This book was so incredible. If you liked The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, Looking for Smoke goes hand in hand as another novel where a teen girl has to figure out what is happening in her community. Looking for Smoke follows Mara Racette, recently moved to the Blackfeet Rez in Browning, Loren Arnoux, whose older sister went missing three months earlier, Brody Clark, who has a crush on Loren and the joker of their friend group, and Eli First Kill, whose biggest concern is his younger sister. During Indian Days weekend, Loren’s family honors the memory of her grandfather by doing a giveaway, and soon afterward Samantha White Tail, Loren’s best friend, is found murdered. The FBI gets involved because unlike with Rayanne’s disappearance, there is a body and a chance for the agent on the case to pretend like he cares.
One of the elements I really loved (as much as it breaks my heart) is how much we’re shown the justice system is broken and doesn’t care about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Relatives (MMIWG2S). The community doesn’t trust law enforcement to care and put any real effort into solving the case; they just want to close the case, which isn’t the same thing. We also see all kinds of ripple effects within the community as distrust is capitalized on and information comes to light.
These four teens are all so complex and dealing with multiple situations. Eli was honestly my favorite character in the book because he cares so deeply for his sister, Cherie, and is so obviously one of those people who burns the candle at both ends to protect her and keep her as happy as he can in the situation they’re in. I really enjoyed all the complexity of the characters and the different ways they came at their efforts in solving the murders of Rayanne and Samantha.
The mystery kept me guessing and was so messy in the end! That final chapter is such a doozy, and putting all the pieces together…woah! This was truly so amazing and a book I’ll be thinking about for a long time. I look forward to more from K.A. Cobell!