Chapter by Chapter

I’ve been a big fan of Becca Fitzpatrick’s ever since reading Hush, Hush and yes the fact that Patch was a sexy fallen angel definitely had something to do with it but I digress. Black Icesounded promising. Psychological horror. A girl forced to trek through a snow storm with supposed killers? It definitely sounded like my cup of tea and the novel had a strong start. However (and much to my chagrin) Black Ice did not meet my expectations and was not a novel that I read with ease.

Black Ice is the story of Brit Pfeiffer, a teen who is trying to get over her ex-boyfriend by going on a backpacking trip with her best friend. When her ex enters the picture again (and forces Brit into an awkward situation) she tells one little white lie that blows up in her face. She lies and says that a boy at the gas station is her boyfriend and when her ex pushes the lie too far, the boy goes along with her lie with no explanation as to why. When Brit goes on her backpacking trip the last thing she expects is a snow storm especially not one that forces her to a cabin occupied by the boy from the gas station—Mason—and his friend with questionable motives. Then Brit’s life is thrown into danger when she discovers evidence that lead her to believe that Mason and his friend are killers. They both demand she take them off the mountain or else. As she does her best to survive and make sure everybody remains safe; dark secrets come to light and Brit isn’t sure who to trust or believe.

The first chapter of Black Ice is what really drew me in.  I won’t lie when I say that at first I thought I would be bored of the novel at a first glance. We’re introduced to a superficial character who ends up being forced into a strange cowboy’s cabin. Okay, nothing special there. Up until somebody goes on and chokes this girl to death and we’re launched into Brit’s point of view. From there I was hooked and wanted to know what would happen next.

The novel does begin relatively slowly but I carried on with it. I had high hopes. Especially when Mason’s character got introduced and once Brit ended up in the cabin and got kidnapped I was already on the edge of my seat. However one Brit begins trekking the mountain with Mason I went from being in love with the novel to thoroughly annoyed and only wanting to be done with it. Don’t get me wrong! I loved the plot, Mason’s character and the struggles that occur when Brit begins going through the mountain with her kidnappers. The only thing that took away from the story for me was… Brit herself. Which is a bit of a problem when the entirety of the novel takes place inside her head.

Brit was a character who came off as smart, strong and able to take care of herself. As the novel progressed I found that Brit wasn’t really the embodiment of all those things. Yes she manages to take care of herself but being inside of her head was not something I enjoyed. Every single thought she had was about her ex-boyfriend, her indecisiveness on whether or not she should trust Mason or not and just generally whining. Even her decisions near the end of the novel made no sense. By the time the novel had finished I was done with her character and glad to be out of her head.

I would recommend Black Ice to any readers who want a novel that does have a unique idea and a series of unexpected plot twists. To any readers who are looking for a novel with a sexy love interest and danger you should definitely consider Black Ice. Even though the novel didn’t work for me it might work perfectly for you.