This suspense/thriller follows 4 friends on their annual vacation. Maggie, Helena, Liz, and Joni rotate who picks vacation destinations and this year, Liz picks hiking up a mountain in Norway - a far cry from their normal sand, sun, and cocktails. But the friends show up, all ready for a break from their regular lives for reasons not even shared with friends. Only once they are there, the weather isn't the only thing that could derail their hike. They aren't the only ones on the mountain and the locals advise that there is something eerie, almost supernatural, about the mountain.
TW/CW: drug use, drug abuse, death of a loved one, infidelity, animal death
This was one of those reads that has a pretty simple premise but absolutely used that premise to the max. Clarke does a fantastic job of taking everything I was expecting from a survival/suspense/thriller and adds in other aspects I didn't even know I wanted. We also get right to the main meat of the story of hiking this mountain pretty quickly. This is one of those books where if the premise doesn't sound interesting to you, I'd recommend you just pass on this one because there isn't a ton of extra plot outside of the events that take place on the mountain. I think the elements that Clarke added with the other threats the characters end up facing elevate this past what I was expecting, but even if this was just a straight up outdoor survival story, I would have enjoyed it.
Since we are following this group of friends, I enjoyed the decision to have this be multi-POV. However, since we are following 4 people, I felt the POV switching did get in the way a little bit of the character development. I didn't have enough time sitting in each character's head to be able to get a good sense of who they are. They are easy enough to tell apart because each friend falls into a stereotypical archetype (the party friend, the over-worried new mom, the midlife crisis one, the bossy one). I did like how we got to see the different friendship dynamics and what each person thought of the others at certain times during the book. However, I didn't feel like we got as much character depth as I would have personally liked. I can see, on paper, how the characters were changed by their experiences but I didn't quite feel those changes come through when reading.
The setting was spot on and had a nice blend of British domestic drama and stoic Nordic noir. When we find out about the rumored supernatural history of the mountain and of events that have taken place there, I was 1000% on board. I absolutely loved the little hints of folklore horror that we get and I would have loved even more of them. We get to see a whole spectrum of natural elements our characters have to overcome - everything from extreme weather to blisters. My favorite part of any sort of survival story is how the characters interact in a stressful environment that they aren't used to. There is no calling for an Uber or deciding halfway that they are done. So when the going gets tough, they have to stick together even when that's the last thing they want.
I was a little surprised at the mystery/thriller element that gets introduced around the halfway point. As I mentioned before, I would have been perfectly happy if this was a straight-up wilderness survival story. I do think this element increased the overall tension and helped the plot momentum. However, I wanted more of a build up. Going into this hike, there wasn't really anything out of the norm going on so neither I, nor the characters, were expecting anything of this magnitude. I wanted more hints that maybe something wasn't quite right in this area of Norway so that when the characters get to that point in the plot, it would start to come together a little earlier. I did like the solution to the mystery, but just wanted more of it spread throughout the book.
Overall, this was a fun read that paid off on the premise. I enjoyed our variety of characters and their battles against the elements as well as their own inner demons.
Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for the ARC. Expected publication date is August 29, 2023.
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