I loved every minute of this book. Totally didn't see the twists at all. Kind of sad it's a standalone.

4.5 stars. This may have restored my faith in YA, and it just might be my favourite book of the year so far. Breathtaking prose. BRB, while I go and order all of this author's work and pray it's just as good as this.

This was a fun book for me. But I'm on my phone so I'll write my review later.

3.5 stars"I have no connections. Not inside. Not outside. Hell, half the time I can't stay connected to my self. But reputation is everything, and if people think I've got eyes and ears outside, and they're willing to trade for it, so be it. Ever since I got here, people've been speculating. Wondering how I'm able to know all these things I know. They cling to the most logical explanations, even if they can't prove them." I think about what the warden said, about how we all have scars. How as lo...

I'm so glad I just happened to stumble upon Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano second hand. I hadn't heard of it at all before, but its description really caught my eye. Luckily, I can say that it's well worth your time. The writing style and the characters are the real standouts. The author's note at the end is also a must read. Now I need to read everything else by this author as soon as possible.

Have you ever been accused of something that wasn’t your fault? Well I’m going to tell you about someone that may have been too, in the book Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano. The genre of the book is paranormal fiction.The book Holding Smoke is about someone named John “Smoke” Conlan and his journey through his different way of living. In the book John is in jail for being suspected of killing two people. He says that he isn’t responsible for killing people and didn’t mean to kill the only witness...

Cool concept, the suggestion that we are tethered to our physical self is interesting. I enjoyed it enough... save for one of the characters names being 'Pink', that triggered me for some reason, haha.. but in all a good, easy read.

What an awesome book about self-worth and that sometimes, especially if you have people in your life that care about you, you can escape and rise above your circumstances. The passages about the abuse "Smoke" goes through and his deep belief his life isn't worth anything, much less saving, are hard to read but necessary. Well-written story line and atmosphere. The scenes where he's traveling as "smoke" separated from his body are perfectly eerie. Male narrator, mystery, a baby bit of romance, a

A ghost and a medium walk into a bar...Book Title: Holding SmokeAuthor: Elle CosimanoSeries: Stand AloneGenre: Young AdultPublisher: Disney HyperionSource: ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.☆My Pick for Book Theme Song: The Light by Disturbed --For Smoke…Ratings Breakdown Plot: 5/5Characters: 4.8/5The Feels: 4.5/5Theme: 5/5Flow: 4.3/5Backdrop (World Building): 5/5Originality: 5/5Book Cover: 5/5Ending: 5/5 Cliffhanger: No Will I read more from this Author? Yes I will.

John "Smoke" Conlan is serving time for two murders but he wasn't the one who murdered his English teacher, and he never intended to kill the only other witness to the crime. A dangerous juvenile rehabilitation center in Denver, Colorado, known as the Y, is Smoke's new home and the only one he believes he deserves.But, unlike his fellow inmates, Smoke is not in constant imprisonment. After a near-death experience leaves him with the ability to shed his physical body at will, Smoke is able to tr

Thank you NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for providing me with and eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.This book was a lovely surprise. I was not expecting to like it as much as I did. Maybe because I haven't read a YA mystery novel before that was as well done as this one was. Usually the answers come so easily to the main characters, but in this one they did not. At least I didn't think they did. I enjoyed how everything was connected and how it all came together in the end. The

A bit hard to follow at times, but really good nonetheless.

John "Smoke" Conlan is serving time at a juvenile rehabilitation center in Denver, Colorado, known as the Y. He was convicted of two murders, that of his English teacher and another boy but he wasn't the one that had actually killed his teacher and hadn't meant to kill the boy either. Smoke has one thing different about himself that the others in the center don't have. He is not always locked up, he has the ability to do what is known as astral projection or have an out of body experience and mo...

The cover was the lure and the description was the hook, because who wouldn’t be interested to find out more about a person who could travel outside of their body at will? Add that on to the fact that I’d never read anything by Elle Cosimano and I was more than happy to bite and see what came of it and am very happy that I did. Holding Smoke is an entertaining mystery/suspense story with just a dash of fantasy mixed into it with a cast of interesting characters that kept me turning the page unti...

Gripping, exciting, well-written, Holding Smoke pulled me right in and wouldn't let me go. I had a stake in not only the main character's, but also in all the quirky side characters' lives. I wanted to know more, I needed to know more. What an unusual and creative premise!The writing is excellent! I felt like I can really get a grasp of the people and the places.I could really identify with John Conlan, the main character. He is a very "real," identifiable character, with all his strengths and f...

2.5 stars.This is a tough one to review. I loved the premise of the book as well as the setting but it just did not quite hit the mark for me.Smoke is an inmate at the Y, a juvenile rehabilitation center, for murdering two people. And herein lies my biggest problem with book. This kid murders two people, one he openly admits to, and he isn't bound over to district court? What judge decided that this kid should not be tried as an adult for murder? The author does kind of write a reason as to why

***Actual rating: 4.5/5 Pink, Smoky Stars*** ”All of us are broken, John. I just think that once you’ve lost everything, maybe there’s nothing left to hold you back.” I kid you not, Holding Smoke is my first mystery novel I’ve read and I love it so friggin’ much. John “Smoke” Conlan was serving time for two murders but he didn’t kill his beloved English teacher, Ms. Cruz; as for the other one, well, he killed him in self-defense. *snorting* Yeah, prisoners always said they were inn

Holding Smoke was such a great book! Astral projection. Really well fleshed-out characters. Prison. Corrupt people... FRC

Elle Cosimano once again blows it out of the water with her latest paranormal mystery, HOLDING SMOKE. John "Smoke" Conlan was accused of two murders - one of which he didn't commit. Still a criminal doing time at a juvenile detention center known as the "Y", Smoke is trying to recover from being murdered by his father.That's right, John Smoke Conlan was murdered. Six minutes later, he came back to life. Ever since then, Smoke has been able to travel outside his body, and he uses this new ability...

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a eARC of this book for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.Going into this book, I wasn't really too sure what to expect. I knew that it was about a boy who was living out his sentence in a juvenile detention centre, called the Y, for the murder of his English teacher, and the boy who witnessed the murder. However, the main character John "Smoke" tries desperately to prove he didn't kill his teacher, and the other murder was in self