Review: Winter White by Jen Calonita

Mira and Izzy are back to their fabulous glory in Winter White. After Belles ended with some life changing revelations, we get the aftermath of these secrets brought to light, and how the girls are dealing with it all. Belles was a really fun novel; a chick lit with fantastic personalities, drama-filled shorelines, and a little romance to give it its final touch. In Winter White, we get reacquainted with the same old energetic characters; there may be a little less drama, but there are tons of ridiculous antics and interesting romantic developments to keep you highly entertained.

The characters are by far the greatest aspect of this series. We have two different perspectives from two very different, very charismatic girls. Mira, now ex-miss-popular, is trying to deal with suddenly finding herself friendliest after being on top of the ladder. I enjoyed how much she has grown from the previous novel and again throughout this one. Her character has changed from a selfish queen bee to someone who is surprisingly well rounded and caring. Then we have Isabelle who is still adjusting to a sudden life of riches, not to mention the bomb that she was thrown at the end of the last book. Izzy remains my favourite of the two, mostly because I can relate to her more. Her determined, take charge attitude is very attractive for a main character. It’s incredibly easy to like her. Then we have the family and friends who really bring out the colors in this sequel – as in Belles.

The plot this time is a little tamer. We don’t have big, life changing situations like Belles, but what we get is a whole lot of fun. The cotillion is under way, and Izzy — to her dismay — gives in to her aunt’s pleas to attend. This was before she knew what the preparation entails: The initiation consists of dares that the girls have to do that become quite amusing, and very satisfying when we see the prissy characters get the worst of it. In addition to these charming antics, we get some fun facts that I actually found pretty interesting — having lived the simple small town life without much experience with “proper” dining. What? Who needs 5 forks? I promise, eating desert with a big fork is just as easy as with a small fork. Try it! It actually makes eating humongous cakes slices easier! >.< This glamorous lifestyle is endlessly fascinating to me, however, which is what a big part of my enjoyment of this novel and its predecessor centers around: we get all the jazz and sass of a privileged teenage life.

Romance is, again, not a very big factor in this book. But, we do get a few romantic developments that made me endlessly curious to see how it would all turn out. It’s realistic teenage romances with insecurities and misgivings. As in Belles, I was not disappointed by the lack in this area — it never felt like the book was missing an elements whatsoever, the little we do get simply adds charm to the already lively book.

You’re missing out on an extremely fun, refreshing chick lit series if you haven’t sinked your teeth into Belles yet, and if you have, you can be sure to get another great taste of the life of the rich and famous in Winter White: it has all the gossip and drama you could want!