Book Review: Hikers-Part One

**I received a free copy of this book from the author to review. Anyways, skip on to the review now.**

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Hikers: Part One/Power is by Lauren Alego, who I met over on that wonderful site called Goodreads. I kinda forget how it really all went down, but I know she sent me a .mobi file with the book when I said I would review it, and then I started reading the book.

It started off kind of slowly, but soon enough the pace picked up and I loved how everything went down by the end. Not only that, but the whole idea of “hikers” is so unique and fantastic, it just blows my mind. (Author Jealousy Moment: I wish I was that creative with ideas for novels. Laugh out loud, smiley face.)

A little background information: “hikers” are these people who can get inside your brain and whisper thoughts to you, basically. Seems pretty harmless, right? Well, these bad boys/girls are very influential. They like control your mind. It’s awesome. And freaky. And if I ever encounter one Ms. Alego is gonna get an earful from me (kidding kidding).

 You can buy this book here on Amazon, or you can check out some (very flattering) reviews on Goodreads. 

Now read on to see what I thought of it.

WHAT I LIKED:

• Difficulty

Oh, Lauren Alego, how in the heck did you write this book?

This is the second book ever that I’ve read and thought, “Wow. That’d be so hard to write.” The other was the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini. (Great read, that.)

This book -what with the world-building, the whole premise of hikers, and the thinking up of ways to kill people- would be incredibly difficult to write. A novel, in and of itself, is hard to write, as I’ve learned many, many times with failed works. This, even more so, would be impossible for me to go about and finish, so I salute to Alego in that regard.

• Chapter 34

The best chapter, by far, was Chapter 34. It was the first time you really saw inside the hikers’ organization and understood everything. You saw the Grand (lead hiker), how the hikers had different levels of working, and just all sorts of things about how they managed. It was really thrilling and I read through that chapter in a jiffy. Giffy? Ghiffy?

• Interesting

So, with 1/3 of this book left, I had a nice bout of insomnia and decided to go ahead and finish the thing.

For, like, an hour I went through and read the last 30ish % and I was never bored. Not. Once. It was great. I loved the ending and was about to buy the second book, right there, on the spot, but then decided I should wait and write this review first.

Don’t worry. I’m gonna buy the second book.

• BONUS: This Quote

“Most people on the ledge of a tall building were not afraid they’d fall; they were afraid they’d jump.”

GENIUS!! GO BUY IT NOW!! PUT THIS ON A FREAKING MEME!!**

**Note from the future, 2024–Fundamental misunderstanding of memes. Do better, 14-year-old Kummer.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

• P.O.V. Changes Could Be Confusing

Sometimes, in a book, the point of view will change. If you didn’t know that, you might not read enough books.

Anyways, that can be a great thing. It can keep the story fresh, and exciting, and show us new people. And, for the most part, that was wonderful in this book. But a few times the P.O.V. would change very quickly and leave me re-reading sections to get a better feel for what was going on.

Now, this never happened in important, emotional moments so that’s a good thing. That would really ruin said important, emotional moments.

• The Big Revelation Isn’t Very Exciting

So, like 60 % through the book there is a big revelation that finally answers a main question: What are Hikers?

They’ve theorized, by that point, that the hikers are their own breed, or a mix of breeds, or are just humans with like some special mind stuff. They finally find out what the answer is, and it’s not really all that it’s prepped up to be.

• -logues

Oh, the -logues. The dialogues and monologues. Oh, the -louges. (I’m in a very dramatic mood today, clearly. It’s March Madness Fever, I tell ya.)

Like many books I’ve read, there are a lot of times when characters have mini-speeches or are talking to themselves in their mind. Like, the author will describe what they’re thinking and stuff with lots of imagery. And while this does have its place in literature, I’m not too fond of it in Thrillers and Adventure stories.

That said, this book isn’t nearly as bad with them as some other books. They don’t really take anything away from the story.

MY RATING: 8.5/10

Lauren Alego really has something special with the series. It’s a shame that it’s not on the Bestsellers list or something. This is genuinely something that could be made into a movie, and then I’d go see that movie. It’s fantastic, thrilling, breathtaking, and a passionate piece of work. I HIGHLY recommend you go buy it, or at least get a sample. Again, here’s the link:

BUY HERE.