Review: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Black Ice
by Becca Fitzpatrick
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Publication Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9781442474260
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery
Source: Edelweiss

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Sometimes danger is hard to see... until it’s too late.

Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn't prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.

In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there... and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.

But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

BLACK ICE is New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick’s riveting romantic thriller set against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Falling in love should never be this dangerous…(Goodreads)

I was really looking forward to reading Becca Fitzpatrick's Black Ice because I had read the Hush, Hush series in the past, and it’s one of the first series I read that got me hooked on this genre. So I couldn’t wait to see what story Fitzpatrick was going to come up with next with Black Ice. Unfortunately I didn’t love the book as much as I expected to.

I’m going to start off by saying that I currently have a like/hate relationship with Black Ice. My issues are mostly with the characters in the novel. The main character in the story, Britt, was a bit of a disappointing character for me. She made really bad decisions all throughout the story, including going into a decrepit cabin in the middle of nowhere with two strangers who she seemed to automatically trust just because they were cute. Seriously?? Why would she do this? Yes, I understand that she was in the middle of a snow storm and she just wanted to be warm and fed, but these guys were so weird the moment we first met them, they immediately threw up red flags for me. (Yes, I can see how we wouldn’t have a story if this hadn’t have happened. But, as a mom to a teenager, this really bothered me.)

Also, I really, really, really don’t get the whole ‘hating your best friend’ relationship that Britt had with her best friend, Korbie. I’ve seen it in quite a few books that I’ve read lately, and it is super annoying. I just don’t understand why people would choose to be friends with someone that obviously doesn’t like them.

Another thing that really bothered me was that Britt was still so in love with her ex-boyfriend, when it was obvious that he was a super jerk. She spends most of the novel waiting for the ex, her dad, her brother, or any available male to come along and save her, instead of taking advantage of the situation and saving herself. Eventually she does manage to somewhat take control of the situation, but we don’t see this for quite a while.

Then there was Mason/Jude, who was one of Britt’s captors. The term Stockholm syndrome was thrown around in the story quite a few times, but I really don’t feel that Britt ever had this issue with him. It felt like she just wanted male attention so bad, that she pretty much fell in love with whoever was available.  Also, even though he wasn’t a total bad guy like the other captor was, and most of the things that he had done he did for reasons that he thought were right but really weren’t, he never was held accountable for the bad things that he had done. That just felt kind of wrong to me. I really, really wanted to like Mason/Jude, I really did. But he had so many secrets and had done so many things, that I just never felt like I could really trust him, unfortunately.

While I didn’t really care for the characters in the book, there were some things about the book that I did enjoy. The writing style for the book felt very much to Fitzpatrick’s previous books. The storyline was very suspenseful and mysterious; it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. So I did enjoy that part of the book. I think that with a slightly different storyline, and a stronger set of characters, I really would have enjoyed this book more.

Overall; Black Ice is a book that I didn’t love, but I also didn’t hate. I’m sure a lot of people will love the book despite the issues that I had with it, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work all that well for me.