"White Smoke," by Tiffany D. Jackson

Imagine you move to a new town only because your mom won a free house contest. You and your family are the only people that live in that part of town, and notice something’s very off with the house from the very beginning. Marigold Anderson and the rest of her family/stepfamily are in danger, and Marigolds the only one who can find out what’s wrong with their new home. Tiffany D. Jackson is a New York Times Bestselling author of various novels. Some of the stories she’s written are Monday’s Not Coming, The Weight of Blood, Grown, White Smoke, and many more. She has a Bachelors of Arts in film from Howard University and her Masters of Arts in Media studies from the New School. Most of her books get a 4.5 rating and she has won various awards through her writing years. She also has a decade in TV/Film experience while being a great author. 

The book White Smoke starts off with the Anderson and Green family. Marigold, the main character’s forced to move to a new house with her mom, brother, step dad, and step sister, who she hates. Marigold has dealt with a troubled past that consists of rehab and drug ODing, so she’s’ ready for a new beginning in the city of Cedarville. The part of the city she moves into in a town where no one lives yet. Straight from the start, she notices weird things and rules that happen in the house. For example on page 18 it states, “Lock your doors and windows every night. Never leave anything in the car or on the porch if you want to keep it, and don’t let your children wander.” This is a very strange and serious warning one of the contractors tells the family that sends chills through everyone’s spin. Throughout the story weird things happen in the house and Marigold starts to notice things like hearing voices, her doors opening without her knowing, and the scary ghost stories she hears about her house. Marigold knows something needs to be done to keep her family safe and escape from the house.

In the beginning, the conflict starts when Marigold first moves into a new house where strange things start to happen immediately. She starts to feel like there’s something wrong with the house, but no one believes her when she tells people. For example, on page 30 it states, “CREAAAKKK… I don’t hear a creak, I feel it. The floorboard behind me bending under some heavy weight.” Marigold feels like she’s going crazy by hearing and seeing weird things the minute she moves in. This creates both an external conflict and internal conflict. Throughout the story, the events happen more frequently and get more intense. Some seem real but other events seem fake which make Marigold question what’s real. In the end, the conflict becomes major and the truth about the house gets revealed. 

At the beginning of the book, Marigold is seen as a troubled and unreliable kid because of her bad past. This makes it harder for people to take her seriously. Marigold has a character change in the middle of the story and turns into a more confident and aware person. She is still scared of her house and her own thoughts, but starts to learn how to trust her instincts. In the end, Marigold turns into a stronger person by confronting her fears and dealing with the conflicts around her. 

This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. At first I was skeptical of Marigold and the story being told from her point of view, because she either was telling the truth or seeing things from her drugs, but It made the story more enjoyable. I liked how the book had many plot twists that actually made me jump while reading!!. I would give it a 4 out of 5 star reading because it was a very enjoyable read. This book is a suspenseful and wild story that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The plot of this book is very original and interesting. I would recommend this book to people who like horror and mystery stories, with lots of surprises.