The Great Alone

I've always had a fascination with Alaska. It's always seemed like the most expansive wilderness that's still mostly untamed. That would be even more true back in 1974 where this book takes place. I'm that wild setting, The Great Alone ties together enough different storylines, all from the same household, that you feel connected to their lives, their fears and their dreams. This had similarities to Educated, but with more tears, less fundamentalism and equal amounts of fear that the government is out to get you.

The Allbrights move to Alaska and they are painfully unprepared. After returning from the war (Vietnam) Ernt is full of big dreams and ideas, that never really go as planned. Alaska is full of dreams and dangers. But what happens when the danger is inside your house.

I love this book. It's going to be hard to find a book to top this for me this year. Definitely a 5 star read.

This book left me breathless. The descriptions of the wilderness and the struggle the main character endured were beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I was in tears and one point and 5 pages later ready to throw my phone across the room I was so mad. I can see why this book is highly recommended-the writing stays with you for a long time. I'll be thinking and turning this book over for a while.

I was so excited to read The Great Alone after devouring The Nightingale but unfortunately it wasn't as compelling. That being said, the way Kristin Hannah described Alaska was incredibly moving and that is what bumped my rating from a 2.5 to a 3. But when I found myself wanting more pages detailing the landscape than I did detailing the characters I knew that there was something missing for me. It's a good but not great read.

Kristin Hannah - the queen of emotional manipulation - has done it again. I cried. Congratulations Ms Hannah on making me feel the feelings. I was going to give this 5 stars, but then it went on... and on.. and then it went on some more. There was a perfect ending to this novel and it should have stopped there. But all in all a lovely story with big heart.

I really enjoyed this book but I lost all interest at the court and trial nonsense. Just felt like Kristin Hannah wanted to toot her own horn but nothing is more annoying than a character in a book admitting all their wrong doings to a cop and then being like “oh no, I needed a lawyer didn't I?!” like I know people are that goddamn stupid but it really irks me to have to read about it especially when this book was going in such a strong direction prior to the last quarter.

I've always had a fascination with Alaska. It's always seemed like the most expansive wilderness that's still mostly untamed. That would be even more true back in 1974 where this book takes place. I'm that wild setting, The Great Alone ties together enough different storylines, all from the same household, that you feel connected to their lives, their fears and their dreams. This had similarities to Educated, but with more tears, less fundamentalism and equal amounts of fear that the government is out to get you.

This book completely took over my life. For the first couple of chapters I couldn't tell where the story was going and wasn't sure if I would enjoy it so I decided to shelve it for a while. Three days ago I decided to pick it up, only about 50 pages and let me just say I fell in love. It was so good. The characters seemed so real and the relationships, though not always good, seemed so realistic that it felt like I was reading someone's memoir. The best part for me though was the beautiful descriptions of Alaska, I honestly could visualize the scenery. My next read by Kristin Hannah will definitely be The Nightingale

MMM like I loved all the Alaskan survivalist details, and the escalating tension with Lena's PTSD-afflicted, violent father was really well-rendered.

But around the back third it got a little like...too dramatic in a way that didn't quite match the beginning of the story?

like I get that she'd been telling us and telling us how dangerous Alaska is, so the fall on the rocks makes sense, but then everything with the murder and fake identities and then Lena's dumb confession and subsequent immediate freedom from consequences was like.........a little too soap operatic for the more grounded rest of the book?And a little preachy about women's rights/domestic violence etc but like, sure, I'm in favor of that. Of women's rights I mean. Not domestic violence. You know what I mean.

But like still I couldn't put it down and cried a bunch, so.

13 year old Leni, her PTSD-plagued vietnam-vet father, and her mother who can't stop loving her abusive husband - move to Alaska for a new start. We learn about the harshness of living in Alaksa, a lot of drama with the dad ensues, and Leni finds love. First I was all charmed by this book, as I love stories about living in deserted tough places, the storytelling was fast and engaging, and the father's outbursts and his paranoid survivalist nature gave the whole thing the touch of a milder version of [b:My Absolute Darling 33572350 My Absolute Darling Gabriel Tallent https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498911183s/33572350.jpg 54375969]. But somewhere around the middle everything just become too predictable and was missing a layer of depth for my taste. And then the ending was straight from a Hollywood tearjerker.

THIS TOOK ME OVER A MONTH TO READ but im so glad i finally did. love this book, its ingrained into my brain and i think abt it all the time. this book was so well written in my opinion, the characters felt very real and the descriptions of alaska and winter and survival will never leave my brain. theres so many amazing lines about motherhood, justice for women and family dynamics and i couldnt stop annotating. it was hard to read at times and dats also why it took me so long to finish coz i needed breaks but i love this book anyways.

Do not read this book. . . unless you have the time to read it straight through (all 545 glorious pages), because you won't be able to put it down. Seriously.

I was captivated from the get-go. I've tried to go back and figure out why because I'm an author myself and I want to give my readers this same experience. Maybe it was the time (1974), maybe the main character (Leni, 13)) or maybe her untenable situation (child of an abusive couple.) Truly, every turn and twist in this book was pretty much dictated by the crazed, Vietnam vet dad. Even after he was out of the picture.

Another character that needs to be mentioned is the setting. Alaska. And the quirky folks that state attracts—including a man who married a goose. This goes beyond color. Also, the whole idea of months of darkness and the pressure it applies to human behavior gives twists and turns to the book that couldn't happen anywhere else.

If there was a bad spot, I sort of guessed the ending. But even that was worth reading for the masterful way Kristin Hannah tells a story. On to her next book.