"Smoke" by Ellen Hopkins

*Do NOT read this if you have not read Burned.  Trust me.  Your life will be better for it*
*And don't read this review either, unless you have read Burned*

We've been waiting for this one for awhile.  I am not one to beg for sequels.  There is little that annoys me more than a sequel that doesn't begin to do justice to the original novel/series.  Because of this, I really didn't expect Ellen Hopkins to write a follow-up to Burned, but oh am I glad that she did.  Burned ended on a pretty major cliffhanger.  I had a pretty good idea what decision Pattyn would make and so in my head, that's where her life would go.  So I wasn't too surprised by the opening of Smoke.  Told from the perspectives of Pattyn and her sister Jackie, Smoke tells the aftermath of their father's death.  Pattyn is on the run, still coping with the death of Ethan and their baby.  She finds work by pretending to be an immigrant and starts working as a nanny.  Jackie is still at home, her life in shambles now that Pattyn is gone and their father is dead.  Though things get better for their family (new house, no threat of abuse) things spiral downward as her mother forms a friendly relationship with the father of a boy Jackie knows (yes, very vague, this would be a MAJOR spoiler, but trust me, this is a huge issue for Jackie).  She is completely alone.

I tackled this book in one sitting.  I didn't like it as much a Burned but I think that is partly because I wasn't as interested in Pattyn's story this time around.  While her story this time around was interesting, it just wasn't as engaging as Jackie's.  As I was reading, I really missed Aunt J's character.  She is briefly in this book but I think that she brought so much to the first novel.  Overall, this is a great book.  While I don't think it is quite to Hopkins' usual standard, it is a definite read.  And again, read Burned before reading Smoke.




Happy Reading!
-Melly