The narrator and city this takes place in are both unnamed. For some reason, before I started reading, I thought that it took place in Italy, but it remains ambiguous. 

This is essentially a slice-of-life where nothing really happens. From the description I was expecting a bit more emotion and outright weirdness, but this book is a lot more subtle. Only the very last page gives me what I had been expecting all along in this story. 

For being titled "White on White" I thought the white canvas painting was going to have more to do with the story, and be more strange than it actually ended up being. Instead it was quite a minor aspect, and turned out way more normal. 

Expect some language that you would only use when studying art history or cathedrals. There is quite a lot of talk about what the MC is studying, so if you know nothing of that world then you might be a bit lost in some spots on what is being discussed. Those were the most interesting parts of the book for me though. 

Overall it was an ok read, but I guess I was just expecting something a bit more quirky and unusual.