
Member Reviews

As much as I wantedt to adore Looking For Smoke I had a really hard time connecting with it. Thats not to say at all that it was a bad book because it wasn't, I just didn't feel myself getting invested in the ways that I normally would have found myself invested. The characters are very well thought out and the attention to detail is wonderful. I'm sure for someone else this delve into the mystery of the deaths surrounding these missing indigenous women would be all consuming. I hope you give #LookingForSmoke by #K.A.Cobell a worthwhile chance.
Thank you to #Netgalley for the chance to read #LookingForSmoke by #K.A.Cobell in return for a fair and honest review.

June 5, 2024
Genre: YA mystery
Release date: June 4, 2024
Rated: Borrow it / 3 stars
When a teen on a Montana reservation is murdered, the police focus their attention on the four young people who were the last to see her. As the remaining teenagers fight against the accusations, they must also contend with the reality of the number of Indigenous women who go missing. Author K. A. Cobell leans into her own cultural heritage for her debut that spends a little too much time on the feelings of the characters and not enough time on the mystery in Looking for Smoke.
Mara Racette knew she wouldn’t make friends right away when her family moved to the reservation in Browning, Montana, but she also didn’t think her classmates would go out of their way to ostracize her. Yet in the last few months, that’s exactly what’s happened. They’ve called her out for being only half Blackfeet and not being a part of their community since the beginning. It’s bad enough that Mara’s family had to move from Bozeman because of an incident involving her. Now no one wants to be her friend in her new town either.
What’s worse, everyone on the reservation is on edge after teenager Ray Anne Leroux went missing. It’s been three months, and the police have been dragging their feet on the investigation. Mara feels terrible about what the Leroux family is going through, particularly Ray Anne’s little sister, Loren. No one has any answers, and it’s just added to the tension Mara is already experiencing at school.
On the night of a traditional Blackfeet giveaway, Loren chooses to include Mara in a ceremony to honor Ray Anne. The giveaway is supposed to be a special evening, but the event turns into a nightmare when one of Mara’s classmates, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered. All of a sudden, the police are very interested in what’s happening on the reservation. Even with a Blackfeet officer, Jeremy Youngbull, on the force, Mara senses the unease among the members of the community.
Youngbull and his associates turn their attention on the last people to see Samantha. That means Mara and Loren along with their peers, Brody and Eli First Kill, are on the shortlist of persons of interest. The police start asking uncomfortable questions, and Mara watches as Loren and the others—kids who have grown up together—start becoming suspicious, questioning lifelong friendships and their connections.
Distrust sets in among the resident teens, and Mara gets caught up in the swirl of doubt that creates a tornado of emotions. Loren becomes determined to find out what happened to her sister and why Samantha died. Brody wants to protect his older brother from any police involvement at any cost. Eli’s commitment to his younger sister means he’s keeping secrets from everyone. With the police hounding them all, Mara keeps hoping the police will focus on doing their job—catching Samantha’s murderer—so life can start resembling something like normal.
Author K. A. Cobell brings her personal experience as a member of the Blackfeet nation to her debut novel. The setting and the cultural aspects of the book ring with authenticity. The reservation feels lived in and like a real place that readers could visit with the turn of a page.
The book’s weakness comes in its characters. Cobell gives her readers five point-of-view characters to follow, and beyond the first few pages all of the characters sound the same. Chapters have the characters’ names as titles, but even with that distinction and a timestamp at the start of each one readers will find the story progressing as if a single character were telling it.
The characters spend an inordinate amount of time describing their feelings, which slows down the pace of the book dramatically. It isn’t until about two-thirds of the way through, when more information about Samantha’s murder comes to light, that the pacing picks up. Some readers may not feel compelled to stay with the book by then, which is a shame because Cobell is using the book to draw attention to an important issue: the high rate of murder and disappearances of Indigenous women.
For a first novel, however, Cobell writes with a reassurance and skill that promises more gripping books to come. Those who would like a primer in the culture of the Blackfeet nation might want to check this out.

The quick cut: Things get chaotic when two indigenous girls are found dead and the murderer is not found. Four teens take it upon themselves to figure it out.
A real review:
Thank you to Heartdrum for providing the arc for an honest review.
Injustice happens in the world all the time, but what if it was impacting your community? For the Blackfeet reservation, this is a reality when two girls go missing and turn up dead.
Mara used to live in the city until her family moved to the reservation. She's felt like an outsider until she's brought to a traditional Blackfeet giveaway to honor a missing girl. It's the start of a string of events that finds two local girls dead. Who is commiting these crimes and will they ever find the killer?
Indigenous crime is a very real issue, especially missing and murdered indigenous women. It's only made worse by the ignorance of their culture by investigators and the under resourced investigations. This book in a very clever way highlights all these issues. I wish there wasn't so many narrators though because it only distracted from the core story.
Mara is newly thrust into this community and just becoming a part of it. Each narrator had a different relationship to the dead. Seeing them all navigate that while trying to figure out what happened makes for interesting results. I did find that their narrative didn't sound unique enough for each one, which only made it harder to connect to them.
I loved the ending, although it was also heartbreaking.
A mysterious story with a highlight on an important message.
My rating: 3.5 out of 5

Looking for Smoke is a suspenseful novel that centers around the disappearance and murder of two Indigenous teenage girls. Told from the voices of 4 Indigenous teens (and a 5th secret narrator), the book brings focus to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the problematic way these cases are handled. With these voices, Cobell weaves together a compelling mystery that keeps readers at the edge of their seat!

**4.5 stars
This book is slower paced, but also seems like time is moving at warped speed inside the story. The slower pace really makes you feel all the emotions and confusion that the characters are feeling. Who are you supposed to trust? Are the murders connected? If so, what connects them? What really happened? Why does this happen to so many indigenous women, yet there is rarely any media coverage about it? It really leaves you feeling desperate.
While the book feels slower paced, I was shocked (just like the characters) at how quickly the time passes in the book, even with having time stamps at the beginning of each POV. So much is happening, yet with no real answers, that it seems like it's been so long since the Giveaway.
Things I liked about this story:
-multiple POV, including one unknown character
-the representation of Native Americans, highlighting not only their hardships but their traditions as well
-the complexity of humans, their emotions, and their identities
The only thing I didn't like about this book was making the graphic for my review on social media. I tend to pull background photos that align with the book to make my graphics and I found so few Native American photos to pull from Canva and other sites, and even less videos to make an aesthetic reel.
This was an excellent book. One to read not just to learn more about Native American culture, but just as a general YA mystery/thriller. I couldn't figure out who was guilty and how everything played out until the very last chapter.

Looking for Smoke by K. A. Cobell was an incredible YA mystery debut!
The mystery kept me guessing and was very well done.
Like any good psychological suspense, the story is slowly built while creating a suspenseful gripping plot.
Thank You NetGalley and Heartdrum for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Mara feels like an outsider in her community, so she is surprised when Loren includes her in the Blackfeet giveaway to honor her missing sister. Then, after the ceremony, Loren's best friend Samantha is found murdered. Mara, Loren, and two others (Brody and Eli) search for clues that will connect the two crimes and maybe find out who was responsible.
I really enjoyed this book. It centers Mara, who feels almost like an outcast in her Blackfeet community, as she grew up in a different area and was moved back by her Blackfeet father after an incident in her high school. Each character is driven by different motives as they search for who killed Samantha, from a missing sister to wanting to be included. It also highlights Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, bringing to the forefront a problem that has existed for decades with little notice by the country as a whole. Law enforcement as a whole doesn't seem too interested in finding Loren's sister ,or finding out who killed Samantha.
This was an excellent YA book, with well developed characters that you may love to hate, or just want to wrap up in a blanket and make a cup of cocoa. It was well plotted, and the ending was a surprised--you are given enough clues to solve the mystery, but enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

This was phenomenal. I literally could not put it down because I needed to know what happened. The perspective switches were so well done, the timeline was so condensed and so good. The story itself had me in such a hold because it was fascinating. The title coming into play throughout this book was so interesting as well, and just great writing. This is a wonderful debut and I cannot wait for everyone to read it

Looking for Smoke is a fantastic debut centering something that is all too common and not often talked about-Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Things are tough for Loren, who is still reeling over the unsolved mystery of her sister's disappearance and potential death. When Mara, a newcomer to town, attends a Pow-Wow and begins to think she could be making friends, her whole evening, and life, is turned upside down after another girl is found murdered.
This story is written from a Young Adult standpoint with multiple POVS. Every character is hiding something, and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. There is an "unknown" POV as well, which kept the mystery very interesting. While most of this book is devastating and hopeless, the end had a very interesting payoff, and wrapped up well. This book would work well for those who enjoyed Firekeeper's Daughter.
Thanks to Heartdrum/HarperCollins for the e-ARC!

A deep dive into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls through the eyes of four people who may be responsible in some way. At a powwow for missing relatives, a giveaway goes wrong as the gift of apparel from one missing woman is given to another who is shortly thereafter found murdered. The last four people seen with her are suspects and the trauma affects them and those they know in profound ways. This is a slow unraveling of mystery and consequences that is handled well by this first time author, a book that will stick with the reader long after the last page is finished.

Looking for Smoke by KA Cobell is a young adult fiction of murder, mystery and a very real situation plaguing young Native women. Mara Racette recently moved to the Blackfeet Reservation with her parents and is on the outside looking in. When Loren Arnoux includes her in a traditional Blackfeet giveaway to honor her missing sister, Rayanne, Mara thinks she is finally making friends. However, when Samantha White Tail, another girl from the giveaway, is found murdered, everyone who was a part of the giveaway becomes a person of interest. Each one may have had a motive. From Mara and Loren to Brody Clark, the class clown, and tough guy Eli First Kill, each with a deep mistrust of each, take the matter into their own hands to clear their names. Can they discover the truth? Is one of them a murderer?
I love stories about Native Indigenous people and their culture and struggles. So when the opportunity to read Looking for Smoke came up, I jumped at it. In a powerful debut novel, Ms. Cobell weaved a story of loss, betrayal and mystery that was engaging with a shocking twist and surprise that had my jaw on the floor! Weaved through the story is the very real nightmare of missing and murdered native women. The statistics the author discussed at the end of the book were heartbreaking and horrifying! The characters were complex and the growth throughout the story was great. The imagery and the descriptions of the festivals and rituals were breathtaking. I could not put this story down and read well into the night. I am looking forward to reading more stories by KA Cobell. I highly, highly recommend Looking for Smoke.
Looking for Smoke will be available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook on June 4, 2024

I wanted to like this book I really did. But I thought it was just okay. It had an important message. But overall I just felt like the writing was very young.

After being shunned by her classmates, new girl Mara Racette thinks life may be looking up when she’s included in a traditional Blackfeet giveaway to honor missing classmate, Rayanne Arnoux. Instead, her participation turns her into a suspect after her classmate, Samantha White Tail, is murdered at the ceremony. While police investigate all four members of the giveaway - Mara, Loren, Brody, Eli - each becomes desperate to hide their secrets and prove their innocence. Who can be trusted? And who might be murdered next?
THOUGHTS: This fast-paced mystery will appeal to fans of Firekeeper’s Daughter and One of Us is Lying. While the alternating viewpoints can be a little difficult to follow, as the story progresses the flow improves. Readers will gain much knowledge about the traditions and culture of the Blackfeet nation. The story also illuminates the little-talked-about issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

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!

Wow! This own voices debut is well-written, tightly plotted, and includes POVs often missing from the publishing world, making it an absolute must-read!
Mara and her parents have just moved back to the Blackfeet Reservation and the close-knit local teens are resistant to welcome Mara into their friend group. When the sister a local missing girl honors Mara at a traditional pow-wow giveaway ceremony, Mara is shocked but excited to be included. Unfortunately, at the pow-wow, another local girl is found murdered and Mara and her family become persons of interest. The other giveaway recipients include 3 local teens who Mara teams up with to solve the murder and clear their names. Told between 4 POVs, this book weaves grief, betrayal, and morally grey characters together into a page-turning mystery that captivated my attention. The author sheds light on Blackfeet culture, reservation life, poverty, drug use/trafficking, and the crisis of violence indigenous women face.
Readers who enjoyed classics such as The Firekeeper's Daughter and There There need to add this one to your TBR. I cannot wait to see what the author releases next!

This novel is phenomenal. It sheds light on many issues not readily heard or talked about in a subtle and organic way. It never felt like it was hitting you over the head with those issues and situations. The idea of wrapping this in a murder mystery is brilliant because it reaches a much wider audience and the plot itself does not disappoint. I could not put this book down and very much enjoyed the characters, the writing and what it taught me.

I liked the writing and the story. It was fast-paced and depressing. I liked the mixed media elements. I didn't see the ending coming.

This was like a Holly Jackson book but if it was based in Native American culture.
Even when I thought I knew the twist and what the end was going to be, I was literally so shocked by it. The last chapter???? Oh my god. Especially for this being a debut novel, this was absolutely amazingly written.
This book also touches on an important but often forgotten about problem of MMIW (missing/murdered indigenous women). The attention that this brings to that alone is wonderful, and the way it is executed thought the book in multiple instances is so impactful.
Overall, I think absolutely everyone needs to read this, especially anyone who is a fan of Holly Jackson-esc YA thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy!

This book had too many POVs it was hard to follow the main character when I couldn’t really tell which one was the main one. The writing style also just wasn’t for me, it felt very cringy and forced. Not my read but someone else might enjoy it more.

Looking for Smoke is a hard, but very good read. The story, while fiction, centers around the very real epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Looking for Smoke is set in the Blackfeet community, told from the perspective of four adolescents who have been impacted by missing or murdered friends and/or family.
Loren’s sister, Rayanne, is missing and has been for three months. They assume she’s dead, but hang onto a whisper of hope. From the vantage of Loren, and those closest to her, the police haven’t done nearly enough to find her sister.
Three months after Rayanne’s disappearance, her friend Samantha is found strangled at a powwow. Mara, a recent transplant to the community is among those who find Samantha’s body. As Mara struggles to process the trauma, she feels compelled to connect with Loren and try to support her.
Eli and Brody are their friends. Mostly. Eli is both social and a loner. Eli spends a lot of time at home caring for his younger sister. We know he’s hiding a secret, but not what it is. Brody is super social, a bit of a goofball, and one of Eli’s best friends. Along with Loren, the group grew up side-by-side on the reservation. Mara struggles with where to fit in.
Unsettled and uncertain that the authorities are working to find Rayanne (alive or dead) or Samantha’s killer, the teens take matters into their own hands. They’re also each questioned—and it’s an important note how Eli, especially, is presumed guilty for a time based on flimsy evidence. It’s an another example of racism and not caring enough about what happens in indigenous communities. The mystery unfolds, detailing trauma after trauma, whether it’s by the community, their tribal police, the state police, or one another. It’s sad, and like I said at the outset, heavy. And it also feels important.
It’s a slow read. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it. Sometimes I lost track of whose voice/perspective I was reading, but overall I really liked this book. Highly recommended. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.