Book Review – Other Words For Smoke – Titan Books *

GIFTED | Have you ever read a book that you can’t wait to finish but at the same time don’t want it to end?  This only happens to me once in a while, but when it does, I NEED to share it with everyone.  That book is Other Words For Smoke, a captivating tale of magic, danger, possession, unrequited love, and Ireland.  And I know I’m going to struggle to do this book any kind of justice in my review.

Other Words For Smoke

The house at the end of the lane burned down, and Rita Frost and her teenage ward, Bevan, were never seen again.  The townspeople never learned what happened.  Only Mae and her brother Rossa know the truth; they spent two summers with Rita and Bevan, two of the strangest summers of their lives…

Because nothing in that house was as it seemed.  A cat who was more than a cat, and a dark power called Sweet James that lurked behind the wallpaper, enthralling Bevan with whispers of neon magic and escape.

And in the summer heat, Mae became equally as enthralled with Bevan.  Desperately in the grips of first love, she’d give the other girl anything.  A dangerous offer when all that Sweet James desired was a taste of new flesh…

Part Twin Peaks, part Stranger Things, part Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Other Words For Smoke is a lyrical and transformative read from an exciting emerging voice in contemporary Irish literature.  Other Words For Smoke is available in paperback or Kindle from Amazon UK.

About the author

Sarah Maria Griffin is a writer from Dublin, Ireland.  Her non-fiction has appeared in The Irish Times, Buzzfeed, The Rumpus, Midnight Breakfast, Gus and Winter Pages.  Her collection of essays about emigration, Not Lost, was published by New Island Press in 2013.  She was the recipient of the European Science Fiction Awards Chrysalis Awards in 2017.  Her debut novel, Spare and Found Parts, was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award.

 

First impressions

Titan Books have been publishing some absolutely beautiful-looking books recently – the front cover of this one is gorgeous.  And the page edges are neon pink too, simply stunning.

The first chapter of Other Words For Smoke opens with Bevan and she’s written in the second person.  This is something I sometimes see in blog posts, (“If you’re anything like me, you…”) but I’ve never come across it in a book before.  It has the immediate effect of making me feel like I’m experiencing everything Bevan does, but for myself.  And her scenes with Sweet James are beautifully written.  Hair-raising and bewitching, they pull you into that toxic relationship and the neon world behind the walls.

The spectre of Ireland and how it treated unmarried mothers looms large.  Footnotes pepper the narrative throughout and the first one references the old Magdalene laundry in town as a threat.  A pregnant teenager died escaping from there some 40 years previously.  And her story forms one of the many strands that bind the characters in the book together.

Other thoughts

The novel covers a lot of themes: LGBT representation, teenage infatuation, family breakdowns, danger, possession, manipulation, obsession, and magic.  What would you sacrifice if you were presented with a seductive escape from your humdrum world?  Would you care whom you had to hurt to get there?  How far would you go to achieve your endgame?

Nothing is as it seems in this book.  Even characters who seem thoroughly bad aren’t all that.  And just when you think you’ve got a handle on a character or situation, another chapter comes along to throw you off balance and question your assumptions.  Unpredictability is the cornerstone of the novel.

Other Words For Smoke is a relatively short read, just over 300 pages, but it came to an end far too quickly for me.  The tag of unputdownable, although hackneyed, is one that’s well deserved.

Would I recommend it?

Other Words For Smoke is like nothing I’ve ever read before.  It’s the most magical tale, heart-breaking and breath-taking all at once.  I don’t use those words lightly but, in all honesty, this sums up how Sarah Maria Griffin made me feel.  It’s one of those books that stays with you for a long time after you finish reading it.  And it’s one that I will return to again and again because I have no doubt I’ll discover more secrets on every read.  I urge you to get your hands on your own copy because I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.  And because I really, really, really want to talk about it with people will who understand!

Thank you so much to Titan Books for my copy of Other Words For Smoke, as you can tell, I absolutely LOVED it.  I’ll be keeping my eyes open for Sarah’s next book, and I’m off to read her debut, Spare and Found Parts, in the meantime 🙂

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* This book was sent in exchange for a review but all opinions are my own. Please do feel free to check out my other book reviews too.