Thanks to Putnam for the copy of this book!

The Hike started off strong and I was hooked for the first half, getting to know this crazy group of friends setting it for a Norwegian hike. Like I would be in a similar situation, most of them were vastly unprepared and some of the comments about sleeping bags and camping in general had me LOLing at the relatability as someone who is A-OK avoiding tent camping and the possibility of getting lost in the woods. The second half of the book dragged a bit, and I think the book really could’ve been shorter. It also got predictable, but it was fun to watch it play out through some pretty crazy scenarios!

Is it bad that I finished this book 5 days ago and I can't remember a single thing about it? I just remember I did NOT like it.

The moral of this review is that there were TOO MANY CHARACTERS. I think that is a Lucy Clarke staple tbh, because at the end the plot twists just kept coming and more characters were being reintroduced, and they were all connected somehow. I just felt like I needed a piece of paper to write all the connections down. And I don't like feeling that way, I want to read to escape, not to do homework and try to put everything together myself... maybe I'm just annoying for feeling like that but oh my goodness.

The MC ladies, were sooooo awful to each other and in general, I didn't want to root for anyone, which made me not interested in even finishing the book to see if they survived.

This book plot was: Let's hike up the hardest mountain for a girls trip, omg we are lost, omg is that cocaine? Omg the cocaine people are after us. Omg a dead body. Omg another dead body. The end.

Save yourself the time and skip to the next book on your tbr.

I really enjoyed Lucy Clarke's first book One of the Girls, so when I saw she was doing another destination thriller, I got excited. Unfortunately this one did not live up to my high hopes. The first 60% or so lacks any kind of "thrill." While I enjoyed the backstories of the women, I was growing impatient waiting for the suspense. Once it arrived, it seems very over the top and silly.

Can we all just stop pretending that hiking and camping are fun? They're not fun, they're miserable. Oh you disagree? Well then I beseech you to ask our four leading ladies their opinions, because I can assure you that Liz, Helena, Maggie, and Joni are gonna take my side on this one.

Read this if you:
🥾 have ever suffered through a hike
🍿 love a fast-paced popcorn thriller
🏔 need to talk your friends out of a backpacking trip

I won't recap the plot here, because I am a (loud) proponent of always going into thriller as blindly as possible. All you need to know is there are four female friends that go hiking in Norway, and pandemonium ensues. Maggie and Helena were easy faves for me, while Liz and Joni got on my nerves. But that's fine! They'll all get on your nerves at some point!

I'm a fan of Lucy Clarke's books so far, because they're lightning-fast reads with solid twists that I'm not able to predict ahead of time. This one just happens to include some muscly bearded mountain men, which is always a plus. And if it wasn't obvious, I hate camping so this book gives me plenty of fodder to be able to trash this hobby to my camper friends. "But look what happened to these fictional women on a fictional mountain, we could ALL DIE!"

Thank you to Lucy Clarke, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

The Hike

4.25 ⭐️

I don’t know whether to really want a hiking trip or to never hike again after this thriller! 😂

With multiple points of view, this story centers around four women out on a hiking trip in Norway. None of them are experienced hikers, but they’re determined to climb and make memories together. This had several twists I didn’t expect and I enjoyed it so much!

This was my second book by Lucy Clarke, and I enjoyed this one even more than the last! Check it out in August when it publishes! Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

In The Hike, four lifelong friends set out on an ambitious hike in the Norwegian wilderness. Each woman has her own secrets and reasons for joining the trip, and they may not all make it out unscathed.

This was my first Lucy Clarke book, and a pretty good survivalist thriller (not my typical jam). The setting and characters are well developed, and the plot is full of tension and (eventually) action. There were some reckless decisions made that were a bit frustrating (e.g. inexperienced hikers ignoring weather forecasts and warnings from the locals 👀), and parts of the story were a little slow. But overall, this was a solid thriller maybe better suited to someone more interested in wilderness/survivalist type thrillers.

⛰️ Survivalist thriller
⚡ Natural disaster

CW: addiction, drug/alcohol use, death, suicidal thoughts

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin/Putnam Books for an advance review copy of this book.

3.5 The setting of this suspenseful thriller made me immediately want to read it! We follow along with Liz, Maggie, Helena and Jodi as they embark on a 4 day hike in Norway. I loved the mountain setting and survival focus of the novel. Our characters don’t have the best time as they face the weather, others in the mountains, secrets in their friend group, and stumble along something they shouldn’t.

This definitely took a turn I wasn’t expecting and the ending really surprised me. I also thought the friendship between these women was very well realized.

I will say that this doesn’t stand out much among others in the isolated snowy thriller subgenre, but it was an enjoyable read for me personally.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Four friends meet for their annual girl's trip to renew relationships fraught with secrets and lies. Quite a few unlikeable characters in this story.

Solid thriller, kept me on my toes.
This was my first by the author and will def not be my last, absolutely recommend

When four friends get together to go on their annual trip it’s Liz turn to pick and where does Liz decides she wants to go she wants to hike up a mountain of Norway. Although each of these girls have their own secrets What happens next is not what any of them excepted.
No help.
No cell coverage.
No one to hear them scream.
This is a thriller that has some twist and turns and another great Lucy Clarke book thank you @netgalley

“The Hike” is Lucy Clarke’s newest thriller. Four best friends plan a camping getaway to the mountains of Norway. Liz is overwhelmed by her job and her marriage, so this sounds like the perfect trip to recharge. In fact, it seems each person in this friend group has aspects of their lives that they’re struggling with. However, as the trip goes on the girls meet some locals that seem to be of concern. Isolated in the wilderness, the secrets of the group start to come out.

I loved this novel. Sometimes I did feel frustrated by the characters and their actions, but that didn’t stop me from finding the story to be enjoyable. I did like the multiple POVs in the story and learning the background of each of the girls. This was fast paced so it kept my attention throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of this novel. “The Hike” by Lucy Clarke will be published on August 29th, 2023.

A smart, suspenseful thriller with four strong women, The Hike is a fun read. None of the characters’ lives are what they expected, so they all run away to hike a mountain in Norway. They don’t have the training, the knowledge or the experience, but they are determined. A storm is coming but Liz, the organizer, doesn’t think that it is a problem, what could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, a lot. And Mother Nature is not the only one trying to kill them, there are bad humans around too. I figured out one of the twists, but the plot went to places that I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes I wanted to slap the characters for doing something stupid but I was still rooting for them enough that I wanted them to make it. I loved the friendship that ties them together, how they have resentments and pettiness but also love. The novel is so well written that it’s easy to picture every crag, every river, every tree with the fog rolling in. Readers looking for a propulsive book will enjoy this one.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC!

Everyone year four childhood friends go on a trip. This year they went hiking in Norway and each came with personal issues and secrets. They are not all thrilled to go hiking of all thing, but once they hear about a missing girl who looks like of the girls and everything starts getting twisted, they wonder if she should have never came.

This is a fast paced thriller that starts about 20% in and only keeps getting crazier. It kept me entertained and at about 70% in I did not want to put it down.

The only part I was a little disappointed with was the ending. I thought it tied it together a little at the end, however I add higher expectations.

Overall, I really liked and enjoyed the book and will be reading more from Lucy Clarke in the future.

Great thriller read!!!! So many unexpected moments and twists along the way

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: A group of former friends meet up annually for a vacation; this year Liz gets to decide where they go and she selects a hiking trail in Norway. When the 4 friends arrive to the inn before setting out on their hike, they meet several people connected to the mountain and trails. There’s an undercurrent of danger and uncertainty in some of their mannerisms and behaviors, which intensify even as the hike begins the next day. The 4 girls soon face obstacles on their path, unexpected run-ins, treacherous weather and several uncovered secrets.
I was on the edge of my seat for most of the ending, even if a bit fantastical at times, I loved the entertainment of this novel very much.

Recommend: Yes

This was a good, solidly entertaining book. I enjoyed reading the story from the points of view of the four different characters. I also liked the Scandinavian mountain setting. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Lucy Clarke for an ARC of The Hike! I could not, and let me repeat, could not put this book down. This was remarkable. I’ve read other mountain/hiking books and they were okay, but this is something else. I grew to love and get angry with the characters - and now I’m without them. This took an unexpected twist, but fantastic. It’s not your everyday thriller - but it sure as heck keeps you on the edge of your seat. Lucy Clarke has been added to my favorite authors list 100%.

The Hike is a fast-paced survivalist thriller featuring four childhood friends that take an annual trip together. The women are all at different places in their lives and have very different personalities, which causes some personal conflicts and some conflicts between them through the story. There were some twists that I guessed and some that I didn’t, so it kept me on the edge of my seat. The climax felt a little scattered and melodramatic, but I really enjoyed the book overall and would read more from Lucy Clarke in the future!

Story follows 4 friends who go on a harrowing hike in Norway.
Each year, Liz, Maggie, Helena and sometimes Joni go on a vacation together. This year it’s Liz’s choice and she chooses a hike in Norway. Each of the women have something in their lives they want to ‘get away’ from.

MS rep
Struggling with addiction / drug dealing
Single mom
Unexpected pregnancy
Sudden deaths
Afterlife/haunting
Cheating/infidelity

Overall, I liked it and was invested in the story. It wasn’t as mysterious or ‘thriller-y’ as I was expecting. But I don’t usually read this genre so maybe this is how they all are?

Four friends meet each year for a trip, and they take turns choosing the destination. Liz wants to do something physically and mentally challenging to take her mind off her crumbling marriage, and since it’s her turn to choose, this year won’t be getting sun by the pool drinking cocktails. No, this year they are going to hike a mountain in Norway. Limited cell phone use and bringing all the food and gear with the on their backs. Joni, the famous musician, also makes it this year. Helena is bitter toward Joni about not always being there for them. Maggie is the fourth friend on the trip, and she spends the whole time missing her two-year-old daughter.

They run into danger on the trail, and not just the usual dangers of weather and terrain.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 29, 2023.

3 1/2 stars
The Hike was interesting and I enjoyed the multiple POV. I did not care for the way it ended. It seemed a bit rushed and over the top.

Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing for allowing me to read and review this ARC before publishing.