My review of Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Marie Griffin. I went into this book with very high hopes for a weird and V.E. Schwab like fantasy.
Other Words for Smoke, Sarah Marie Griffin
Themes: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Horror
Reading Format: Paperback
Pages: 366
3 STARS
I want to start this review by saying that I like weird books, I like impossibilities and bizarre characters. But I don’t think I enjoyed this one, which is such a shame. I read it over a weekend and definitely fell into the world. It certainly made me feel strange and eerie, the writing was very clever. However, I felt like the plot was oddly ordered and it made me lose track of appreciating the story and characters.
To the basics, this book is about twins who go to stay with their Great Aunt for the summer and her housemate (who is a teenage girl). Some weird stuff goes down, including a creepy owl called Sweet James. If that isn’t enough to creep you out, then just pick this up and you’ll find your brain twisted and turned in all directions. As I said, this book is clever, it just wasn’t for me.
I wanted more from the plot and the characters. I was left with so many questions and I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending. It all felt so random and I was left with a Sims question mark above my head thinking whyyyyy for most of this book. That said, I did keep picking it up and I wanted to get through it. I think I mainly lost motivation within the last 100 pages or so, because I felt like the plot didn’t need to keep going.
I didn’t really feel connected with any of the characters either, none of them particularly stood out for me. I appreciated seeing the contrast of twins growing up and how they grew distant. I also liked seeing a queer/lesbian character deciding how she felt about another girl. But I just didn’t feel very empathetic towards any of them.
I reaalllly wanted to like this book, so I’m sad to write a not so positive review. But I definitely appreciated certain elements. The hints horror were very well done and I’m struggling to shake them from my head even now. So I certainly merit it for those points! I’d love to know what you thought about this book though?
I hate when a book you are excited to read turns out to be not what was expected. I’m sorry that this one wasn’t for you.