Lace up those boots!🧗‍♂️

Four best friends meet up every year for a long weekend getaway. Usually it involves a tropical sunny beach. But this time it’s a mountain hike in Norway and not everyone is exactly on-board with the decision. Can’t say I blame them. Going from margaritas to hiking boots! Are they really prepared to tackle the climb and whatever adventure awaits them?

But we know not everyone will return alive! What exactly happened up on that mountain trail?

During the entire read I had that nagging feeling I’d read this before. Perhaps it was just one of those books.💁🏻‍♀️

This is a super easy read that I read in basically one sitting. If you’re looking for a fast thriller with some fabulous twists then this is a must for you!

My first by this author and looking forward to more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam.

This was my first Lucy Clarke and definitely won’t be my last. This kept me on the edge of my seat reading and I loved how all the women were strong, messy, fully fleshed beings.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for granting me the opportunity to read this excellent thriller!

✨Ladies & gents, we have a 5-STAR BOOK✨

One of the millions of things I love about reading is becoming so enveloped by the words on the page that I only come-to when I notice myself 🌈reacting.

Be it tears pricking up in the corners of my eyes 💦 , brows furrowing deeply 😠, or grinning so hard my face begins to hurt 💩. For the majority of this book, I was grinning. If I wasn’t grinning, I was furiously furrowed!

Continue on for my (spoiler-free!!) snapshot review of…

THE HIKE | @lucyclarke_author | Courtesy of @putnambooks @penguinrandomhouse @netgalley for allowing me the pleasure of this ARC!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Burned-out by both her marriage and work, Liz is desperate for an escape. So she plans a vacation with her three best friends to spend four nights camping in the stunning mountains of Norway. But as they stride farther from civilization, it becomes clear that the women are not the only ones looking to lose themselves in the mountains.”

🥾 was so good that I used a bookmark to hide the ends of chapters so I wouldn’t get a peak at the twists were before they came 😬
🥾 multiple perspectives; just on the edge of too many characters (my threshold is lower than average, I think), but the descriptions allowed me to differentiate with ease
🥾 enjoyable-as-heck chapter length 📖 
🥾 cute/realistic/mostly LIKABLE yet flawed female characters & friendships (something I feel like we need more of these days)
🥾 ideal writing style - I was able to effortlessly visualize in my minds eye without ever glazing over or being confused by overly-detailed descriptions
🥾 my first but CERTAINLY not my last Lucy Clarke novel!!

& my good-to-knows:
🔪 graphic sexual scenes
🔪 depictions of drug use
🔪 graphic violence/death
🔪 complex relationships of all kinds

Synopsis credit to @penguinrandomhouse

The Hike is a tension-packed thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Following a group of four women as they in-expertly set out to hike a mountain in Norway, it quickly becomes apparent that they aren’t the only ones on the hiking trail and the possibility of danger meets them at every turn.

One of my favorite things about this book was the fact that each main character had a fully developed back story, with her own motivations and insecurities. A lot of thriller books don’t establish characters as fully as this book did. It can slow the plot down a little bit when the characters are explaining their backstories, but overall, I think it had a positive impact on the story.

The book quickly sets the scene, introducing all characters, the setting, and the basic outline of what will happen. The middle got a little slow and (at times) boring, but the last third of the book was entirely gripping.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes atmospheric thrillers, where the setting itself seems like its own character. I would definitely pick up another one of Lucy Clarke’s books in the future and will recommend this book to my friends.

I really enjoyed Lucy Clarke’s novel One Of The Girls from last summer so I was thrilled to be approved for the Hike. It started a little slow for me, but once it got going, it was hard to put down! The story switched from each of the four friends and I really felt like I knew them all by the end. Great twists and turns, short easy chapters!

I’m going to start by saying that the four women in this book had absolutely zero business going off on a four-day hike with no experience and without a guide. They only made just about every mistake imaginable. Murderer on the loose or not, it would be a miracle for all of them to come back alive.

As far as thrillers go, this was fine, but didn’t feel like anything overly original. It had me turning the pages, appreciating short chapters to keep things moving, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by trying to figure out what was happening. I did find the dynamic of the four female friendships compelling (minus one particular storyline that was so predictable and one that I’m incredibly tired of reading) and realistic, particularly among adult women with their separate busy lives.

Overall, this book was mildly entertaining but nothing groundbreaking for me.

I LOVED this book. I didn’t see the twist coming at all and I was pleasantly surprised at the turn that the book took about halfway in. This book would’ve been perfect if the ending hadn’t been quite so cheesy, but that’s totally a personal preference of mine. I am still speechless about the fall and I cannot stop thinking about it!

A psychological thriller set in the isolated wilderness of Norway?! Say less! You had me at hiking boots! This was my first Lucy Clarke read, and I am thoroughly impressed. The story unfolds seamlessly through the POV of each of the 4 main characters (best friends Joni, Liz, Helena, and Maggie). The character development, dialogue, and descriptions of the landscape were outstanding. I truly felt like I was out there hiking with the girls, experiencing the weather, the dread, the joy, the hurt, and the suspense. The Hike can be summed up best as tense, suspenseful, gripping, and with a sense of impending doom on every page!

This book gave me the hiking bug big time! I live in Florida, so unfortunately I’m out of luck in the mountain department. But, I will need to find one to visit stat!

There was truly nothing about this book that I didn’t love. Huge thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Add this one to your TBR if you’re a fan of murder mystery, strong female friendships, suspense, eerie atmospheres, and twisty thrillers. Be on the lookout when it’s released on August 29, 2023!

This was such a fun and cute story. Very unique in the plot line. It was hard to not imagine being there with them, going through the trials of the mountain. The ending was a bit sad, but good. Great book with a good twist. I would recommend to any of my thriller-loving friends. Thanks for the opportunity to read it!

I really enjoy books that have multiple points of view in thrillers and this one didn’t disappoint. The pace of the plot is great and really picks up near the end. This book solidifies that I’m not a camping or hiking girlie.
Thank you NetGalley for this advance review copy in return for an honest review.

The Hike follows 4 adult women who have all been friends since their school days. They plan a trip together every year and this year, Liz decided they should go on a very technical hiking and backpacking trip into the mountains of remote Norway. Of the four, one actually researches and plans for how to actually accomplish this goal, one sort of looks into what gear to get, one doesn’t do any sort of planning or conditioning at all, and one didn’t plan on going and shows up at the last minute. Everyone is hiding secrets from some or all of their friends.

Despite being warned about possible bad weather (that most experienced hikers wouldn’t attempt) they take off. They’re met with blisters, getting lost, being surprised by locals popping up out of no where, a natural disaster, sprained ankles, and a hidden drug smuggling hideaway.

Most of the stress of this book for me was just how monumentally these women were NOT prepared. AT ALL. There’s a slight back and forth from when they are on their hike and “present day” where other hikers have reported seeing a woman having fallen from a cliffs edge and the lodge owner going to find her. This definitely adds to the tension as you’re constantly wondering who out of our group of main characters has fallen??

The twist is decent, but not shocking given the small cast of characters. The writing seemed juvenile at times and I felt like it really wanted to be deep but just felt surface level to me.

3 out of 5 stars. The first 2/3s was super slow for me and I just didn’t want to pick it up to reach the climax and conclusion.

Four friends all battling self doubt and hiding secrets from their best friends go on a hike…. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING! While this was my first book by Lucy Clarke, I will be reading more, I enjoyed her writing and how fast paced it was. Her descriptions of characters is fabulous and helps with how I remember people. Wish you could give half stars because this was a solid 3 1/2 for me

This is my second book by Lucy Clarke and I am officially a fan! If you want to read a well crafted mystery/thriller, this book is for you. I really enjoy how she writes about complicated female friendships and manages to make each character distinct from the others. The setting in remote Norway was really brought to life too. This was a really entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for access to this arc.

WOW. I never like to leave a review with too much detail as I don’t want to ruin it for a reader. This book was absolutely incredible. I loved everything- the characters, the setting, the drama, the twists, the uncertainty of who I could trust. I’m a new mom and finding time to read is often a bit of a challenge but I couldn’t wait to read this every day. I’d stay up late when I desperately needed to sleep to get in a few pages. I will be recommending this to ALL of my reader friends! Thank you so much for letting me read this early. I can’t wait to purchase my hard copy for my bookshelf.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy! I really enjoyed this book- I was pretty much hooked from the jump.

I liked the alternative POVs and I of course appreciated the good twists when they happened (I’m trying to avoid spoilers). The setting of the story only added to the tension and feelings of suspense.

I was on the edge of my seat for like the first 200 pages and I was ready to rate it 5 stars. However, I feel like it ended kind of abruptly and there were questions I had that were still unanswered. I felt like it could have been longer and more fleshed out- in particular the character development. There were a couple of sentences at the end that tried to tie things up for a couple of characters, but it wasn’t enough for me.

I still think it’s worth a read- and like I said- I was super into it for the first 70% of the book.

This was a slow burn- I wish more excitement happened the first half of the book, but getting to the end I couldn't put it down. As someone who loves to be outside hiking and would love to do this in Norway, I connected with the story. The authors creates well-developed characters, a beautiful setting, and an intriguing premise. If you like slow builds, this is for you. It's well written and a good story. Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of my 2nd book by this author.

I like the relationship between the four women. The setting added some great atmosphere to the story. four childhood friends go on a hiking holiday to Norway, but everything doesn't go to plan. Even though the pace is slow to begin with, I was quickly pulled into this story, and it wasn't long before the pace picked up. Four very different women lead very different lives, but they still remain friends. Each woman brings their own motivations and issues along to the trip. This is a well written, twist filled, and thrilling read. This mix between a survival thriller and a murder mystery is a quick and easy book to read. The story is told from the four women's perspectives.

Loved this thriller which kept me guessing through the entire book. A story about friendship, sacrifice and adventure.

📚 Book Review 📚

The Hike
by Lucy Clarke
⭐️⭐️
(2/5 stars)

This story follows lifelong friends (Liz, Maggie, Joni, and Helena) as they vacation together in Norway for four days hiking in the mountains. They’re very inexperienced, unprepared, and distracted by the challenges they’ve been facing in their personal lives.

The first half of this book is mostly character-driven and filled with set up and backstory. The main characters are dealing with a lot of personal issues and relationship problems which are referred to frequently. The book’s pace is relatively slow, so if you’re expecting a fast gripping page-turner, this isn’t it. The mystery/suspense elements (I use that term loosely) don’t really start until midway through, however, it seemed like every time something potentially interesting started happening, the plot would switch back to flashbacks or reminiscing. This was frustrating because I just wanted the storyline to start moving forward already. Overall, this was pretty far-fetched and borderline ridiculous. I was expecting a lot more from this book, and in my opinion, it just didn’t deliver.

*Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this advanced copy.
Pub Date: 8/29/23

This is a great mystery novel. I'm usually good at predicting and there were aspects of this that took me by surprise! It did get a little convoluted toward the end, but I definitely would recommend this book if you're into the mystery genre.