right up to the very end. I would recommend.

Tiffany D. Jackson is a genius writer! This book gave me chills and made my skin crawl. I would highly recommend reading this one.

First, I love this author because her books keep.me thinking right until the very end. This one is no different. When Marigold and her family move from California to the Midwest, she expects change. Change is good and the newly renovated house on Maple Street looks to be a place where she and her family can start over. What she doesn't count on is living in a haunted house, where even the workers rush out at the same time every day. And then things start going missing, and there are funny sounds and voices that no one can account for. A fun book that has ties to the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." If you're a fan of Tiffany D. Jackson, don't skip this book

Why do you do this to my Tiffany D Jackson?? I haven't given any of her books less than five stars, and White Smoke was no exception. It had me entirely spooked and I had no idea where it was going! Mixed feelings on the ending, but I kind of love that.

As much as it pains me to write this....I just didn’t like this book. I love Tiffany D. Jackson. I think her book Grown is one of the best YA novels of all time and she’s an impeccable writer; but this one just doesn’t work in my opinion. While her writing is still great, my problem is with the storyline. It’s slow paced. Way too focused on the drug content. And if I have to read about bedbugs one more time I’m gonna scream.

DNF. Sorry, but thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy.

Entertaining horror with some social justice and gentrification themes. This was the first time I ever figured out the twist in one of Tiffany's books.

Throughout this read, I was definitely in the 'like' camp more than the 'love' and had it been the opposite I would've been far more disappointed by the ending than I was. But it was still a huge, abrupt, bummer.

This story is half horror and half psychological anxiety fuelled discomfort. It also has a less than fun new blended family dynamic which was grating in a whole different way, too. I enjoyed this was it was a horror, I was equally horrified by the circumstances that had plagued this town, the violent gentrification that had occurred (and was still occurring) at the expense of others; but at the same time this particular plot sort've went off the rails in an unbelievable way (not the criminalizations, that, unfortunately is very believable, but the shady corporate conspiracy and the specifics of what they had set up..? yeah, no) -- which, considering I was reading about ghosts and hauntings and potential possession, says a lot.

As a haunted house story, this was great. For someone with an anxiety, reading about Mari's phobias, it was just as unsettling. Everything else, and the ending.. I don't know. Equally in the 'I don't know' pile of things is the reluctance for Mari to jump to the very obvious conclusions about what was happening around her. Why she was so slow to pick up on this, to resist it when others were more convinced, I have no clue.

This one gets a cautious recommend out of me, I think. I absolutely don't want to dissuade you from picking it up but at the same time it isn't going to encourage anyone to read it.. just incase it's even less a hit for you than it was for me.