Becca Fitzpatrick

Black Ice

Danger is hard to resist in this sexy thriller from Becca Fitzpatrick, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hush, Hush saga. Britt Pheiffer 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. Britt is forced to guide the men off the mountain, and 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, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally? “Rife with psychological twists exploring themes of revenge, misogyny, and familial duty” (Publishers Weekly), 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…

Briar's Reviews

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick is a great YA thriller to keep you glued to the page.

I've had this book for YEARS. Quite literally, years. I bought it when it came out, lost it for a bit, and have been staring at it every since. I loved the Hush, Hush series back in my high school days, so this book naturally was a fit. AND MY GOSH IT STILL IS!

I love Becca Fitzpatrick's writing. It's fast paced, easy to follow and has me glued to the book no matter what. 

Britt decides that she is going to go up to her friend's ski lodge with said friend. She's hoping to woo her ex boyfriend, also her bestie's brother. Along the way, they get lost and are suddenly thrust into a scary position when two boys keep them hostage. Things go downhill fast! Will Brit and Korbie get out alive? Will they figure out the secrets all of them are holding?

There are definitely issues within this book, but I took this book as something fast and thrilling to read. It's not a non-fiction tale, despite it having some difficult topics. There's abuse, there's death and there's kidnapping. It's scary, and I can easily see why some readers aren't comfortable with this book. 

The plot is wild and the twists are easy to see coming. At first, I wasn't sure what direction this book was going to take, and then it took THAT twist. It wasn't what I would expect from a YA novel, but Becca did it anyways. I'm impressed, even though there was some crumbs left along the way to figure it out. 

Is there problems with how the story ended? Yeah, it was kind of creepy but I don't think this book was meant to be for the light-hearted. It's a bit darker of a YA novel, in my humble opinion.

I will say I LOVE the name of this book and the cover. It's stood out to me for years.

Three out of five stars.

aisha

*3.5*
Okay, I knew from the start that a lot of people absolutely hates Becca Fitzpatrick's writing. I was expecting a crappy love story. But it was more and that's why I liked it. It, to me is a very well plotted book, although it wasn't the most grand concept it was interesting. I hated all of the characters but it was more than I expected so yeah. 


ORIGINAL REVIEW

*4.0*
Did not expect it to be so good. So intense and very well plotted.

Kristen Fosburgh

I don't really approve of people judging a book until they finish it. I read so many bad reviews by people who put this book down in the first 100 pages. So I'm going to critique the main criticism I've read-

The main character doesn't start out as a strong lead. I get it - most of us want to read feminist characters, strong willed and goal oriented. Britt is a girl on the cusp of womanhood. This is her Bildungsroman. So when we first meet her, she is weak willed and focused on revamping a relationship with her ex. Considering the revelations about her ex later on, there are lots of hints that he was emotionally manipulative of her during the relationship, something she couldn't overcome until she had the confidence to say that he was wrong about her. She matures. She survives. And though I don't want to presume- I do think she's an infuriatingly relatable character because many of us have lived through a stage where we became aware of our own internalized misogyny and despise the way we once thought. But if you didn't read the book through to the end, you definitely missed the part where she overcame not only the environments but also her internalized misogyny and the misogyny shown by the other characters. 

3 stars. I think it's entertaining. I appreciated the main character's development. The plot had several good justifiable twists. But I do think Fitzpatrick's foreshadowing is off. The beginning didn't really set the stage as well as it could have. And once the action starts the foreshadowing is so thick that the end point is obvious. But overall I enjoyed this book.

"Nie daj się zwieść pozorom Britt długo przygotowywała się do wymarzonej wyprawy wzdłuż łańcucha górskiego Teton. Niespodziewanie dołącza do niej jej były chłopak, o którym dziewczyna wciąż nie może zapomnieć. Zanim Britt odkryje, co tak naprawdę czuje do Calvina, burza śnieżna zmusza ją do szukania schronienia w stojącym na odludziu domku i skorzystania z gościnności dwóch bardzo przystojnych nieznajomych. Jak się okazuje, obaj są zbiegami. Britt staje się ich zakładniczką. W zamian za uwolnienie zgadza się wyprowadzić ich z gór. Gdy dziewczyna odkrywa mrożący krew w żyłach dowód na to, że w okolicy grasuje seryjny morderca, a ona może stać się jego kolejną ofiarą, sprawy przybierają dramatyczny obrót... Beca Fitzpatrick od zawsze chciała pisać książki. Dla pisarstwa porzuciła nawet marzenia o zostaniu agentką CIA i pracę w służbie zdrowia. Sagę Szeptem przetłumaczono na kilkadziesiąt języków, a każdy jej tom od razu po premierze trafił na listę bestsellerów „New York Timesa”. Obecnie Becca mieszka w Kolorado z mężem i dwójką dzieci. Uwielbia buty, antyczną biżuterię i seriale kryminalne. Lubi pisać w ciszy, gdy nic jej nie rozprasza. Natchnienie znajduje podczas długich spacerów, joggingu i... obserwowania ludzi. Za swoich literackich mistrzów uznaje Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, Sandrę Brown i Nancy Farmer. "

Sven Test

Black Ice tells the story from Britt's point of view, a girl that wants to spend spring break hiking mountains with her best friend Korbie in order to impress her ex boyfriend Colin. While these two girls are on their way to the mountain, their car breaks down and the girls decide to look for shelter until they come across Shaun and Mason. Mason is against the girls setting foot in their cabin but Shaun is more than happy to welcome them in. Little do Britt and Korbie know, Shaun is dangerous and takes them as hostages.

Black Ice came with unexpected twists. While it does have moments that are expected and the reader can tell what's going to happen, it still manages to surprise the reader and leave them hanging. Unfortunately, I got spoiled so I knew who the bad guy was in this story but I still wanted to read it because I knew there were still surprises and twists. I'm so glad I finished the book because I enjoyed it a lot. 

The first part of the book is very slow and dragging, which led me to stop reading for a while but once I got spoiled, I started to read Black Ice again and the pace picks up but it slows down then goes back up again, which is why I give this story 3.5 stars. 

The character I loved the most was Mason/Jude. I believe he should have approached the situation in a better way since the beginning but desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm not saying that staying by Shaun's side was the right decision but he wanted justice and justice he got!

I recommend this story to any YA fan that loves suspense, mystery and romance involved. Let's face it. Romance in a mystery novel highs up the ranks!

Billie G

OKAY. EVERYONE. NEEDS. TO. READ. THIS. BOOK.
Like, literally, it is freaking amazing. You can't NOT read it. If you don't read it, you haven't lived. READ IT. READ. IT.

P.S. The ending might be a little underwhelming for the book but it's still amazing. I just didn't like the ending as much as I loved the book -not that I'm saying it ended badly-

Ivonne Castaneda

Jessica Guht

Check out my review here: 

https://justbeingjessicablog.wordpres...

Chelsea Hunter

I loved Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrickl. The story kept me on toes, and had taken a hold of my attention from the first page. I feel like it would have been hard to have been in Britt's position, but she didn't let that keep her from thinking things out, and figuring out what to do. I had my ideas about who Mason was from the beginning, and how he was tied into the story. I couldn't stand Korbie or Calvin. They just irritated me.

Rachel Benton

** spoiler alert **
           This book was okay, I was kind of disappointed in it. 

 Things that I like about the book? I liked the main character Britt, but the only thing I found annoying about her was that she tended to put her faith and trust in people who didn't deserve it. I also liked the romance between Jude and Britt. I could tell right off, even though he was the quote on quote bad guy that Jude/Mason was way better guy then Calvin ever was. 

Things I didn't like about the book. 

1) I didn't see the need to have Korbie in the story at all. what was her purpose? I think the story would have been fine without her. She didn't contribute much to the story, basically she disappears after they decide to leave her at the cabin and force Britt to lead them down the mountain. I found her really annoying, but the Arthur should have at least wrote some scenes with her at the cabin or when Cal found her. I know the story is told from Britt perspective, which to me was a bad idea. I think that the story would have flourished had we seen different perspectives. just my opinion. 

 
2) I thought to much was going on in the book. I mean with hostage taking, trying to get off the mountain in a winter storm, Mason/Jude Britt romance, and a murder mystery to boot. To much was happening. I think the author put more on her plate then necessary, and not surprising she neglected key points of certain plots.

3) The whole murder mystery. I honestly think that the whole thing needed to be re-worked. Though predictable, I liked that Cal was the killer. But I think that there needed to be more attention paid to the whole plot line. Plus I found the whole reason why Cal went off on a murderess rampage is because he couldn't get into Stanford? surely the author could come up with a better reason to murder someone?

I probably wouldn't recommend this, but I encourage everyone to read it. You may have different thoughts on it.

Barbara Rosas

I don't know if it deserves 3 stars or 2,5 
I don't know what I think of this book.

Britt Pfeiffer has never been that adventurous, but that's about to change. Wanting to impress her ex-boyfriend, Britt convinces best friend, Korbie, to take a trekking trip with her. But when a freak storm leaves the girls stranded they seek shelter in a cabin, where they find two knights in shining armour. Or so they think. Britt quickly realises that the girls need to get off the mountain, fast. In exchange for her life, she is forced to guide the boys down, and as they set out on a harrowing journey through the cold and snow, Britt realises the only way to escape with her life is to pretend she is on their side. But is gorgeous, sexy Mason an enemy or an ally? Tension mounts, and it's only a matter of time before things turn deadly . . . Dark and adrenaline-filled, Black Ice will have you on the edge of your seat right until the final twist. 'An edge of your seat style thriller packed with action and bad boys' Sugarscape 'A heart- wrenching, climatic book with huge plot twists and lots of drama with a hint of sweet romance. An excellent book by the extremely gifted author' Kynthia Ravikumar, age 14, for lovereading4kids.co.uk Praise for Hush, Hush: ‘A rollercoaster of twists and turns... a great, new and different novel’ Sunday Express Praise for Crescendo: ‘dark, sexy and compelling’ The Bookseller ‘great sexual tension… hot, tense and moreish’ The Bookbag Praise for Silence: ‘The perfect escape into fantasy and a love that can break all boundaries.’ Sugarscape

Makala R

Suspenseful, thrilling book. There are a few points in which things seem a bit unbelievable, but the book is still one worth reading. Britt is a strong woman who discovers just how strong she is after continuing to digest a toxic past relationship. The ending was a bit shocking and I was guessing who the killer would be the entire time.

Chantale

I kept seeing people haul this book and it did sound interesting so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. 

I am so happy I received this book to review because it is such a good read. I just couldn't stop reading Black Ice and I actually ended up missing my shows because I didn't want to put this book down. It is very well written and kept me hooked on the story. 

This is one I will most likely read again in the future.

Jess Houston

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

4.5 stars!

“They say that when you’re about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. They never tell you that when you watch someone you once loved dying, hovering between this life and the next, it’s twice as painful, because you’re reliving two lives that traveled one road together.”

As one of only a few people that haven’t read Hush, Hush yet, I went into this story completely blind to Becca Fitzpatrick and her writing. I thought the idea of this story sounded scary and haunting. I thought it was probably scare the crap out of me, yet in a very good way. I went in with high hopes, and I’m so happy to say this book really did it for me.

Britt and her BFF, Korbie, decide to spend spring break in the woods camping, rather than with their friends in Hawaii. (Weird choice, right? LOL) Britt is secretly hoping Korbie’s brother, Calvin, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend, will come along on the trip. To her satisfaction, Korbie’s parents insist on Calvin accompanying the girls on their trip for supervision. (And this is why she chooses the woods in a cabin over Hawaii!) But the trip doesn’t turn out as expected. Britt and Korbie end up being kidnapped and must fight for their lives in the dead of winter, in a snowstorm, in the woods.

“If I had known things would turn out this way, I would have trained harder. I would have learned to take care of myself. But I guess that’s the point, isn’t it? You never know what you’re going to have to face, so you’d better be prepared.”

Britt was much like I was as a teenager. I’m not proud of it, but I tended to let others take care of me. I wasn’t as independent and strong as I probably should have been. I’ve changed quite after high school and became much stronger and more independent, but as a teen I thought quite a bit like Britt. Because of this fact, Britt’s fears, frustrations, and insecurities hit awfully close to home.

There is a bit of a romance here, but I can see how some may have trouble with it. Stockholm Syndrome is maybe not exactly how I would characterize it, but Britt does find herself having feelings for one of her kidnappers. She’s not sure if her feelings are real, and she fights them quite a bit. Should she trust him? Is she still in love with Calvin? She fought these feelings for most of the story. I know what you’re thinking… no, it’s NOT a love triangle. Britt is just confused by her feelings for these guys in her life. I found this romance aspect of the story very realistic and a major part of why I enjoyed this book so much.

Though I don’t read many thrills on a regular basis, this time of year really brings it out in me. I love reading mysteries, thrillers and suspense books in the Fall around Halloween. It really gets me in the spooky spirit. Black Ice was scary, chilling, and kept me on the edge of my seat. If you’re looking for a creepy book, now is the time to read this one. I enjoyed this one so much I’m even considering reading Hush, Hush now. :)

Audiobook Impressions:
Jenna Lamia is a new narrator to me. My only real complaint was at times she came off a little monotone to me. Otherwise, I enjoyed her performance and would definitely listen to books narrated by her in the future.

(Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy!)


  Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Britt Phieffer has never been that adventurous, but that's about to change. Wanting to impress her ex-boyfriend, Britt convinces best friend, Korbie, to take a trip with her and go trekking through the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming. But when a freak storm leaves the girls stranded they seek shelter in a cabin, and find two knights in shining armour, Shaun and Mason, who are also hiding out. But all is not as it seems, and Britt quickly discovers that the guys are there for reasons other than hiking...dangerous reasons that mean they need to get off the mountain, fast. In exchange for her life, Britt is forced to guide them down, and as they set out on a harrowing journey through the cold and snow, Britt realises the only way to get out of this alive is to pretend she is on their side. But playing nice is hard, especially when Britt is unsure whether Mason, gorgeous and sexy, is the enemy or an ally. And as she begins to lose track of who is in control it is only a matter of time before things turn deadly...

Farah Khaled 

I have a love/hate relationship with this book.

Overall I must say I really enjoyed this read. But there were a few aspects that left me conflicted and I’ll start with those. The main issue for me was the relationships we are shown. Korbie, the friend? Horrible. I found her incredibly selfish, awful and not a good friend in the slightest. She was almost like a place setting with no real purpose and luckily she is not as prominent in the plot as I originally expected. Thank goodness. 

As thrillers go, this was a great read. It kept me engaged and on my toes. And even though I didn’t love some things going on with the characters, I understood it. And it helped propel the main character into some independence and a place of strength. Very pleased with how this one turned out. I would absolutely recommend Black Ice for those looking for a good mystery to solve.

I would rate 5 stars if I didn't guess the plot twist! It was really obviously *sigh* and I really wanted to know what happened to Korbie and Calvin, what happened to them and her relationship with this family. Well..that's my only problem with this book.