| Title | : | Whiteout |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0063088142 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780063088146 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 291 |
| Publication | : | First published November 8, 2022 |
As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. But will they be able to make it happen, in spite of the storm?
No one is prepared for this whiteout. But then, we can’t always prepare for the magical moments that change everything.
From the bestselling, award-winning, all-star authors who brought us Blackout—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—comes another novel of Black teen love, each relationship within as unique and sparkling as Southern snowflakes.
Whiteout Reviews
-
the setup…
High school senior Stephanie (Stevie) Williams is a science genius but she has a lot to learn about love. She and her girlfriend Sola, her best friend since they met in the 6th grade, had planned for her to meet her Nigerian family and announce their relationship. However, Stevie not only blew it with the family, she hurt Sola so deeply that she’s threatened to end their relationship if she doesn’t deliver a meaningful apology by midnight. Stevie’s come up with a great plan and enlists her friends Kaz, E.R., Jordyn, Jimi, Ava, and Mason to help. Unfortunately, Atlanta is in the middle of a snowstorm, not much by northern standards but it creates chaos in a town not used to this kind of weather.
the heart of the story…
This is so much more than Stevie and Sola’s story, which was pretty wonderful on its own. Each of her friends have their own relationship woes going on and we get their stories as well. All of these teens are really smart with a plethora of skills represented in addition to science acumen. I got wrapped up in all of them and loved how their issues were realistic with just the right teenage angst. They were all pretty interesting and there was a diversity of relationships, too, that just made this a richer story. The challenges the weather presented added a lot more flavor to their efforts to help Stevie as they had to work with their partners, sometimes reluctantly, to pull off the plan.
the narration…
Oh, this was a listening delight as multiple narrators were used to tell these stories and it was fantastic! If you can choose the audio version for this story, do so. These performances just elevated the reading experience.
the bottom line…
I rarely read anything in the YA genre but something about the description and the wintery holiday setting reeled me in. Thankfully this turned out to be so much more than my expectations. Even though separate writers were used for each of the stories, they all fit together seamlessly. They all felt like the same “voice” was in charge. It was also a breath of fresh air to listen to a story about Black teens who have high aspirations and focused on achievements. Everything about this was lovely…the characters, the audio performance, the relationship issues and the plot. I’m very happy I stepped out of my comfort zone. 4.5 stars
Posted on
Blue Mood Café
(Thanks to HarperAudio and Libro.fm for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.) -
*3.33 stars, rounded down
TW//
There was only one story that I truly loved in this collection. All the other ones were mediocre and somewhat disappointing. Blackout was a lot better. I’ll summarize my thoughts of each story below, but this is a book that can easily be skipped.
Stevie & Sola: 3 stars: Stevie is like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, so I like her but I also understand that she shouldn’t have done what she did. I also liked Sola, but she didn’t have enough character development to truly let her character shine. The aquarium scene was adorable, but other than that, I started to lose interest in this couple by the end of the book. It felt like most of their chapters consisted of Stevie waiting around for other people to do things for her to help her get back together with Sola.
Kaz & Porsha: 3 stars: While it had some cute scenes, Kaz deserved someone better than Porsha. Porsha’s behavior irritated me to no end and she should’ve treated Kaz better.
E.R. & Van & Eric Ryan: 3 stars: I really enjoyed the setting and the writing style, but I didn’t like Van or Eric as love interests. It also seemed like there was a lot of depth to E.R. that could’ve been explored better in a full length novel.
Jordyn & Omari: 3 stars: It has the most depth, but I wasn’t too interested in the plot.
Jimi & Téo: 3 stars: This was really close to being a 4 star read, but I hated how Jimi was viewed as having made a mistake for the way she treated her bandmates. She was third wheeled and had a right to be angry. On a more positive note, Jimi and Téo had some of the best chemistry in this book and I would’ve loved to read more about their romance.
Ava & Mason: 5 stars: This is definitely my favorite out of this collection. It was super sweet with a fantastic setting. The main conflict seemed super realistic and it deals with a common struggle that older teens may experience when in a relationship. -
4.5
they jumped me for this rating but im right. -
3.5⭐️I read Blackout last year and LOVED it. It’s one of my favorite YA books out there and one I recommend to all my students, so I was thrilled to see that the same team of authors were coming together for a Christmas-themed story. Just like in Blackout, this book follows different couples through a major event, this one being a big snow storm in Atlanta. I really loved the interwoven narratives, the variety of romance tropes, the sexual diversity, the Atlanta setting and the holiday spirit. However, I thought the big grand gesture this book was centered around was a little over the top for high schoolers, which prevented be from fully buying into the premise. Also, I found some of the character’s storylines to be similar, making it harder to differentiate between the full cast, especially when they were text chains.
Read if you like:
-YA romance reads
-Holiday books
-Atlanta setting
- Black and LGTBQIA+ voices
Pub date: 11/8/22 -
Initial reaction: So I'll probably give this collection between 3 and 3.5 stars. Need to think about it a little more. I would put my enjoyment of it at about the same as "Blackout" - some of these stories were very strong while others didn't quite have the impact I hoped they would have. I think as I showcase each of the character stories, it'll be a bit clearer as to why some of these had more of an impact on me than others. I think teens will like this collection if they liked "Blackout". It might be a little more difficult to follow to start with because the stories intertwine with each other, but it gets easier the further it goes. I liked all of the audiobook narrators this time around.
As to who wrote what, these clues are given at the end of the audiobook - I'll probably try to figure them out and lay out my thoughts on them when I get the chance:
Stevie and Sola - "self-professed love grump of the group" - (First guess is Nicola Yoon. I'm guessing because she contributed to the anthology "Because You Love to Hate Me." The overarching story was good, though some parts are a little difficult to follow and uneven.)
Kaz - "written by a Christmas queen" - (I think this might be Tiffany D. Jackson based on her picture book story "Santa in the City", I liked Kaz's story for the most part.)
E.R. - "written by the only Atlanta native among us who is also an airport lover" (This is definitely Nic Stone's story. Unfortunately, I thought this was the weakest story in the collection this time around.)
Jordyn - "written by the only author who is a rapper" (This is definitely Angie Thomas, for sure. And I rather liked this story, far more than the story she had in "Blackout".)
Jimi - "written by the author who has always wanted to be a rock star and whose books always include music" (This is my favorite story in the collection, y'all. It was very well written. I want to say this is Ashley Woodfolk's story. I'm not sure because I haven't read all of her works to know if they feature music. If so, I need to read everything of hers, stat.)
Ava and Mason - "written by the author who once wrote a kiss scene that lasted 4 pages; her editor made her shorten it." (Process of elimination, this may be Dhionelle Clayton's story. If so, this was good. I liked it. It would also make sense because it has a similar vibe to her previous story in "Blackout". I liked the attention to science and sea creatures in this one.)
Full review:
So we have another timely anthology - notably for the winter season - from the same authors of "Blackout." Six authors and several interweaving narratives in the mix, "Whiteout" tells the primary story of a sapphic romance in disarray and the attempts of Stevie, with the help of her friends, to win back the affections of Sola. I mentioned each of the character names and who likely wrote those narrative based on the "clues" given in the "Author's Note" at the end of the audiobook in my pre-review. I think I'm going to hold to those guesses unless someone tells me "Rose, you mixed them up," because they make sense for both narrative style and per the hints given for each section. Feel free to tell me in the comments below.
"Whiteout" is structured a little differently than "Blackout" was, and admittedly I had to get used to that. Unlike the latter, "Whiteout" doesn't have distinct sections where you can tell who wrote what part of the story despite the interweaving narrative. I kind of liked the short story format of "Blackout" and the definitive distinctions, but YMMV on the structuring between these two collections. The primary couple - and the one that is interwoven between all the stories - is Stevie and Sola. Stevie is a rather clumsy brainiac who doesn't really have a grip on understanding the nuances of being in love and showing affection. So when she massively screws up a big night with meeting Sola and her family, Stevie doesn't know what to do to win Sola back. Worse, a massive snowstorm is set to hit Atlanta where they live. Sola gives Stevie an ultimatum - apologize to her and her family properly or they'll split for good. Makes sense that Stevie wants to plan something big to show her affections for Sola, to show that she cares and will do anything to win her back. But can Stevie do it before midnight with the elements in play, alongside help from friends?
I'll start with my thoughts on Stevie and Sola's stories. I wish that we had more narrative points from Sola to balance out with Stevie, despite Stevie being the main character here. I'm guessing since Stevie is doing most of the planning and dialogue with the other characters, it makes sense that she has more scene time. But Sola's piece gives a significant chunk of detail as to what Stevie did to ruin their big night and the primary driver of the conflict through this novel, which is understandable and made sense as to why Sola wasn't speaking to Stevie so easily after what happened. Their overarching story is one with emotional turns and may be a little over the top to the point where it's hard to suspend disbelief, but at least I understood it. Stevie read to me as someone who has the kind of personality who is often in her head and doesn't do well outwardly showcasing affection and I could somewhat relate (*points to herself, INTJ y'all*), but there were times that she definitely came across as being too callous to Sola's feelings and mindset. Not so much a story flaw as it is a character flaw.
The problem I had with this part of the story were the pacing issues and plot holes where it made the narrative disjointed. For a story with this as the primary intersection of all these narratives, it could have been better for structure than it was, but I appreciated the thought behind it. The main interweaving narrative of "Blackout" was much stronger than this, so I think on an overarching note, it was harder to think of this book as stronger than the former when it had issues portraying the story with this pairing. By no means the weakest part of this collection, but it could have had things tweaked to improve it. I'd give Stevie and Sola's story 3/5 stars overall.
Next up in the group of friends is Kaz. I keep going back and forth as to how I felt about this part of the story because while I liked the intent behind it and the overarching narrative, there were parts of it I didn't love. Kaz decides that tonight's the night he's going to confess to his best friend that he feels more for her than he's been letting on, but she gets invited to a huge party which she drags him along to get ready for. They're at the mall and are subsequently stuck by the impending storm. Kaz is resentful of the fact that Porsha drags him along to so many holiday themed celebrations, but feels she doesn't have the same reverence for his traditions (Ramadan/Eid) or willingness to bring her along for things, rather than her dragging him around. The two have to work through that conflict subsequently. For me, the rationale for the conflict was a bit disjointed for presentation (even more petty than suspension of disbelief would allow), so that took away from it, but I did like that this had them showcasing a number of different traditions during the holiday season. I'd give Kaz's section 3.5/5 stars.
Next we have E.R. I did not like E.R.'s story, if I'm being honest. It's an intermediary story where E.R. and her LI are stuck at the airport and explores jealous feelings between an old relationship and the current one. E.R. is bi, so this story explores her navigating between a reunion with her on/off girlfriend and brief summer fling having a reunion at the airport. (Awkward.) It also was an exposition of Stevie and Sola's journey, which would have been better given in their sections, alongside the task she has to do to help Stevie's plan succeed. The gloating over how handsome/attractive the character's brother-in-law was...was weird. The details for this blended together for me and I found I really didn't care about E.R.'s character as much as I wanted to. Considering Nic Stone had one of the stronger stories in "Blackout" for me apart from a few issues, I had to wonder what happened with this one. It wasn't romantic to me, more like a hot mess and a half. Gets a .5 star boost for having a good narrator, though. I'd give E.R.'s section 1.5/5 stars.
Sola's individual section comes after this one, but I've already reviewed that above, so we'll keep going.
Next up is Jordyn's story, and I liked this story a lot. Stuck in a traffic jam during the snowstorm, Jordyn is racing to try to not only complete what task she has for Stevie, but also attend her younger sister Jimi's performance. Liked the reference to Michael Jordan in here. Loved the chemistry between Jordyn and her LI a lot. This also explored some pretty difficult emotions considering Jordyn's birth mother and wanting to be emotionally available for the people she loves. I appreciated that exploration. Almost wish there had been a little more time spent with the characters to tie up more ends, but this was good. I would say this may be my second favorite story in the collection, if not a tie for 1st considering the next two stories. Since I know for certain this was Angie Thomas's story - this was a MASSIVE step up from her contribution in "Blackout". Well done, understood the assignment, definitely appreciated reading it. I'd give Jordyn's story 4/5 stars.
Next up we have Jordyn's little sister Jimi. As I mentioned in my pre-review, this was my favorite story in the collection and I'd read a full novel about the two characters in this section if it branched out to one, much like the former story. Jimi is the lead singer of a rock band that's been frought with tension. Jimi doesn't like writing love songs and while that's one part of the conflict, it's not the whole picture. You learn why as the story goes onward, but the snowstorm has kept communications hindered. She reunites with a childhood friend - a famous rapper at that - at the venue where she's supposed to be performing. The two share a reconnection over music and memories. They even have a brief scare in the mix of events as they reunite. I loved the writing, and definitely could appreciate where both of the main characters were coming from. What can I say, I'm weak to childhood friends to lovers reunion in any love story. This was certainly one that was sweet to read. I'd give Jimi's story 4.5/5 stars.
Final story apart from the intertwining narrative of Stevie's plight centers on Ava and Mason. So these two have trading narratives in which they navigate the reasons why they broke up. The science/marine life theme in here was really cute and I liked that immersion alongside how these two sort things out. I was in my feelings about Ava's mom inserting her opinion when Ava was looking for comfort (which drove a wedge between her and Mason, but it wasn't the only thing). I also appreciated being able to see Mason have a moment to shine with something he was passionate about, and the theme of being in your own element apart from what your parents want. It's a story that I think works loosely with this collection, but does also well on its own. If this is Clayton's story, it reminded me a little of the library story from the previous collection, so that's the reason why I said they had the same vibes - the two characters connecting over a thing they share sweetened the deal. I'd give Ava and Mason's story 4/5 stars.
So, if I'm averaging out all of the stories here for rating - just to keep in line with what I did for "Blackout" - it's about 3 stars, so let's go with that, with a extra half-star since I thought the audiobook narrators did a collectively better job with this one than on some stories in "Blackout."
I think teens will appreciate these cozy, winter themed Black love stories with a range of different relationships and backgrounds. Could it have been stronger? Sure, I wish it had been more cohesive and memorable in points. But I also did appreciate parts of it.
Overall score: 3.5/5 stars. -
Stevie turned their relationship with Sola into a science experiment (and even worse) and now has a deadline of midnight to complete the grandest of grand gestures and win her back.
Kaz has loved Porsha since forever and needs to poo or get off the pot and potentially miss his chance of being more than just friends.
Evan-Rose finds herself stuck in the airport with her ex(ish) girlfriend Van … and her Summer fling Eric.
Jordyn and Omari haven’t really spoken since a kids almost a year ago, but have been trapped in the same car together for over eleven hours now.
Jimmi is trying to keep her band together when she has an unexpected run-in with her first kiss.
Ava and Mason who have recently broken up because high school sweethearts can’t last forever, right?
These intertwined characters are all attempting to make it through a historic Atlanta snowstorm as connected vignettes. Similar to the film version of Let It Snow and completely satisfactory for the teen in your life … or the oldster if they’re like me and still like to dabble in YA. I’ll definitely be checking out Blackout by this same author combo and if this ever becomes a movie I guarantee I would watch it twelve thousand times.
3.5 Stars -
To start, this was a fast read, lots of romance tropes, lots of fluff, great read for winter themed. But it was so. repetitive. It felt like every couple had the same exact “we kissed, we split, we get back together” plot. Wash, rinse, repeat.
-
whiteout may be set during a snowstorm but it reads like a warm cup of hot chocolate by the fireplace with its focus on family, community, friendship, and first love
maybe i am a romantic after all~ -
Blackout was better. Stevie got on my damn nerves from that the get go 🙄
-
This was a quick read.I love how each of them connect in a way, in the end it all comes together. This was a great emotional read with a spotlight on relationships and friendships. I did not read blackout but after reading this, I will have to check it out.
-
It was okay but if I had to pick between this or blackout, it's blackout.
-
I smiled throughout this book from start to end! Sooooo wholesome and cute!! I love how all the authors piece together the characters’ lives!
-
✨ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎✨
•𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘁
•𝗕𝘆 𝗗𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗗. 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗡𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀, 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮 𝗬𝗼𝗼𝗻
•𝟯𝟬𝟰 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
•𝗣𝘂𝗯: 𝗡𝗼𝘃 𝟴, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ •5/5 stars
The talented team of authors who brought us Blackout are together again with an atmospheric YA holiday romance! Whiteout is at once delightful - with its young love and heartfelt moments - but also impactful, as it delves into some deeper issues. The large cast of characters come from varying backgrounds and orientations, which made for a well-rounded, inclusive, representative story. 💕
Whiteout is written as a series of stories that all fit nicely together to tell a larger story. I listened to this as an audiobook, and the full cast of narrators did an exceptional job with the performances. 👏
Thank you @harperaudio and @librofm for my gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review. -
A cute little collection of interlocking romances. This book is in the same category as movies like Love, Actually or Valentines Day. Super cheesy but I like them. As usual I didn't care about the main love story, I just didn't feel connected to them and even though all the other stories are surrounded by this main romance, I didn't think it was nearly fleshed out enough. My favorite storylines were Jordyn & Omari and Jimi & Teo.
I'll probably read Blackout the other book by this team of authors, at some point. I think that one takes place in the summer so I might wait till then to pick it up.
No rec. -
Of all the books I expected a follow up to, Blackout was not high up that list. Nevertheless I am excited
-
3.5 very very cute
-
*2.5 ✨ Lol, it just didn't do it for me. If you had the choice between this and Blackout, I would definitely go with Blackout. 🤷🏾♀️
-
nauroin sille kaaoksen määrälle mitä pari pakkasastetta ja muutama sentti lunta sai aikaan, krhmm jenkit. tää ei ehkä oo mikään kirjallinen mestariteos ja välillä häiritsi ku käännöksestä paisto niin vahvasti läpi enkku. samalla kuitenkin rakastin tätä. ihanan luminen ja tunnelmallinen ja romanttinen palapeli. ja representaation määrä, rakastin!! viihdyin tän parissa ja kaikki hahmot oli symppiksii ja niien tarinat just sellasii hallmark joululeffa ällösöpöi mut vaa queerimpii eli täydellistä. okei onnelliset loput kyl vähän ärsyttää, but that’s about me and not them. tää oli söpö <3
-
This was so cute! I loved all the intertwining love stories. The whiteout/snowstorm environment really made for a cozy feel but it also felt high-stakes. I really enjoyed the scenes set in the aquarium!
I think it’s so great that more diverse love stories are being featured in books and I love this group of authors! -
I absolutely loved Blackout so I was really looking forward to Whiteout. I had mixed feelings about this book and I don’t think it was for me. There were too many characters which I found it difficult to follow via audio. I found a few of the characters to be extremely unlikable. There were a couple of chapters I did like and wished those could be expanded. I felt that the story wasn’t as easy to follow along as Blackout and found myself skimming towards the end.
-
Book 2 for 2023 is done!! This was so cute I was smiling thorughout the whole thing and I have found a new favorite couple through this book and so happy I did! Four out of five stars!(:
-
I liked this YA romance just as much as I did Blackout! This collection of collected stories about Atlanta teens during a snowstorm (and their respective relationships) was great on audio, although I had to rewind sometimes when chapters changed to keep track of who the story had changed to.
Source: free audio review copy from Libro.fm -
3.5⭐️
-
Sadly, you can tell this book was written by six different authors. The story didn’t feel very fluid, and I felt like I was reading a different short story every chapter instead of one book.
-
Ugh I'm torn on it being ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 stars but possibly a solid 4
Thank you to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for sending the e-book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
The Gist: There's a snowstorm in Atlanta and (you guessed it) the city is coming to a shutdown. In the midst of this snowstorm are teens Stevie & Sola who recently broke up over a big (HUGE) problem and Stevie's friends are rallying to help her win back Sola's trust. Told from varying viewpoints, you also get a peek into what Stevie's friends are dealing with during this storm and their own love drama.
The Characters: Even though there are 12 different characters, it wasn't hard to keep up with the storyline of each one. I went into this expecting a bunch of short stories but really enjoyed how interconnected each character was.
The BEST Part: If you like any kind of romance book trope, it's in here! And it's not corny or lame, each one has it's own story and is endearing in the best way possible.
Let me also say that I'm not a seasonal reader, but this is a great YA holiday story that appeals to the young and the young-at-heart. I loved that it's a compilation of some of my favorite authors and although they all have different writing styles, this book comes together seamlessly. Plus it's fun trying to guess who wrote which part! -
This was so good! I really enjoy these authors books on their own and had enjoyed these author’s previous anthology, Blackout, so when I saw they did another anthology centered around a snowstorm hitting Atlanta, I knew I had to read it asap. This is a YA contemporary following 12 teens on the same winter night, we get stories for different pairings and see a ton of sweet moments of memories and reconciliations. They’re all banding together to help one of the girls apologize in an epic way. This was just a great one, if you are in the mood for a great YA contemporary with lots of winter vibes, and especially in audio format!
-
3.5 Sterne
-
This was a quick cute and fun read.
An anthology of stories, I liked how the characters all came together towards the end in one huge romantic gesture and gave the readers a happy holiday ending.
The individual romances interwoven with a central love story was surely a novel idea which i must say was executed to perfection but since this book mostly catered to YA generation, I didn't swoon much at all to these silly ideas.
It was however a cute read for the ways all the characters worked together to help Stevie achieve her goal and Stevie herself was such a fun quirky character that I had a lot of fun reading about her planning or "experiment" as she called it.
3 stars. -
I don’t particularly like love stories but this might just be showing what they are capable of. The beginning was slow and kind of hard to understand as well as many of the other parts. One thing that absolutely killed me throughout this book was the SUPER long chapters. I mean 291 pages shoved into 10 chapters was absolutely absurd especially because I have a completion aspect of me where I feel obligated to complete the whole chapter before putting the book down. Regardless, the ending really tied everything together and seeing every happy couple truly made my heart swirl. Not a book I’ll remember but good to have under my belt.
