Book Review: “Looking for Smoke” by K.A. Cobell
“Looking for Smoke” by K.A. Cobell (2024)
Genre: YA, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Page Length: 416 pages (hardcover edition)
Synopsis:
When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.
Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.
Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them—Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli—have a 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.
Review:
Looking for Smoke is a powerful debut novel from Cobell that is bone-chilling and had me constantly engrossed into the novel’s plot. The story follows the ceremony Blackfeet Giveaway and the murder that occurs afterwards. What should be a moment of peace turns into horror as the four main characters have now become suspects and try to find the killer in order to clear their names.
What a gripping story of family, deceit, grief showcased on the reservation setting of this story. Being a member of the Blackfeet tribe herself, the story is rooted deeply in culture and tradition. I came away from this novel learning so much more than I did before. The novel also has themes of major life lessons about growing up, friendship, and family as secrets become unraveled within the plot.
I appreciated the rotation of character log-style point-of-views in each chapter. It allowed the reader to piece together clues along with becoming more connected to each individual character’s story. This novel had me on the edge of my seat at many times along with feeling like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. Corbell has such a way with her writing, descriptions, and world building that make the reader empathize and locked into the plot.
Most importantly, this novel a heavy impact by highlighting the very serious issues and situations revolving around MMIW (missing and murdered Indigenous women). While there is some closure for this novel’s story that is far from the case for real life victims and their loved ones. It educates readers about this epidemic. I feel that this thriller is a fantastic debut and also an important one for the message of awareness it has.
Final Verdict:
