Book Review: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
392 pages, hardcover

Check out the synopsis on Goodreads.

It seems like everything I liked about this book was matched by something that I didn’t like.

The things that I liked:

Black Ice has a pretty creative plot line that seemed quite unique to me. Girl and friend go into the mountains for Spring Break. Girl’s ex-boyfriend decides to join them, but before anything can happen, a blizzard stops them from getting anywhere. Girl and friend set out into the woods for help and find shelter with two strangers – who happen to be fugitives. They kidnap girl to get them off the mountain.

Cool, right? Well, not cool exactly but different. The beginning of the story really drew me in. It has descriptions like:

Her boyfriend “scribbled poetry on church walls, park benches, cars, and her own hungry soul.” – Page 5

Wuuuut? I like that.

The beginning and the end were pretty exciting and well-paced. They have a good bit of action and they were exhilarating. The book is a fast read and kept my attention most of the time. I was drawn into the character’s stories and was really interested to understand their motivations and backstories.

The things I didn’t like:

The middle section dragged on for way too long. I feel like a lot in the middle could’ve been cut out and it would’ve made for a much better paced and captivating novel.

The main character is plain, naïve, and a little boring sometimes. She was just kind of there; there wasn’t really anything super memorable about her. SPOILER: Other than the Stockholm Syndrome, of course. I was really, really creeped out about this and it made me extremely uncomfortable at times, which might be part of the point, but it was weird. I really didn’t understand it; romance would not have been a concern for me if this happened.

I predicted the end halfway through the novel. I even made a note that said “[Name removed because spoiler] has been the murderer from the beginning – prediction halfway through the book.” Haha.

The bottom line: Overall, I was interested in the story and I definitely wanted to keep reading to see how everything panned out, but there were weaknesses in the characters and plot that affected my overall enjoyment. I’m having trouble figuring out a rating because I’m not really sure if I liked or didn’t like this one overall.

Rating: 6 – good, but not great

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