TITLE: Black Ice
AUTHOR: Becca Fitzpatrick
PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2014
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
PAGES: 392 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: Publisher via Edelweiss
RATING: 4 bows
Britt has planned her spring break trip hiking the Teton Range for months. She has read survival guides, took classes, and devoured any information that will help her and her best friend Korbie successfully hike through the range. Everything is set to go when Calvin, Korbie’s brother and Britt’s ex, decides he wants to tag along. He head to the cabin early, leaving Britt and Korbie to pull up the rear. But a blizzard strikes while they are driving up and soon they are forced to abandon their car in search for shelter. When they find that shelter, everything changes. They end up stumbling upon Shaun and Mason, criminals who demand Britt get them off this mountain and out of the police’s reach or there will be deadly consequences. Mason is definitely the lesser of two evils, but he is still helping hold her captive. Can she trust him to help her escape death or will she fall prey to the evil he is hiding?
Britt was a character I didn’t particularly like. She seems shallow and so hung up over her ex that it’s not funny. The only reason she wants to hike the Tetons in the first place is because it’s Calvin’s favorite retreat. And from her memories, Calvin was as much of a dick while they were together as he is to her now. I don’t understand that. I don’t understand how girls with decent self-esteem can be with guys who are jackasses. That’s a bit hypocritical for me, because I had my jackass moment, but that was long ago and I was very young and stupid. Somehow that doesn’t make me more forgiving of Britt. Besides that, she is dependent upon her dad and brother for everything. She expects the men in her life to swoop in and save her any time she is in trouble and that is far from what happens here. She has to save herself (for the most part), as well as save Korbie. I just wanted to scream at her to grow up.
I can’t go into the details of other characters without giving away spoilers, but I will say I knew who the bad guy was pretty early on. I knew exactly how that twist would play out within the first quarter of the book, so it’s relatively easy to guess. I will also say I liked Jude’s character, once he gets his head out of his ass. I will also say that I was never a fan of Korbie. Useless and whiny and rich, this is a girl who I’d want to punch in the face if I met in real life.
So far, this isn’t sounding like a four-star review, huh? Well then, let’s get on to the things I liked. I loved how readable this novel was and the intensity. I’m not a huge fan of thriller novels because they usually have a lot of character death and we all know my feelings on that. Here, there are a few, but no one I lament being rid of. I also loved the one thing everyone else seems to dislike, the happy ending. After everything Britt goes through, I think she deserves that ride off into the sunset and I loved that everything worked out as well as can be expected instead of descending into the typical thriller ending of “hey, I survivied, so that’s the best I can hope for, right?” type ending. Those are another big reason I don’t read thrillers, I like overtly happy endings and we get that here.
I do like that Britt actually trained to hike the Tetons and did just run into hoping everything would work out. She planned and packed and purchased plenty of gear to prepare herself for this adventure. She even went so far as to build herself up to being able to carry a fully loaded pack without issue.
I’ll admit that I didn’t really read deeply into the synopsis when I requested this. I saw Becca’s name and the cover and knew I’d need to read it. I really loved Hush Hush (even though I’m not as much of a fan of Crescendo or Silence and I’m terrified to read Finale) and I was interested to see what Becca did with a thriller. I think she succeeded and that this will be a raging success, as long as people realize this is completely different than Hush Hush. This is realistic thriller with dark moments and death, but with the happy ending you all secretly hope for.
****Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review****
Bows & Bullets Reviews 