I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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.

Short and Sweet Review

Mari and her blended family have just moved from California to Cedarville. Her mom accepted a job with the Sterling Foundation and with that comes a free house, one that seems to be haunted. The construction workers can’t seem to get out of the house fast enough and Mari’s younger stepsister Piper becomes friends with someone named Ms. Suga. The house is in between dilapidated houses and the neighbors surrounding the area are less then welcoming. Things start to get strange when things go missing, voices can be heard through the walls, and there’s a smell coming through the vents. Mari learns that her house isn’t the only thing that’s dangerous, Cedarville is full of secrets.

When we meet Mari her and her family are arriving to Cedarville, we learn that something happened to Mari back in California that required her to need a fresh start but we aren’t entirely clued in until later on in the book. We also see that Mari has a phobia to bed bugs and it’s very extreme. Mari doesn’t have the best relationship with Piper or her stepfather Alec so when Piper keeps going on about this Ms. Suga wanting Mari out of the house they think Piper is talking about an imaginary friend. The hauntings in the house are creepy things are being moved, Mari’s phone is being messed with. After that Mari starts to do some more digging into the town’s history which gets her into trouble because someone in town is watching her every move. A small problem I had was the way Mari talked to Piper, I know Piper was annoying but the way Mari would cuss at her was a bit much.

White Smoke was creepy and held my attention until the very end. I just wanted to know what was going on in that house and in that town. I feel like the ending could have been better, I wanted to see them confront the Sterlings but oh well. Some elements of this book were based off of true stories and I’m interested in knowing what they are because Cedarville was an interesting town. White Smoke was a good book and it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat!