Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Big Smoke

by Cally Jackson (Goodreads Author)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 56 ratings · 17 reviews

Ceara’s desperate for love; Seb’s desperate to get laid. Ceara adores reading novels; Seb hasn’t finished a book in years. Two strangers, both moving from small country towns to Brisbane – the big smoke. As they prepare to attend the same university, their paths seem set to collide, but they keep missing each other. Maybe fate is keeping them apart, or maybe it’s just chan...more

Paperback, 414 pages

Published October 2012 by Createspace

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

College Romance

384th out of 526 books — 4,277 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 622)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 18, 2012 Rachel Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

THE GOOD: Relationships, romance, drama, humour, heartbreak, coming of age--this book has a lot packed into it! It's a long book. Not long in a this-story-is-dragging-on-forever-I-wish-it-would-end kinda way. No, no, no. Long in a I-scored-two-awesome-books-in-one kinda way!! The chapters alternate between Seb and Ceara, two very different characters with distinctive voices. They're heading off to university with all their hopes, dreams, fears and expectations--which is already a lot to deal wit...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was introduced to this book through an article about Cally Jackson on the intranet at work, but after reading the first two chapters I went straight to Amazon and bought the e-book. I'm a bit past the age range of Seb and Ceara, but Cally's vivid writing brought back those angst-filled uni days where you're trying to figure out who you are and what you want and deal with massive changes in your life, while having to deal with the stresses of studying at the same time.

I really liked Seb and Cea...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Ari J Bookzilla rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, clean-read

I really enjoyed this, it was too cute. Usually I wouldn't read it because the blurb did nothing for me, but I have to say that despite knowing better I was being shallow and let the cover persuade me. It's just too pretty, all artsy and colorful like that.

Both Ceara and Seb are wonderful characters, and they have so much going on I was constantly worried they wouldn't pull through. Two teens, finally going into adulthood and trying to be independent, but not quite realizing they're there yet. S...more I really enjoyed this, it was too cute. Usually I wouldn't read it because the blurb did nothing for me, but I have to say that despite knowing better I was being shallow and let the cover persuade me. It's just too pretty, all artsy and colorful like that.

Both Ceara and Seb are wonderful characters, and they have so much going on I was constantly worried they wouldn't pull through. Two teens, finally going into adulthood and trying to be independent, but not quite realizing they're there yet. Seb is such a guy. I was sad he thought so little of himself, but I could completely understand why. And Ceara is...I guess she has this misconception that when you find love everything is right with the world. I'm glad she realized there's more to life than this.

It was wonderfully written, I really felt all the characters brought something to the story and no one was irrelevant. I loved how you can see secondary characters developing too, like Cindy, Kristi, Tim, Heath, Robert (especially Robert!) and Bek. I really liked them all. The setting of Brisbane is wonderful. She also manages to give Ceara and Seb two completely different voices.

And let me tell you, Cally Jackson does a great job of creating that anticipation when these two finally meet and get together. Only it doesn't happen like that. And I wanted to smack someone near me when they kept missing each other after that near-death-experience, with the whole "so close but yet so far away" thing. By the end my nerves were slowly disappearing one by one, just when I think This Is It! it turns out not to be. It's totally worth it though, Seb and Ceara have maybe three scenes together but there is chemistry oozing from the pages.

Ever read Vince and Joy? It reminded me a lot of it, and I mean this as a huge compliment to Cally Jackson because that book blew me away, too. You know they will be so good together and you just can't wait till it happens, but they're just not in the right place for anything to start, yet. I couldn't even justify being mad that I had to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more because I was perfectly aware that the timing just wasn't right. I like my instant gratification and I guess I'm just so used to characters in romance getting together ASAP, but in the end I was fine. I survived.

And so will you, if you give this book a chance. I bought it because I wanted to support the author, but you can also read it for free here on GR. And it's completely worth reading, I definitely recommend it.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 31, 2012 Mari rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book sneaks up on you, grabs you by the throat, and doesn’t let you go until the last page. When I picked it up I was tired of reading material for young adults, or new adults, for that matter, that consists of a series of ‘then this happened and then that happened’ statements. The Big Smoke boldly sets itself against the current trend of shallow character development and over reliance on plot. What the reader finds instead is an organic development of connections, entanglements and emotion...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's 2002 and Seb and Ceara are destined for each other, they just don't know it yet. Jackson does a great job of getting into her male and female characters' heads and showing us their anxieties about rites of passages such as moving into your first apartments (no dorms in Australia, apparently) getting your first job away from home, learning to drive in the big city, and making new friends. The authorial hand is very light and the action grows organically from the actions of the characters. Th...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 25, 2012 Charity Bradford rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm going to be honest here and say that originally I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this. I wasn't sure it was going to be "my thing" by the blurb. For that reason, it means a lot more when I say I REALLY enjoyed this. Once you read you'll realize how brilliant the cover is and why the characters are sketched in.

This is a story about two people who want something very much, but it's the wrong thing. How many times have we been in the same place in our lives? The Big Smoke is a coming of age s...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 07, 2012 Michael Offutt rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received an Advanced Reader Edition of Cally Jackson's debut novel, and I read it in just a few days. It was THAT good. As a warning I want to say that my review may contain some spoilers, because I can't think of a way of talking about this tale without discussing what goes on in Ceara and Seb's lives.

"The Big Smoke" has two narrators. We've seen this plenty of times before most notably used by William Faulkner in "Absalom, Absalom." However, it is also used to great effect by George R.R. Mar...more I received an Advanced Reader Edition of Cally Jackson's debut novel, and I read it in just a few days. It was THAT good. As a warning I want to say that my review may contain some spoilers, because I can't think of a way of talking about this tale without discussing what goes on in Ceara and Seb's lives.

"The Big Smoke" has two narrators. We've seen this plenty of times before most notably used by William Faulkner in "Absalom, Absalom." However, it is also used to great effect by George R.R. Martin in a "Song of Ice and Fire" and by countless other writers who use it to find a means of perspective in a story that is too big to encompass just one point-of-view. Cally's take on this is to use first-person, and it works wonderfully as a vehicle to tell her story. So expect to be inserted into the heads of Ceara and Seb alternately throughout the book. Cally does tell you which head you are in because the chapters are labeled with their names, and they both possess a very distinctive voice.

Cally Jackson is a great writer. The first character I want to talk about is Ceara. Her narrative can be summarized by something her friend Kristi says to her. "You're so desperate to be in a relationship, you fall in love with anyone who gives you the slightest bit of attention. You seem to think your life will only be complete when you have a boyfriend."

And it was at that moment in the book that I finally understood that behind the angst of being a new adult is often the search for validation, because we (guys and gals) go into college without a sense of identity. And maybe that's what college is supposed to do: give us time to find ourselves. I can comfortably say that Ceara definitely understands who she is by the end of the book, and it is through this vehicle that she attains happiness.

The second narrator, Seb (short for Sebastian) is told in an authentic male voice that oftentimes left me in awe that Cally could capture so perfectly how boys feel in the first year of college. Do we think about sex all the time? Absolutely. I often lament when looking back on my college years about how difficult the curriculum was because I had too many distractions caused by raging hormones. Sebastian really connects with this feeling. As well, she gives us a very human side to Seb by showing us the many rights of passage that men must attain to reach adulthood, the compromises of living with a roommate, and ultimately how every story has multiple points of view.

And it is in this that Cally is amazing. Seb's parents are divorced and there are two sides to that story. But the deconstruction doesn't stop there. "The Big Smoke" also has two sides (the tale of Ceara and Seb). Cally brings these two ships together by the end after they have each worked through their myriad issues and are now ultimately ready for a true relationship that will stand the test of time. And I just want to say, I love the way these two narratives interweave with each other through events like Seb saving Ceara's life, to mutual acquaintances and friends, to the university they both attend, and to the city they both call home. We know from the beginning (of course) that boy and girl will eventually come together. But the fun is finding out exactly how that's going to be done. And I liked that it happened naturally through time as they both became adults and knew exactly what they needed to make them complete.

This book is difficult for me to classify in terms of genre. I think it fits soundly into "New Adult," but I have no idea if that is an actual genre yet (even though more and more people are talking about it).

I think "The Big Smoke" would appeal to those who like "Literary Fiction." If you have read Michael Chabon (author of "The Wonder Boys") you would like this book, or perhaps readers of "The Ice Storm" might find similarities that they would enjoy. "The Big Smoke" is a complex look into the lives of college freshman that tackles issues of body image disorder, anorexia, abandonment, sex, relationships, and loss. This is a great book, and you would do good to read it for yourself.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 21, 2012 Anne Moffat rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'll admit I know Cally - BUT...this was a totally great book on it's own merits. It had me laughing, crying (yep - true) and really revelling in the uni life of Brisbane a decade or so back (I am sure I almost got run over on the same street). The characters are so real you will swear you knew them in your 20s. Their experiences are so raw and so detailed, it's like living them yourself. And perhaps that's the best bit of this book. Most of these experiences we have all had in our own way. Perh...more

1 like · like · see review

May 27, 2013 Terri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-pov-s, college-romance, drama, emotional, family-drama, forgiveness, healing, no-cliffhanger, parent-issues

I will give this 3 1/2 stars.........A good Aussie book. I didn't realize that till after I downloaded it so learned a little Aussie jargon along the way.

This was a very long novel between Seb & Ceara POV's. This isn't a normal hot romance that is between the two characters, it's about them going thru their own personal experiences before they have their own together (meaning they aren't together for only about 8% out of a 415 pages of the book.)

I still enjoyed the story throughout. It was...more

like · see review

Dec 19, 2012 Mim Davies rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! At first I thought I might be too old to enjoy this novel but it sure took me back to my uni days. The characters were portrayed so perfectly. I remember those feelings of loneliness, betrayal, self worth, love and doubt.

I was on the edge of my seat reading faster and faster and getting annoyed when the 2 characters that I had gotten to know so well throughout the story kept missing each other.

It's a well written story of fate and chance, of love and lust, of self doubt and...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 21, 2012 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's a long time since I was the age of Seb and Ceara but Cally Jackson's writing took me back to those days when I was trying to find my way the world, desperately wanting to fit in. Cally has written each character in the first person which invites the reader into their hearts and minds. I've read this book twice and even the second time, knowing what to expect I had tears streaming down my face on the bus and people staring at me wondering what was wrong. This is the mark of excellent writing...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 24, 2013 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-adult, read-in-2013

The Big Smoke was a very interesting read for me. When I received the review request, I was hooked at the words "Australia" and "Contemporary New Adult". That's pretty much all I needed to give the book a try.

I thought The Big Smoke would be primarily a love story. The story of Seb and Ceara, adjusting to university life and falling in love. But what I got was two parallel stories, told simultaneously, of two people who were troubled by issues from the past, each making their way and learning v...more The Big Smoke was a very interesting read for me. When I received the review request, I was hooked at the words "Australia" and "Contemporary New Adult". That's pretty much all I needed to give the book a try.

I thought The Big Smoke would be primarily a love story. The story of Seb and Ceara, adjusting to university life and falling in love. But what I got was two parallel stories, told simultaneously, of two people who were troubled by issues from the past, each making their way and learning valuable lessons about themselves in Brisbane, "the big smoke".

Ceara, who carried a huge burden from her childhood, was a girl many can relate to. She was studious, quiet, and reserved. She felt that having a serious boyfriend would make her happier, and imagined herself falling in love with any guy who paid her attention. She's losing her best friend, and gaining a new, pushy but well-meaning friend, and her identity is lost in the mix. But as time passes, and she begins to become more self-aware, she gains a lot of insight and becomes a lovely, self-assured woman.

When Seb arrives at university, his goal is to make his father proud, and to finally get laid. He's a bit lazy, and not very thoughtful, and sort of coasts along. In meeting new people, and having his eyes opened to the world and what he thought was true of his life, Seb begins to grow up. He takes responsibility for his life, and realizes that finding the right girl is more important than simply going all the way.

So while you have two individual transformative stories, there is also the cool intersection of Seb and Ceara lives at the beginning of the story, and wondering if they'll ever cross paths again. Throughout The Big Smoke, they are leading lives within striking distance of one another, being in extremely close proximity and having mutual friends. I loved reading about them individually, knowing they each never stopped thinking about the other, and wondering when if/when it would actually happen. I will say that the first twenty-five percent of the story, with the establishment of the characters and their new lives/routines, was a bit slow for me. Not so much that I ever experienced true frustration, but I wanted to move forward in their journeys. As they story progressed, though, and I could feel Seb and Ceara inching closer and closer, I couldn't stop reading, and I ended up loving the last portion of the story.

The Big Smoke was a quiet, character-driven story that had a lovely take on self-worth, growing up and letting go, and fate.

Favorite Quote:

The Beatles girl's eyes reminded me of rock pools at the beach, the ones that are always overflowing with sea water. When you stared into them, you could tell that heaps was going on beneath the surface. Lara's eyes were more like potholes that had been filled with mud from a storm. Nothing wrong with the color, but no depth at all. ~32%

For so long, I'd carried that ocean inside me. I'd let its waves crash against me and drag me under.
Not any more. ~ 91%

(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Tamara Pratt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I highly recommend this read. It was for my teenage daughters at the time I purchased it, but I read the book in a few days' straight, and have only just handed it over to them now! It's a great coming of age tale based on the story of two young adults finding independence and belonging in a big city, and I thoroughly enjoyed my journey with them. For all readers, young and old.

1 like · like · see review

Nov 21, 2012 Margaret Lehmann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian-author, coming-of-age

Once into “The Big Smoke”, it was hard to put down. I found it an engrossing story of moving into adulthood. The characters grow with the narrative and one cares a lot about what happens to them.

In a nutshell, it was a great read.

And will be a great Xmas gift for the late teens and early 20’s.

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Laura Diamond rated it 4 of 5 stars

I don't read a lot of contemporary, but I sure am glad I read this book! Cally does a fabulous job of weaving each character's life throughout the story, building momentum right until the last page. Her characters are authentic, real people. I feel like I've know them forever.

A must read!

1 like · like · see review

Apr 03, 2013 Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: new-adult, 2013-reads, indie

This is not a romance novel. It is a coming of age book about two different people who have several chance connections with only one encounter. It's good for what it is and we see character growth by the end. I would just have liked to see these two interact with each other sooner rather later.

like · see review

Dec 08, 2012 Glire marked it as to-read

Shelves: great-covers

Beautiful cover.

like · see review

Nov 10, 2012 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, coming-of-age, death, new-adult, relationships, novels, school, romance

3.5 If only they had gotten together sooner! What a tease!

like · see review

Feb 06, 2013 Su Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Su by: Cally Jackson

The Big Smoke by Cally Jackson was an honest look at two 'new adults' launching into college. Each character (male and female) was given individual voice. The issues were definitely issues that young adults face these days. A good read!

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 15, 2013 Destiny marked it as to-read

Jun 13, 2013 Sarina marked it as to-read

Jun 07, 2013 Dominique marked it as to-read

Jun 05, 2013 Marie Elizabeth marked it as to-read

Jun 04, 2013 Barbs marked it as to-read

May 22, 2013 Maisha marked it as to-read

May 22, 2013 Anne-claire marked it as to-read

May 21, 2013 Tasha marked it as to-read

May 19, 2013 Mar Botero marked it as to-read

May 17, 2013 Alec Parafina marked it as to-read

May 15, 2013 April marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 20 21 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

Genres

New Adult

14 users

Contemporary

4 users

Young Adult > Coming Of Age

3 users

Academic > College

3 users

Young Adult

3 users

Romance

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Cally Jackson

Cally Jackson grew up in the small country town of Gatton. After deciding at 17 that a Hollywood acting career was sadly out of reach, Cally turned to a career in professional communication and is currently employed by the government.

Cally’s passion for fictional writing first emerged in grade two when she got in trouble for penning her own tale instead of copying directly from a story book as she...more

More about Cally Jackson...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Big Smoke

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Big Smoke
avg rating	preview: The Big Smoke Goodreads rating: 3.66 (56 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16037996-the-big-smoke?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350368968l/16037996.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16037996-the-big-smoke?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Big Smoke by Cally Jackson[/url]

The Big Smoke

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Cally Jackson

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Big Smoke

new topic
Discuss This Book