4 paws mystery Review suspense Thriller Young Adult

Review – Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell

StoreyBook Reviews 

 

Synopsis

Since moving to the Blackfeet Reservation with her parents, Mara Racette has felt like an outsider, taunted by her tight-knit classmates for growing up far away. So, when a local girl includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet giveaway to honor her missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends.

Instead, a girl from the giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.

Because the members of the giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation:

New-girl Mara, who hated Samantha for being particularly cruel.

Grief-stricken Loren Arnoux, who was Samantha’s best friend until her sister’s disappearance drove a wedge between them.

Class-clown Brody Clark, whose unreciprocated crush on Samantha is an open secret.

And tough-guy Eli First Kill, who has his own complicated history with Samantha.

Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.

In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K. A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a mystery that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word.

Amazon * B&N * Bookshop * Kobo

 

Review

This debut novel from K.A. Cobell depicts the real issue of MMIW – Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. As a member of the Blackfeet Nation, she has an inside look into the tragedy that strikes many indigenous tribes and the women within.

This novel is told from multiple points of view. It helps to round out the story and gain a better perspective on the various characters. I felt compassion for those who were missing or murdered, along with the families and the pain of not knowing what happened to their loved ones.

There is so much information that it is hard to decipher where the truth lies until the end. There are some surprising twists that I didn’t expect. I did appreciate the perspective of the teens. They were not pushed aside for adults who thought they knew better, or at least not all the time. It was good to see how their lives were laid out; it wasn’t all fun and games, and their responsibilities were laid at their feet at a young age.

This may be a YA novel, but it isn’t a light novel. It deals with hard situations for the youth of the community.

We give this book 4 paws up. It might be a book that will capture your attention.

 

 

About the Author

K.A. Cobell, Staa’tssipisstaakii, is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she spends her time writing books, chasing her kids through the never-ending rain, and scouring the inlet beaches for sand dollars and hermit crabs. LOOKING FOR SMOKE is her debut novel, released in Summer 2024 from Heartdrum/HarperCollins in the US and Penguin Books in the UK.

Website * Instagram * X * TikTok

Recommended Posts

excerpt Science Fiction Young Adult

Excerpt – The Defectives by Jim Bates

  Synopsis Life for Lenny and Alex is not pleasant. It’s the 27th century, and they are living in an orphanage with thirty other boys like themselves. They are labeled Defectives. They don’t fit the accepted mold for the appearance-based society. They also live in an underground city like the rest of the world’s population. […]

StoreyBook Reviews 
Book Release LGBTQ+ romance Young Adult

New Release – If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

  Synopsis Booksmart meets Phantom of the Megaplex A sapphic story of first love, processing grief, coming of age, and academic stress. Rochelle “the Shell” Coleman is determined to become valedictorian, get into Wharton, and outdo her academic rival, Amira Rodriguez. But her college application lacks one thing: a job. When Rochelle lands a position […]

StoreyBook Reviews 
Book Release excerpt memoir nonfiction

Excerpt – Nothing Left to Lose by Jeff Richards

  Synopsis In pursuit of a meaningful life, Jeff Richards and his friend Rick Sager decide to start a commune out in the Rocky Mountains. It doesn’t go as planned. Instead of the self-sufficient ranch they envision, they can only afford a crumbling crash pad in Denver; half their friends who agreed to join them […]

StoreyBook Reviews