I really enjoyed Promise Boys and was excited to read this story but sadly it didn't engage me the same way. The story had short chapters, good pacing, but I was just bored with the story.

I loved this book. It gave the feel of what people will do for someone they love. Going to the end of the earth to protect someone they love. I wasn’t anticipating the plot twist, The team work that went into saving someone’s life, was evident in this book. 10/10 for me.

After being told not to go to a Black Lives Matter protest Coop decides he wants to go and with his best fried Jason. Things happen while there and a police officer is shot and killed because Jason was there he was charged for the murder. Monique is a girl that Coop likes as well as Jason’s sister.

In Up in smoke we see Coop and Monique build their relationship all while trying to clear Jason of the Charges.

I really enjoyed this book but it didn’t quite hit Promise Boys level. I felt like the romance came when they should have been solving the murder.

Overall a good book!

Thank you to #NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read *Up in Smoke* by Nick Brooks in exchange for my honest review.

Cooper King finds himself in a tough situation: he has lost his summer job opportunity, and he knows his dad needs money. When his friend Jason approaches him about being the lookout for a series of store robberies during protests in D.C., Cooper feels he has no choice but to say yes. Everything goes according to plan until gunshots are fired, and Cooper suddenly finds himself among the protesters with stolen goods. Thinking quickly, he makes it back home, but there's an unsettling silence from the other friends he was with. He can't shake the worry for Jason's little sister, Monique, whom he saw during the chaos.

The next day, everything spirals further out of control when Jason is arrested for killing someone at the protest. Meanwhile, Cooper grapples with developing feelings for Monique; he has loved her since they were kids. On top of this, he must find a way to stay out of prison himself. Determined to help Monique clear Jason's name, Cooper decides to join her in searching for evidence.

Nick Brooks has done it again, delivering another page-turning mystery filled with twists and turns that will engage even the most reluctant readers.

n Up in Smoke the MC is Cooper (aka Coop) King. It begins with a protest and Coop and his friends decide they're going to loot some stores. But as they are in the process of doing so, gunshots ring out and someone has been killed. Unfortunately, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and one of the buys, Jason, was arrested for murder.

Coop and Jason's sister team up to find the real killer because nobody who knows Jason believes he could murder anybody. But still the doubts began to creep in here and there due to evidence. What happens in the end is for others to read and find out...no spoiler here.

The book's intended audience is YA and I think it works well for that age group. I think there are some messages in it that might help some young adults to think about something twice if only while reading the book. All choices have consequences and bad choices will come with bad consequences.

I had the ebook as well as the audiobook. For me, the audio didn't really add to how much I liked the book. The reading was easy, fast-paced and not difficult to understand; however, having taught English in high school mostly to freshmen, I think the audio would be perfect for reluctant readers.

UP IN SMOKE by Nick Brooks

Pub date: May 6th, 2025
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Rating: 4 / 5


"There was only one way to free him. One way to free myself. I needed to find the shooter."

Cooper King should've just stayed home. Instead, he followed his closest friend and mentor Jason to looting the streets of DC amidst a peaceful protest. When gunshots ring out in the crowd, everything descends into chaos. And worst of all? Just 24 hours later, Jason is arrested for murdering a woman at the rally. Now, alongside Jason's sister—and Cooper's childhood crush— Monique, Cooper is set on revealing the true murderer and setting Jason free. But Cooper can't forget: he's a suspect too.

UP IN SMOKE is a thrilling novel that hits the ground running with action, intrigue, and introspection. The dual-POV and short chapters keep the plot moving, and the easy-to-read narration helps engage non-reader audiences. One of the strongest themes in this book is social justice. Cooper and Monique wrestle with the prejudices and violence in their community, being Black teens in turbulent social climates. They explore and question their own opinions on bringing about revolution, and the two see firsthand where corruption can develop both in justice systems and on the streets. While some readers may feel frustrated with the lack of communication between Cooper and Monique, Cooper's secrecy adds to his inner turmoil and heightens the stakes for his character and the greater conflict. Readers looking for a quick-read thriller with insights on injustice need to pick up Nick Brooks's sophomore YA novel ASAP!


(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

This definitely has the potential to turn into a series! Every once in a while I like to switch up from my normal fantasy/romantasy reads with a thriller/ya that doesn’t require as much world building and effort on my part and this was perfect!!

Set in DC while protests are taking place over police brutality and murder of innocent young black boys, a neighborhood is turned upside down when a protest turns to looting turns to tragedy. This was an easy read, kept me intrigued and I loved the twists. I would definitely recommend and will be hoping for a book two!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC!

What a thrilling ride! This fast-paced YA novel, set in DC, follows Cooper as he gets peer-pressured to loot during a protest and the aftermath of that choice. When a woman is shot and killed during the protest, and Jay, one of Cooper's crew, and his best friend (and potential love interest!) Mo's older brother, is framed and arrested for the murder, Cooper has little time to figure out who the killer is before the heat comes back on him. He and Mo work together to solve the crime, but the secret he is keeping from her about his looting involvement threatens to tear them apart.

I love how Nic Brooks doesn't shy away from the hard issues facing inner city teens, namely police brutality, racism, and corruption, and while I figured out the killer earlier, I still loved the journey. The rising tension between Cooper & Mo and his secret threatening to surface made for excellent, fraught pacing and the development of Cooper owning his mistake and working toward atonement is skillfully crafted. I also love that it's right around 250 pages with short chapters, making this an excellent choice for lower level students looking for an enticing read.

Thank you to Henry Holt Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC. This one is out May 6, 2025!

Overall, Up In Smoke didn’t quite hit the same level as Promise Boys, but it still offers a fast-paced, socially conscious mystery that touches on real issues like police violence, systemic neglect, and community action. It’s definitely worth a read if you’re into stories where the stakes feel personal—and political.

A combination of the Hate You Give and The Firekeeper's Daughter - Up in Smoke was more than a YA mystery. This high-stakes, fast-paced novel blends social commentary with the thrills of who dunit murder mystery. IT spotlights how youth in lower income communities can be targeted and taken advantage of, I would not classify this as a young adult, but a book where the main characters were young adults; even adult readers should enjoy this thought provoking novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC of this book!

Up in Smoke is the story of a young Blank man, Jason, who was arrested for murdering a woman during a protest. His sister Mo and friend Cooper are determined to prove his innocence. Readers are taken along as they unravel what really happened, which was a quick, if ultimately somewhat flat journey. I love that this book is so short for teen readers who need that. And for those readers, this book is perfect. For me personally, I would have loved to have seen a little more suspense and a little more depth to the mystery. I did find Cooper and Mo to be likable and interesting characters and I think readers will enjoy the small romantic subplot. I will be adding a copy of this to my classroom library as I do think it is perfect for many teen readers!

When Jason gets framed for a crime he didn't commit, his sister Monique and friend Cooper are in a rush against time to figure out who committed the crime. This book takes a serious look at racial issues and police corruption.

This book FLEW by. I read this on one afternoon, I had to know what happened. Cooper and Mo are a great team, and I love the whole trying to figure out the crime ala One of Us is Lying. It is definitely upper YA, but I think could be a great point of learning about some ongoing racial issues in the USA.


Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read this book! All reviews are left honestly and voluntarily.

Cooper King was never the type to get into trouble, but Jason was just so convincing. Another city jobs program was cut, another young black man was gunned down by police, another peaceful protest devolved into chaos around the edges, and Jason was ready to turn his newfound confidence into action. Cooper was pulled into Jason’s looting, his plan to take back what they’re owed by their corrupt local government. But soon after the group was separated in the surging crowd, a gunshot went off and Jason was arrested for murder. Now, the police are searching for his three accomplices, including Cooper.

Cooper knows that Jason didn’t murder anyone, so he teams up with the only other person who seems to know it: Jason’s younger sister, Monique. He can’t tell Monique that he was part of Jason’s crew, but he can still work with her to solve the case… as long as he’s not discovered and implicated first.

I'm a fan of Nick Brooks’ debut, Promise Boys, so I was really thrilled to get my hands on Up In Smoke. I love the premise of a good kid getting pressured into a bad situation, only to have it explode into something much worse. Plus, who doesn't love a mystery? The novel needed a few more credible suspects, though, as it didn't feel like there were enough possibilities to really stew over prior to the reveal. Everyone who could be a suspect was counted out very quickly and it didn't lean into suspense well.

While Cooper is our main narrator, we also get lots of Monique's POV. Monica leads the peaceful protest. She writes poetry. She firmly believes in her brother's innocence. But we don't see a ton of personality from her outside of her righteousness and her (very mutual) crush on Cooper. The few scenes where that romantic tension is explored felt sweet, but they didn't have many moments of true connection. The description calls it a “will-they, won't-they romance,” but it was pretty quiet and clear cut.

At just over 250 pages, Up In Smoke was a really breezy read. The other side of that coin is that I would've liked to see things fleshed out a little more: Cooper and Monique's relationship with each other and with their community, the organizations at the center of the mystery, and the secondary characters. None of them were bad, but I don't think they reached their full potential. The ending also felt rushed and I didn't love how it played out.

While it doesn't quite live up to his first novel, Nick Brooks invites readers into a tense, multi-faceted mystery that examines racial tension, corruption, and community ties.

Cooper King is a Black teenager persuaded to engage in looting during a protest by an older friend named Jason. Jason is also the older brother of Cooper's crush, Monique. During the protest, a police officer is shot and killed. Later, Cooper realizes that Jason has been arrested for the murder, but Cooper is sure that Jason is innocent of the crime. Cooper is determined to help Monique clear her brother's name, but can he do it without revealing that he was at the protest?

Overall, I liked the realism of the situations in the story, but it felt a little rushed to me., especially at the end.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), and NetGalley for a review copy of this title.

This book definitely had me gripped, as the book developed I felt more drawn into it as the mystery unfolded.

Three stars, but I have a few thoughts.
The story, narrative, and overall plot were genuinely compelling. However, it lost me along the way. Everything felt crammed into such a short book and rushed timeline that I struggled to connect with the characters. As a result, I found myself losing interest in the resolution. While I appreciated the realistic situations and themes, the ending ultimately fell flat for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.

I didnt particularly love this one. It told a solid story about a corrupt system. I was torn about the romance. They would be knee deep into finding the killer & then emotions would be heightened lol. All and all. It was a decent YA read

This book unfortunately just did not mesh with me. I found the writing to be lacking and it was almost too YA for me in style. I struggled to connect to the characters and be invested and I wanted more for the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for this ARC!

I loved the premise and storyline in this book. It takes place in D.C. and deals with real world problems. The author did a great job on this book and I really enjoyed it. The whole quest to find the answers and uncover the truth was suspenseful and i like the authors pace of the story. I will be looking into more books from this author as this was my first.

I loved the writing style and the concept of the book. I felt that the dual POV got to be a bit much and a little hard to navigate. There were parts of the story that I felt were focused on more than others and it didn’t add much to the effect. I would still recommend since the book!