Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

5 reviews

kmack79's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

I absolutely enjoyed this book! It was mainly in Leni's perspective, a 13 yr old girl pulled to Alaska when her father came back from being a POW in the Vietnam War, and he came back a very different person! Leni and her mother walk on eggshells to try to keep him happy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, War, and Child abuse

pagesinthesnow's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Gore, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, and Cancer

Moderate: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Cursing, Animal death, Car accident, and Child abuse

Minor: Vomit, Misogyny, Classism, and Fatphobia

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, War, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Physical abuse

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

 

So, I accidentally joined five book clubs this year. Three are with various friends and two from Instagram and Tiktok--but five clubs are nothing I can't handle. One that's meeting this very weekend (which I'm admittedly nervous for since I don't know everyone) is reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. This book was already on my to-read list so this sped up my process of actually getting it from the library. 

Kristin Hannah is an iconic author, and though this was my first book I read by her, she is famed for other works like The Nightingale and The Four Winds. Originally a lawyer in the Pacific Northwest, her works as an author have made this a much more popular career choice! 

The Great Alonefollows the Albright family through the eyes of the 13 year old girl, Leni, as they move from Seattle to the wilds of Alaska. While some of this coming-of-age historical fiction is about their learning of survival in the wilds known as The Great Alone, the real survival is the lonliness of surviving domestic violence and being silenced by the father, Ernt Albright, a Vietnam POW veteran. 

The biggest tip to reading this book I'd say is have tissues close by and be prepared to cry. Good thing I like sad things and am no stranger to tears...  

Through the tears and trauma, themes become present and clearer. I'd say the biggest theme comes from the title, The Great Alone. Though this nickname comes from a Robert Service poem and refers to the solitude of the Alaskan wilderness, the book actually uses it as a metaphor for lonliness that comes from a violent father and surviving a trauma that teaches you to be silent and fear love. Other themes feed into this bigger one, like grief, isolation, PTSD, and the meaning of community. 

The characters are also multifaceted. Leni and her parents, Cora and Ernt, are at the forefront of the novel, but their allies and (in Ern't case) enemies also help paint the novel. Some of my favorites are Matthew and Tom Walker, who show us what real men look like compared to Ernt, and Large Marge, an outspoken, often comedic, but always loyal friend. 

Probably the most beautiful and breathtaking part of this novel is the descriptions. Hannah depicts a beautiful and dangerous Alaska, never failing to show us the environments in which Leni finds herself. I also admire the symbolism, particularly of cracking ice in the Alaskan winter. There are many times when there is danger on thin ice--literally--in the novel, but walking around Ernt and his temper is also thin ice. I lost track of the times when Cora warns her daughter to "be extra careful" around him. 

My one criticism of this book is the danger of portraying those suffering from PTSD as violent. While there are certainly those who do become violent, I think portraying this can further stigmatize mental illness and shame those who are suffering. Also, this book is just so sad--definitley not a book for an escapism. 

Overall, I'd give this book four stars. I'd recommend it to those who like sad stories, who want to learn more about survivng trauma or living in the Pacific Northwest, and those interested in more recent historical fiction. 

Check out this link for Kristin Hannah's book club discussion questions on this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Pregnancy, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Vomit and War

leweylibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

It reminds me of Outlander but way, way faster paced!

Quotes I Like:

• Now Leni was old enough to know that like all fairy tales, there's was filled with tickets and dark places and broken dreams, and runaway girls. (23)
• Leni thought maybe he would haunt her. Not just him, but the idea of him, the sad and scary truth that you could love and hate to the same person at the same time, that you could feel a deep and abiding loss and shame for your own weakness and still be glad that this awful thing had been done. (414)
• If you've learned anything from your mother and what happened, it should be this: life--and the law--It's hard on women. Sometimes doing the right thing is no help at all. (496)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and War