Whiteout
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Early copy courtesy of Stripes Books

Charlie hopes that the school ski trip will be the escape from his unhappy home life he so desperately needs. But there is something wrong with the remote ski village of Kaldgellan. Something is out there, something ancient and evil, among the pines and the deep untracked drifts, watching and waiting. And when the storms blow in, Charlie and his schoolmates wake to find the resort deserted. Cut off from the rest of the world far below, as night falls the few left alive on the snowbound mountain will wish they were somewhere, anywhere else. Only ski guide Hanna seems to know of Kaldgellan’s long-buried secrets, but whether Charlie can trust her is another question…

If you've been following my blog or YouTube for a while, you'll know how utterly obsessed I am with the Red Eye horror series; brought to us by Stripes Books. When I heard there was a new one coming out, I absolutely couldn't wait - and this one didn't disappoint.

Charlie is a recluse and has little concern for his life, or what might happen to him. So he agrees to go on his school's ski trip; where his reckless and carefree nature gets him caught up in some dangerous situations. And it only goes downhill from there...

In old school horror style, the warning signs are all there as to why this resort doesn't seem the safest - but as always, the characters are oblivious, and soon they are stranded in one of the worst snowstorms the village has ever seen. The teachers and adults have disappeared without a trace, and fear creeps in. Night falls, and the creatures come out. There's nowhere to run. And there's nowhere to hide.

Vampires have always been a huge thing in YA, but over the years seem to have died out - and I, for one, have sorely missed them. Whiteout brings to life the vampires that YA have always seemed to shy away from. Vampires in their oldest form. There's definitely no Stefan Salvatore or Edward Cullen in this book. They are absolutely horrifying; bloodthirsty, hideous, and all-together terrifying. The creatures in this book are quite possibly scarier than any creature I've ever come across in a book.

There are several main characters in this book, and what I loved about each of them, were their stark differences. I'm not sure if this was the author's intention, but the book for me had an over-dramatization of each school "stereotype"; which I thought worked really well. It added some light humour into the storyline (which was needed), and ensured the reader had at least one character to relate to.

I feel like the Red Eye series is making bolder and better choices with every book that they release. And what I love about the Red Eye series is that nothing is made pretty, or sugar coated - it's pure fear. Pure horror. And in YA especially, books like that are so hard to find.


If I had to describe this book in a sentence? It's Until Dawn meets Quiet Place; and the tension and atmosphere building in this book is like nothing I've ever known. I simply couldn't put this book down. I hated characters. I loved characters. This book made me "feel" so much; which in horror, is incredibly difficult to find. I find that in horror it's harder to connect to characters, than in any other genre - but there was no difficulty here.