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A review by travsbookshelf
The Hike by Drew Magary
4.0
I’m pretty awe-struck by this book. It was….interesting, to say the least. I was very impressed by the author’s imaginative stance he obviously took while writing this story; the evidence is crystal clear on every page. However, the magic fantasy realm - or wherever Ben was trapped in - was so bizarre that there were times I questioned what substance Drew Magary was possibly on during his creative process. Or maybe he is just a genius. I’ll pander further on that later.
It was a very quick paced read. It takes virtually no time for us to experience Ben’s entrapment into the fantasy land and doesn’t let up all the way through his journey. I honestly don’t know what to call it; it had no formal name itself as a whole though there were a couple of specifically named spots within this bizarre world. Still it was quite thrilling traveling through it as it had a vast array of different landscapes, and often places were modernized and medieval in equal measure.
There were a variety of weird but sincerely interesting creatures within this world and as gruesome as some of them were they made for a more exciting read as Ben had to deal with them. He encounters a few “friendly” side characters along the way, and as they did prove to be somewhat useful to Ben I felt they were ultimately forgettable at the end of the day. As for Ben himself, as a main protagonist I found him to be quite irritating at times with his whining and cursing and he came off as being sort of entitled and bitchy if things didn’t go his way. At least at first. He did grow on me, though, but just enough to wish him the best and leave. There were also times I felt certain moments were too rushed, or probably more appropriately felt forced. Like there was little to no time to process it.
There was quite a bit of religious speak throughout the story. A lot of questioning faith and even direct references to God and Heaven and Hell and how it relates to certain aspects within the fantasy realm. The path that led Ben into the realm and continued to guide him all the way through the book was itself symbolic of the journey of life and what could happen if you wander off its course.
There were some truly jaw-dropping moments in this book. Almost all major surprises I didn’t see coming and a lot of chapters ended with a type of cliffhanger moment. I’d say my biggest shocker was the very last few sentences of the book. An ending like that is definitely one that made me literally shout “WHAAAAT?!” and will stick with me for quite a while.
I’m giving this 4.6 stars. I stand by my initial assessment vibe from the synopsis that this would be a simple feel good time read. And that’s what it was for me. I highly recommend this to anyone for that very reason.
You can see my video review of this book here:
https://youtu.be/3UtbrxgEYEE?si=8XdUrdF1LB-7hfF_
It was a very quick paced read. It takes virtually no time for us to experience Ben’s entrapment into the fantasy land and doesn’t let up all the way through his journey. I honestly don’t know what to call it; it had no formal name itself as a whole though there were a couple of specifically named spots within this bizarre world. Still it was quite thrilling traveling through it as it had a vast array of different landscapes, and often places were modernized and medieval in equal measure.
There were a variety of weird but sincerely interesting creatures within this world and as gruesome as some of them were they made for a more exciting read as Ben had to deal with them. He encounters a few “friendly” side characters along the way, and as they did prove to be somewhat useful to Ben I felt they were ultimately forgettable at the end of the day. As for Ben himself, as a main protagonist I found him to be quite irritating at times with his whining and cursing and he came off as being sort of entitled and bitchy if things didn’t go his way. At least at first. He did grow on me, though, but just enough to wish him the best and leave. There were also times I felt certain moments were too rushed, or probably more appropriately felt forced. Like there was little to no time to process it.
There was quite a bit of religious speak throughout the story. A lot of questioning faith and even direct references to God and Heaven and Hell and how it relates to certain aspects within the fantasy realm. The path that led Ben into the realm and continued to guide him all the way through the book was itself symbolic of the journey of life and what could happen if you wander off its course.
There were some truly jaw-dropping moments in this book. Almost all major surprises I didn’t see coming and a lot of chapters ended with a type of cliffhanger moment. I’d say my biggest shocker was the very last few sentences of the book. An ending like that is definitely one that made me literally shout “WHAAAAT?!” and will stick with me for quite a while.
I’m giving this 4.6 stars. I stand by my initial assessment vibe from the synopsis that this would be a simple feel good time read. And that’s what it was for me. I highly recommend this to anyone for that very reason.
You can see my video review of this book here:
https://youtu.be/3UtbrxgEYEE?si=8XdUrdF1LB-7hfF_