{REVIEW} WINTER WHITE (BELLES #2) by JEN CALONITA

Series: Belles #2
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: 10/9/12
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Source: Received from publisher.

Isabelle Scott and Mirabelle Monroe are still reeling from the revelation that they share more than just the roof over their heads. The media has pounced on their story and the girls are caught up in a flurry of talk-show appearances and newspaper interviews. They’ve put on a happy public face, but someone is leaking their true feelings to the press, and while it seems like the world is watching their every move, at least they have each other. But with cotillion season right around the corner, Izzie and Mira have barely had time to process their newfound sisterhood. Mira has dreamed of making her debut in a gorgeous white gown forever-now, if only she could find an escort. Izzie, meanwhile, is still struggling to find her place in Emerald Cove and it’s seeming ever more impossible with EC mean-girls, young and old, doing their best to keep her down. As cotillion preparations heat up, though, there are dance steps to learn, manners to perfect... and secret initiations to complete? As if sophomore year wasn’t hard enough! It’s time for the gowns to go on and the gloves to come off.

 

Why I Read Winter White: I was a huge fan of Belles. That made Winter White one of my most-anticipated books of the Fall.

Oh...how I love this series. With Belles, author Jen Calonita created a story with charming and infuriating characters, in a society that's perfect at first glance, and a family in which drama is an everyday occurrence. Winter White continues the story of the Belles, Mirabelle and Isabelle, and their struggle to come to terms with their new lives.

I adore Izzie and Mira. The two girls are opposite in so many ways, but thankfully, complement one another. The only worry that I had when starting this story was that Mira would be resentful of Izzie coming into the family, or that Izzie would take her hostility towards her father and Emerald Cove out on Mira. That the two girls were able to not only understand, but also embrace, their differences made Winter White so enjoyable.

That's not to say that Izzie and Mira have it easy, not by a long shot. Savannah Ingram is still furious with Izzie for being with Brayden, and she's not giving up on winning him back. Brayden's mom isn't too thrilled, either, and will not make things easy for the two. Then there's Izzie resentment of her father's secret, it's a sore spot for both her and Mira. I was surprised by my feelings for Mira in Winter White. Even though she didn't make things easy for Izzie when she first came to town, Mira really stepped up to embrace her. That choice cost her her friends, she no longer has a boyfriend, and she feels lost. Like an outsider in her own family. Kellen is still there beside her though, in the art studio and as a friend. Now if only she can get the courage to tell him she's into him!

Not only do Mira and Izzie have to deal with their personal drama, but also the fact that someone is gunning to bring down their dad's Senatorial run. Someone who is closer to the inside than they can even imagine. Oh, and this is all happening during the Cotillion preparation, the ceremony that will announce Mira and Izzie to Emerald Cove society.

Winter White has it all: Drama, Heart, Young Love, Heartbreak, and Deceit. There is nothing scarier, or more awesome, than an Angry Belle.


Favorite Quote:

  "He looked at her carefully between sips of cocoa. He had a small white line on his upper lip from the whipped cream, but she didn't tell him. He looked cute like that. 'I like hanging out with you, too.'
  And that's when Mira felt it. Hope. The hope that maybe, just maybe, Kellen liked her back."  (pg.151)


  "Izzie wished she had the nerve to tell him to stop talking, but part of her wanted to hear what he had to say. She didn't know her mom shared the same need to give back that she did. There was no one left to tell her what her mom was like. Sometimes she even craved hearing her mom's name spoken out loud so it wouldn't disappear."  (pg.161)


  " 'I'll go with you,' Brayden told her. He pulled his wallet out for fare.
   Izzie laughed. 'You don't even know where I'm going!'
  'So?' Brayden took her bag. 'All I need to know is I'm going with you.'" (pg.167)


You can purchase Winter White at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

 

The Belles Series

(click on cover to read my review)