While I read Whiteout by a bunch of authors, I was unimpressed. It probably didn’t help that I didn’t understand what I was reading until much later. But as the book went by, I was charmed by the idea of it as well as the spirit of it. And some sections were written better than others because they were written by different people. So, while I thought this book was not very well executed, I definitely took some things with me when I set it down.

Stevie has really messed up and now she’s not sure if she has a future with her girlfriend Sola. She’s especially in the dark because she is grounded so bad she doesn’t have any way of contacting Sola to apologize. Maybe, just maybe, the plan she already had in place to finally let Sola know just how much she loves her will win Sola back. But just as all their friends are coming together with pieces of the grand plan to make it happen, snow descends on a wholly unprepared Atlanta, leaving unlikely couples stranded all over the city.

The authors of this book are well-known authors from other books: Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles series), Tiffany D. Jackson (Allegedly), Nic Stone (Dear Martin and Clean Getaway), Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give and Concrete Rose), Ashley Woodfolk (The Beauty that Remains and When You Were Everything), and Nicola Yoon (Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star). More importantly, they are all black women. They worked together to write Blackout, which was published in 2021, a combination of their writing to represent a variety of Black teen relationships in the middle of a power outage in New York City. I’m not sure the structure is exactly the same as 2022’s Whiteout (which we’ll address in a moment), but Blackout explores the same themes. While they are spiritual sisters (a term I heard referring to Jumanji and Zathura years ago), the two books are standalones.

Let’s start with a quote from another reviewer before I tell you all the ways I had trouble with this book: “I just want everyone to understand that I completely get what the authors were attempting to do with this book; however, I think that this book needed a little more work in terms of execution. Black love representation is important, but I also believe that having that representation doesn’t automatically make it a 5 star book” (Bookishrealm on Goodreads about Blackout). Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly where I ended my experience with Whiteout. Because I did feel it gave voice to experiences that are not often heard, at least not in the forefront and not in chorus and not authentically. And I also felt I learned from the story and all the different characters. I felt I had walked, you know, like a tenth of a mile in their shoes. However, I wish it had just been a better book in so many ways.

After reading maybe half, I wrote the following note: “It’s so bad. Sorry. I like the structure idea. Get it that it’s supposed to be a rainbow of Black teen love/relationships, but it’s just so bad. Some sections worse than others.” It is worth noting, however, that no matter how bad parts were or how much I totally didn’t like the main character or how predictable or cheesy things might have been (it is a romance), the end had me welling up with tears. It was pretty sweet. (It might have helped that the section that I’m pretty sure was by Nicola Yoon had me in a better mood by then.)

Let’s talk about the structure, shall we? Whiteout has one main plot running through it, which is the one I summed up above with Stevie and Sola. But since there are friends left trapped in the storm around the city as they each work toward Stevie’s big surprise, we leave Stevie (and once Sola) to hear from them. And each time we hear from one (or two) of them, we get a different author telling their snowstorm love story. There are people online who have guessed who wrote each section, but I really couldn’t say. It’s actually a really cool idea.

However. Two major things (and I won’t go into the minors). One: Stevie is miserable. I was annoyed with her voice and her behavior from the very first page and she never changed my mind. I almost put the book down after maybe three pages because I couldn’t imagine spending hundreds of pages with her insufferable self. I am not alone. She’s really self-absorbed and even more pompous than self-absorbed (and therefore treats everyone around her (from her family to total strangers) like poop). Two, the stories-within-the-story are super repetitive. It’s like the authors didn’t check with each other and then the editor wasn’t like, “Hey, funny thing, a few of you basically wrote the same story. So we’re going to have to change all but one of them.” Again, totally not alone on how I feel here, and no it’s not fun to keep reading the same plotline with different characters.

There are some YA books (same for MG and children’s) that should never land in an adult’s hands because they lack the quality, the universality, and the maturity that can span audiences. I suppose that this is true here. If you are YA or even new adult (since the characters are from upper high school to early college), you may find this great reading because you are just not quite where I am now. Like I said, there are many other books that just fall flat when read outside of their target audience. But there are also many books that can be read by a wider range of people because they are great stories and/or great writing. Obviously, you know where I think Whiteout lands. At least until that ending. I guess part of my disappointment comes from the value I do see in this book. If it were only more accessible…

There are some really cool things. Love the Easter eggs that cross “stories.” I think the feel of it, overall (and stronger in some parts), is kind of amazing. I was transported not only to this day and night in an Atlanta snowstorm, but also immersed in the world—the feelings and thoughts?—of these urban Southern, Black teens and young people. At times it was mesmerizing. But then ol’ Stevie would come back, and I’d be like, “Why am I still here?”

Because someone else somewhere is definitely going to appreciate this book. Someone is going to felt heard and seen. Someone is going to have a great time, and maybe a great cry, reading it. It might be you. But there might be another book out there that has done the same things with great storytelling (a likeable, relatable MC) and better planning/editing. Until the bookshelves are brimming with those, well, there’s Blackout and Whiteout.