Book talk - Review of 'Black Ice' BY Becca Fitzpatrick

Published as ebook
by S&S Books for young readers 

So this book showed up on my radar fairly unexpectedly. I've got to be honest and say that I hadn't been aware of its publication at all and I certainly didn't know what to expect when I read that 'Black Ice' was labeled as a 'dark and mysterious thriller.' 

The reviews I'd read prior to starting the ebook were rather mixed in opinion, but as a big fan of the the Hush Hush series I knew I would just have to give it a chance. 

It started off entertaining enough and despite my initial concerns, I kept on reading. I'm not too sure how I feel about labelling Black Ice as a thriller however,  because if I had to be brutally honest, I don't believe it really qualifies as one, even as a young-adult thriller. 

Were there parts that somewhat shocked me? Yes, certainly. 

Was I scared or at all worried for the characters at any point? Sadly...no. 

Which is why I think the book lacked in terms of general 'thrill' - if something is described as a thriller and yet,  the reader does not fear for the characters lives at least once during a supposedly dark plot, something is obviously not quite right. Now don't get me wrong, the plot itself is by no means awful; all the book needs is a little rebranding. Leave it in with the mystery and suspense genre and voila, I'm sure a lot of people would think different about it. 

Character wise, I wasn't too keen on Britt's so called best friend and I got quite frustrated with her fairly early on. Alas, the male characters weren't that much better in comparison  if I'm honest, apart from maybe that one exception. In terms of dialogue and story progression I can say that some of the scene were a little ridiculous, but entertaining nonetheless. 

On a positive note, I really did like the location Becca picked. Big fan of cozy mountain cabins, just a bit of a shame Becca's initial idea didn't live up to its full potential. 

Overall, I can't say that I regret reading 'Black Ice' or that it changed my view of the Author, however I probably won't re-read it anytime soon either. 

I'm going to award it 2.5 stars out of 5 

Copy provided for honest review.