The White

As a fellow Texan, there was a lot I felt familiar with as I read through this novella. And with having gone through a certain winter event that many in the area called “Snowmageddon,” the premise drew me in almost instantly. It must have kept me there too because I read the whole thing in one sitting. Cup of hot cocoa in one hand with the kindle in the other, and happy that though it was cold outside, I actually had power unlike that time two years ago.

The content of the novella itself is rather well done. The characterization of the family that everything focuses around honestly surprised me compared to most novellas I've read. Usually in the smaller word counts, you don't get as real a sense for the characters as you do with this one.

The length, especially in terms of scope, is one of the main reasons behind the ultimate rating. Pacing needs a bit of work, and with how much emphasis is placed on the buildup, the culmination of it all just feels a bit too short. Dialogue was strong, but the prose could use some cleaning up. The word choice and descriptions were excellent but buried in overlong sentences. Because of that length, and how windy many lines could get, readability tanked in places. This only became worse in certain instances where the main actor could change from beginning to end.

With a little more editing and a fleshing out of the latter half of the novella, this could be an amazing read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.