I love anthologies that all connect as well as these ones did. I enjoyed reading from beloved authors as well as authors I’ve never read from. I enjoyed the snippets of radio updates on the storm.

I enjoyed each and every one of these stories and thought they were just the right length.
I fell in love with each of the characters and how everything played out.

Overall I enjoyed reading from each of these authors, and I thought the stories flowed beautifully. The romances left nothing to be desired they were all done so well.

I tried to return to this one many time, but it’s mostly the “chaotic” punctuation that threw me off. Sorry I can’t finish.

Love that these authors got back together to write another book. This is another multi-point of view romance novel that are all tied together. So much fun!

Because you never wanted Blackout to end...

More romance. More weather related mayhem. All fabulous. And half the fun is trying to figure out which author wrote which part. Judging by the clues in the back? I was spot on with my guesses.

We can never get enough romance from these authors!

A great quick read that brings everything together at the end. It was cute. More of a collection of stories. It was a hit and miss read. It just wasn’t for me.

Whiteout was a treat to read around the holidays, but lacked the magic of Blackout. It tried really hard to be so incredibly inclusive that it became hard to believe one person's friend group could be so diverse. A few of the stories were real standouts, but overall it didn't blow me out of the water.

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

What a fun winter romance. I love that the author's each wrote a story, but you don't know who wrote which. I also love that it is a mmix between a novel and short stories because they are all interconnected.

Welcome Back!

I have always been someone who loves winter and fall. In winter, I am a huge fan of snow, the more snow the better! I never get sick of it! So when I saw that a bunch of authors I love including Tiffany Jackson and Angie Thomas were co-writing a book with a bunch of other authors, about a snowstorm, I had to jump on that book! I want to preface this by saying I read this in October and then every day after reading/ finishing this book I wanted to have a massive snow day like in this book, so I was plenty ready for the winter vibes! (Thank you to this book for the best wintery vibes).

SPOILERS AHEAD

Stevie is a senior in high school and in love! Stevie is also a STEM major and sometimes during big projects time runs away from Stevie. On this particular night when time ran away, Stevie was late to perhaps one of the most important diners of her life. Stevie was supposed to be meeting her significant other’s family for the first time as their partner and not just friend. Also their entire family would be there for a holiday, so it’s a massive deal. Stevie shows up not only late to dinner, but not dressed appropriately, and a bit lost in her own brain. This results in dinner going absolutely awful for everyone involved and Stevie being asked to leave. Now Stevie is on a mission. She needs to make things right before she loses her partner forever and in order to do that she has enlisted the help of their friend group. Stevie has the perfect plan, however, being grounded and the massive snowstorm headed straight for Atlanta has other ideas about Stevie’s plans. But maybe just maybe she can still pull it off?

I really really enjoyed not only Stevie’s story but each of her friend’s love stories that kind of intertwined into this book. Each of Stevie’s friends that were helping with her master plan had a section of their own in the book, where we got to learn a bit more about them and their unique love stories/ situations. Each one I ended up getting hooked on! I always found myself wanting to know more about the couples or people in the chapters. Whiteout might become a yearly winter read for me in the future! Before I wrap up, I did want to give mention to the cover, which is absolutely gorgeous! I love the snow globe idea! I can not wait to see what each of the authors involved with this project write next either separately or together!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

**Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Whiteout is a lovely romance novel by the authors of Blackout. Set in Atlanta during a freak blizzard, Whiteout is a series of interconnected short stories, each written by a different author. The teens in each story are connected by one couple, Stevie and Sola, who have broken up. The other teens try to help get Stevie and Sola back together while also dealing with their own romantic issues. Delightful, recommended for high school and up.

Whiteout is the newest anthology by authors Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. Previously, these authors have written another anthology titled Blackout. That anthology was set during a hot summer night while this one is set during a cold snowy blizzard in Atlanta. Multiple characters and their stories are interwoven as friends and family try to help one character make amends for relationship mistake.

Stevie Williams and her best friend Sola recently started dating. They have been best friends since they met in the 6th grade but their feelings for each other have evolved. Their relationship was a secret to all except for their close friends. On the night Stevie was supposed to be formally introduced to Sola's family as her girlfriend, she shows up completely disoriented and covered in a science experiment. The night is ruined and Sola is so deeply hurt that she has threatened to completely end their relationship if Stevie doesn't come up with a heartfelt apology. Stevie has an idea and she enlists their friends Kaz, E.R., Jordyn, Jimi, Ava, and Mason to help. As they prep for the surprise, none of them were anticipating the whiteout Atlanta or what happens to each of them because of it.

Stevie and Sola are the center of this story but, the entire story does not evolve around them. Each character finds themselves trapped in this snowstorm, usually with someone whom they have a past with. They all have their own form of relationship woes that they are trying to make sense of. All of these characters are well formed and different from each other. They each have their own set of skills and interests which play a role in completely the secret mission for Stevie. It was easy to get to know each of these characters and what was going on with them. Their issues were realistic and there was so much representation through out.

The weather plays a key role in the outcome for each character. It gives a sense of urgency but also a sense of being able to slow down due to the inability to go anywhere. Some of the characters struggle with this as they feel trapped and are scared to face their true feelings. Others struggle because they feel like they are going to let Stevie down and ruin her surprise. All of this pulled me in a reader and kept me invested in the story. It felt like a magical wintery wonderland.

Whiteout may have been written by multiple authors but all of it went together seamlessly. Each character had a voice but, it did not feel like it did not belong in the story. The voices were so intertwined and together they made the story. I really enjoyed how each character written to have their own strength for the secret mission. Be it science, music, or just plain craftiness they all had a role to play. I look forward to seeing what these authors can come up with next.

From the same talented group of Black voices that brought us Blackout comes a new anthology of interconnected stories set during a disruptive citywide event. Like Blackout, which focused on the lives of several teenagers as they grapple with a loss of power across New York City, Whiteout takes place during a massive Atlanta snowstorm days before Christmas.

At the center of Whiteout is the story of Stevie and her girlfriend Sola, who may just be dumping her after she committed a major faux pas if she doesn’t make amends by midnight. The only problem? The city of Atlanta has been shut down due to a blizzard and all services have come to a grinding halt. How is Stevie supposed to make a grand gesture to win back Sola when their city is frozen in place? Enter their group of friends, who will go to any lengths to get Stevie and Sola back together.

Whiteout follows Stevie and Sola’s friends as they each complete their mission in Operation: Get Stevie and Sola Back Together. Each tasked with an important part to play in this rekindling, these teens have to find a way to pull of the impossible. But when you’re young and believe in love, anything is possible with a little hope and determination, right?

While they may be trying to get Stevie and Sola back together, these teens are also dealing with relationship issues and feelings of their own. We get to peek into their lives and relationships, as well as observe how the snowstorm of the century impacts the city of Atlanta, traversing from airports to malls to highways to stadiums.

Whiteout is a solid YA anthology, but not as strong, fun, or unique as Blackout. Many of the characters and storylines of Whiteout melded together, and the lack of memorable characters made it difficult to remember or care who was who and what role they had to play in Stevie and Sola’s lives. While the characters in Blackout were loosely connected, Whiteout’s characters heavily depended on each other, and this literary device just didn’t work for me as much as I would like.

With that being said, Whiteout is still a great read for teens, with positive characters doing aspirational things with their lives. I personally preferred this book when it stayed on the light and fun side of things, such as when a guy is crushing on his best girl friend and attempts to find a way to tell her when they get snowed in at the mall, rather than when it attempts to tackle the trending issues of the day.

This was a pretty cute, cozy, young adult romcom. If you like these authors then give this one a try. Each character brings something different to the table and while the specific authors who wrote each part isn’t revealed it was fun trying to pick out the writing styles of the authors I’ve read!

My issue with the book was how disconnected the parts felt and I imagine that’s just different authors working on the same narrative. It’s going to feel a little bit disjointed. I loved the diversity of the relationships and all of the lgbtqia+ rep.

<b> White Out </b> is a YA Romance (LGBTQ+ for some of the relationships) that was written by six different authors who, just like the stories we read about, really fell seamless together.

First, the cover artwork is adorable and drew me in. The couple kissing in the midst of a snow globe. It helps us understand that we're definitely going to be dealing with some sort of snow/snow storm throughout the book, especially with the title and we indeed do.

We meet Stevie and Sola who are in the midst of a breakup. Well, more so an ultimatum. Stevie messed up by showing up late to a really important dinner party with her family and also showed up a bit worse of wear causing a scene throughout the evening, unfortunately causing the two to part ways. But, Stevie wants Sola back and realizes that she has to go above and beyond when Sola gives her an ultimatum for them to discuss their feelings by midnight that night: the night of a blizzard.

So, with the help of Stevie's friends they try to wrangle together the ultimate gift earlier then Christmas. But, it'll be harder than it seems due to the snow that shuts nearly everything down: people are stuck in their cars on the highway, flights cancelled, people snowed into their homes. Will Stevie be able to save her relationship with Sola? Will some of Stevie's friends also find love within a White Out?

3 Stars. Would recommend as a quick holiday/winter read. But, there are few things that made me want to ask for the end of the book to come sooner that I'll discuss in a moment. The good things that I loved about the book are the character's voices which felt real to me and sat perfectly within their age range intended. I also enjoyed meeting different POVs throughout the book as that is pretty rare to see so many POVs within one book without it getting confusing. Some of the parts that I didn't love was I felt two of the POV/storylines were very similar and therefore lost my interest. Alongside, by the time we got the couple at the aquarium, I was already done with it and wanted to just see if Stevie was able to get everything ready by midnight for Sola. Overall though, it thought it was cute and neat to see how multiple authors wrote into the storyline.

Don't ever catch me outside in that kind of weather. I'd rather be bundled up here with my tea, kindle, and my cats.

<b>Review will also be posted to my blog (www.kagoodsell.com/book-reviews), GoodReads, and TikTok (@unearthingeco)</b>

This books weaves together the stories of multiple people from a friend group trying to help reunite a couple after a falling out. I have read and loved books by most of the authors involved in this book and enjoyed their combined work. I know many of my students will enjoy this as well.

Truly, I couldn’t have chosen a more wonderful book to finish 2022 with. Whiteout is one of the best things I’ve read all year. Each section is told from a different point-of-view (with occasional sections returning to our central story with Stevie) but every single one will pull at your heartstrings.

I absolutely *loved* every single one, which is a crazy thing to say about a series of short stories. How is that even possible to do? I don’t know but these writers make that kind of magic sing. Each chapter stands completely on its own and builds around a wonderful central story that ends everything beautifully.

It’s all written so well too! The individual voices are strong and engaging. I found it impossible to put down (good thing I was on break when I started reading). I can’t get over how gorgeous, loving, wonderful, perfect this whole story is. I loved my free electronic review copy so much, I immediately bought a physical copy for my bookshelf. I can’t give a better review than that.


Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy this one but it was not as good as black out. It may be because I am from nyc and the story felt more real to me here. However, this one was a bit boring and shola annoyed me and since she set the mood for the book it just didn’t feel the same for me.

I loved every second of this book. Every Georgia Snowmageddon should look like this one from now on, with groups of people fighting the half-to-quarter inch of snow to follow through with elaborate plans that requires every inch of creativity you have.

This story is about mending broken relationships and the power of friendship and believing in one another. I enjoyed the story but found it difficult to keep track of the various characters and their story lines.

A Snowstorm, Atlanta shut down, a group of devoted friends helping one of their own win back their one and only and a mix of love stories? Yes Please! From some of the OG writers of Blackout, comes Whiteout. I really enjoyed this book and the way the authors connected all the stories. Who wrote which story? Couldn’t tel you. Best part of the book is the quick afterward from the Editor, providing some riddles to the reader, to help them try to figure out which author wrote what story. I couldn’t figure it out! I can definitely see this one as a mini-series, just as Blackout is about to become. Only thing that held me back from 5 stars was there were a LOT of couples and it felt like a fast and furious story, where some of the storylines ended too quickly for me. And trying to figure out who was related to whom about blew my mind. The story of Stevie and her mom was never resolved either…otherwise, a fun romp in the snow.