Mundie Moms

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

BLACK ICE By Becca Fitzpatrick; Book Review / ARC & Prize Pack Giveaway!


Published by: Simon Teen 
To Be Released on: October 7th, 2014
Source: arc from publisher at BEA
Pre-Order from here
Add it to Goodreads

Sometimes danger is hard to see... until it’s too late.

Britt Pfeiffer 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.

In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt 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 on that very mountain... and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target.
But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally?

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…

A thrilling murder, mystery set in the rugged and dangerous Tetons mountains, Black Ice has plenty of heart stopping action, romance and dangerous twists I didn't see coming. 

Fitzpatrick did a fabulous job at hooking me with her story. For one, I loved the setting. Oh yes, that beautiful, rugged, mountain setting played a huge part in the story itself. It has a crucial role in the story. The mystery and suspense of the story is awesome! There were times I felt my heart beating a little bit faster. Not only is there a murder mystery wrapped up into Black Ice, there's the whole Britt Pffeifer finding herself standard in the middle of a blizzard with her best friend, and then they find themselves in a heap of trouble as they descend on a cabin with two guys who aren't as nice as the girls first thought. 


Britt Pffeifer is a character whom, well I don't know how else to say it. She's extremely hard to like. At least some of the time. Britt grew up with wealth and previlage and has always depended on others to take care of her. Yep, not my type of character to root for, BUT, the thing about Britt is she changed and proved me wrong. Through the course of her kidnapping, Britt had me rooting for her. I wanted her to survive and out smart her two kidnappers. She does such an awesome job at keeping her wits about her, and followed her instincts/surivial skills to keep herself going. Britt changed, and I liked the character she became during her ordeal, because she turned into a strong, independent person who was going to do whatever it took for her to survive. Totally opposite of the girl whom I first met when the story started. 

Then towards the end of the book there's something that happens, which also leads to that twist that I didn't see coming and wow, talk about a crazy twist! Britt reverts back to her old self, and that's when I grew really frustrated with her and the book. Had I not been invested in the other characters, like Mason, and wanted to know the outcome of the crazy turn of events, I would have stopped reading the book all together. I'll just say it, Mason is a man of mystery. He is one of the two guys whom Britt and her best friend, Korbie, stumble upon in the cabin after their car gets stranded. While I never did like Shaun, from the get go I knew there something more to Mason and his story, and I wanted to know what it was. Dang, I wasn't excepting THAT to be his mystery. Yep, never saw that one coming. Nope, I can't say what THAT is, because it's one of the huge twists. Notice I said one twist. There are a couple twists that all brilliantly interconnect and even shocked me. 

The suspense in this story is one crazy thrill ride. Fitzpatrick does a brilliant job at keeping the pace of BLACK ICE going. So much so, that this is a book I devoured in one sitting. I had to know what was going to happen. Not only that, I loved the way Fitzpatrick created the story's riveting action, thrilling romance, and survival tactics. I realized once I was done with the book that nothing was put into the story that didn't give away hints to what was to come. Every detail big and small, in the present or in the flash backs from Britt, they are in the story for a reason. They all lead up to the twists towards the end of the book.


Now let's talk romance & character chemistry. There's a few things relationship wise that happen over the course of BLACK ICE. One, throughout the story Fitzpatrick allows the reader to see Britt learn to let go of the relationship she's been hung up on with her best friend's older brother, Calvin. Their relationship was not a healthy one, and through out her ordeal in the Tetons, Britt takes what she dwelt with in her relationship with Calvin to give her the added push to survive the snowy wilderness. In the process, I got to see what kind of guy Calvin was, and wondered how Britt never saw it. Two, we also see a different kind of relationship that forms with Britt and one of her captors. It's one that makes sense. Again, that's saying things without spoiling anything. There's a lot more to that complex relationship than I can say for sake of keeping this a spoiler free review. Then there's the twist with one of her captors, and who he is, and whether or he's really good or really bad. Which also added to the suspense of the story. 

BLACK ICE is a book I did like, but there parts of it I had a few issues with. Thankfully there was more to the book I liked than didn't, like the suspense and twits being two of them. I didn't buy into the relationship Britt and her best friend Korbie had. It felt like a fake friendship, and giving things that happen through out the book, I felt that Korbie would have been better left out of the story and had only been mentioned through Britt's flashbacks. I didn't like how Brit had this ability to grow into such a strong character, but as soon as someone shows up towards the end of the story, she reverts back to being a character without a backbone. Then there's the thing that happens at the every end of the book. Like in the epilogue. I'm so torn on what I liked and didn't like about it. I'll just leave it at that. 

In summary, Black Ice is an action packed read with heart pounding danger at every turn. Set in the beautiful Tetons in WY, gave Fitzpatrick's book the perfect setting for survival, suspense and the thrilling mystery that kept me hooked till the very end. 

4 stars - Over All I Enjoyed It!

The Giveaway
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, I have a sweet giveaway today! 
  • 1 lucky winner will win a SIGNED arc of BLACK ICE, a BLACK ICE water bottle & a $50 gift card to REI. 
  • 10 runner ups will each receive 1 arc of BLACK ICE 
To enter to win, please fill out the form below: *US residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway

To find out more about BLACK ICE, grab some of the graphics I included in my review, and for more changes to win, visit COUNTDOWNTOBLACKICE.COM


41 comments:

  1. this looks awesome!!! thank you!!!

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  3. I enjoyed Hush, Hush and the cover is absolutely stunning. I am excited to read this!

    Thank you so much for the giveaway!!!

    Mimi Zane @ M&EM Read YA
    mandemread.blogspot.com

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  4. Great review & thanks for the giveaway! I've wanted to read BLACK ICE ever since I read the summary several months ago! I've been in the mood for a YA with lots of mystery and suspense.

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  5. Cannot wait to read this. The suspense is killing me!

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  6. I've always love Becca Fitzpatrick and cannot wait to read BLACK ICE!

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  7. I loved the Hush, Hush series and will pretty much read anything by Becca Fitzpatrick :) Thanks for the giveaway!

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  8. I really enjoyed reading her Hush, Hush saga so I can't wait to read what else she has written!

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  9. I am so excited for this book! Thanks for the giveaway!! Love your instagram account, it has given me so many new book ideas.

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  10. Thanks for the giveaway! Hush, Hush is one of my favorite series; I can't wait to read this new adventure. <3

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  11. Because I'm a huge fan of Becca's. I will read anything she writes. Thank you so much!

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  12. The HUSH HUSH series was so entertaining that I'm positive that I will love this too :). Thank you.

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  13. I'm looking forwards to reading Black Ice, because one, I absolutely loved the Hush, Hush, series. Second, I've also read an excerpt from this and ahhh it looks like a thrilling plotline!

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  14. Im so excited, I feel its going to be just as amazing as hush hush

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  15. AHH! I am so excited for this book! I loved the Hush Hush series, and I need something new! I'll read anything by Becca!

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  16. I've actually already read this one (thank you, S&S and Edelweiss!), and I really enjoyed it! Her best book yet :D Thank you so much!

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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  17. I'm super excited for this book! I loved the "Hush Hush" series, and I hope Mason gives Patch a run for his money.

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  18. I love strong, adventurous female leads!

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  19. So, I wanted to camping this summer and never got to. THIS CAN BE MY ALTERNATE!

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  20. I enjoyed her other series and this one looks just as good!

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  21. I loved the hush hush series and the Mc name is Britt while so is mine lol.
    -Brittany

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  22. I am looking forward to this series because it sounds AMAZING and I keep hearing good things about it from bloggers who have read ARCs. It's been on my TRB for a while now and I can't wait to read it when it is released.

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  23. I look forward to reading this, because of the auothor, that cover, the wait! Its like the wait only makes me. . . excited? Its hard to explain my emotions on this one, thanks!

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  24. I've never really read anything very suspense theme, maybe except for Ten by Gretchen McNeil so I'm exciting to pick up this book.

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  25. I enjoyed the previous series by her and thought this sounded just as interesting.

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  26. So excited for another Becca Fitzpatrick book!:)

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  28. I really enjoyed Hush Hush! looking forward to her new book and her great characters! thanks for the giveaway.

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  29. I read her Hush Hush series, and fell in love with Patch. Looking forward to reading this one, looks good!

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  30. I want to read this because it sounds very different from my usual reads but also very very awesome!

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  31. My heart is already beating out of my chest and that is just from your great review!! I am soooo looking forward to it! Thanks!

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  32. I've heard nothing but great things about Black Ice and definitely want to try it for myself. ;D

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  33. I'm looking forward to Becca writing something new, taking on realistic fiction instead of paranormal.

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  34. This sounds ThRiLLiNg!! Thanks for the review and giveaway.

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  35. Black Ice sounds so good...I love action packed books!

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  36. It's concept is very unique-- to me, anyway. I think it sounds very interesting!

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  37. I like that it takes place on the Teton Mountains and it seems like an adventure/mystery story that I would enjoy.

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