Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Hike by Drew Magary

8 reviews

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jiobiee's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

OVERALL: 8.3/10, or 4.2/5

A wonderful sci-fi fantasy adventure romp that moves at a breakneck pace, equal parts silly and scary. This is a plot book; funnily enough, this is a book that is more about the journey than it is the destination.

This is the closest I've ever seen a book come to feeling like a video game. Reading this book feels like you're going through multiple levels of the most deranged platformer you've ever seen, and I do mean that with love; it zooms through multiple points of the story like someone trying to speedrun their first playthrough. Watching Ben tackle each challenge using almost nothing but his own wit and ability is fascinating, and seeing how he deals with processing his traumas, old and new, feels as addictive as reality television. This book is a popcorn book.

The prose is easy to understand, and Ben is an easy character to understand; the real fun comes from trying to make your own assumptions about what Ben's journey on The Path represents; which makes the ending more satisfying, in my opinion. The ending is simple; a bigger twist followed by a much smaller, much more insidious and terrifying smaller one. The smaller one stuck with me;

imagine carrying all that weight from this journey, never being able to tell another soul, and coming to the realization that a loved one just experienced nearly the same lifetime of turmoil, completely unnoticed- incredible gut-punch.

I loved it.

It's not without it's issues, though; sometimes the pace feels misplaced. I felt that

we were stuck at the construction site for too long, but then everything after that felt a little too fast, even considering its fast pace.

And while sometimes the tone of the writing is genuinely funny and tongue-in-cheek, sometimes it drifts off a little too far into quirky-bitter-millenial-says-fuck territory. Never enough to impact the story as a whole, though.

I highly recommend. Go into this book with no expectations, no preconceived notions- and make sure you stay on The Path.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, and Sexual content

keen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Slavery, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Alcoholism

issymaae's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death

inakar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book just didn't work for me. I didn't feel like I could connect with the main character, and I think it's because of Magary's kind of sardonic voice that doesn't let you get close and vulnerable. And that's fun in his other writing, but it wasn't for me here. Kind of formulaic for me too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Blood

indiaaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Terrifying, incredible, mind melding. Drags a little in the middle due to becoming an exhausting never-ending nightmare that nearly has you losing hope. It is kind of fake deep in a college short film kind of way, but is still worth it all in the end. Definitely a fun and crazy adventure that keeps you on your toes and turning pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident

hannahr's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol