Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - The Great Alone

I really enjoyed the first part of the book. It was a slow build, character driven, beautifully descriptive, and allowed me to have an evolving relationship with the characters as I got to know them. Then the last third of the book started moving at break neck speed and tossing out tragic plot points in order to wrench emotions out of the reader (it reminded me of This Is Us). If the ending had been pared down and slowed it, it would have been much more satisfying.

I also felt this was a good setting for more native representation, but with Large Marge’s character coming dangerously close to the magical negro / mammy trope, it’s probably best they were minimally included.

Ultimately, I’ll hold on to my love for the beginning and give more books by Hannah a try, but unlikely to recommend.

Content Warnings

blkbookbae's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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atlas_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was beautifully written and it’s one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again. It broke my heart and gave me hope all within its pages.

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theleppy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

1.0

What I liked: The descriptions of Alaska.

What I didn't like:

The characters: I liked a grand total of 2 characters in this book. Thelma who maybe has 4 lines in the whole book but she delivered the only satisfying moment: Telling Ernt he's fucking insane and telling him she wants nothing to do with him. (I cheered!) and Large Marge because she also kept pointing out how shitty Ernt is. Large Marge's sole purpose in the book seems to be to bail out Leni and Cora though.
Speaking of Leni, our main character: I didn't really feel attached to her and by the 2nd half of the book when she was 18 I was just annoyed with her terrible decisions. I felt like she was constantly being bailed out by others. She had potential to grow and be tough but instead it's Large Marge bailing her out or Matthew or Matthew's dad and then her grandparents. In the first part of the book they repeat the "you only make 1 mistake in Alaska because the 2nd one will kill you" and yet she completely loses her head over her boyfriend and does stupid thing after stupid thing with no consequence to her self except stupidly getting pregnant.

Plot:

I guessed immediately (within the first 30pages) that Leni and/or Cora was going to kill Ernt. It was so obvious I kept hoping it wouldn't happen or if it did that it would be premeditated because doing it to protect one another during a violent beating was TOO OBVIOUS. Then it happens exactly as expected and I rolled my eyes and groaned. I'm really annoyed to with how 2 characters imply multiple times that they could easily make Ernt "disappear" with no consequence but that doesn't happen. Instead it's Cora and Leni super suspiciously running off and assuming fake identities.

The painfully predictable Romeo and Juliet romance plot I guessed would happen the moment Matthew was introduced had me so *mad*. Leni questions things at 14 about her parents and love and that felt like it comes to nothing because she chucks all reason out the window for Matthew. Break the freaking cycle! I thought this would be a book of home and environmental dangers that forges a girl into a tough woman who breaks the family trauma cycle and survived to be tough and happy. Instead it was just what? trauma and drama for nothing. She gets knocked up the first time she has sex with her boyfriend days before they will be off at college together because the book needed to be as melodramatic as possible BUT WAIT IT GETS WORSE! They run away into a super dangerous area and uuugg it unfolds exactly as you think it will...

I'm also frustrated because her dad Ernt is a former POW and has severe PTSD and it is used as a huge excuse for his deplorable behavior and there needed to be a contrast to show that his deplorable behavior isn't what happens to all people with that past. Ernt was a freaking terrible person before the war anyway He got a 16 year old Cora pregnant when he was 25 and manipulated her away from her parents, married her and then chose to go to war and leave them (the book explicitly states he SIGNED UP). I have no sympathy for him. He would have still been a jealous alcoholic who beats his wife and daughter regardless of his POW past and PTSD.

How is this book considered historical? Aside from Ernt being a veteran of Vietnam and a brief mention of stereotypical 70s clothing I feel like the time period it takes place in had no importance to the plot. It's not like it being the 70s was a reason for Cora not divorcing Ernt because divorce happened then and besides another character is divorced in the novel. So why is this considered historical?

Oh and I was livid with the trash that happens at the end with her mom dying of cancer and writing and notarizing a freaking murder confession only for that to not actually bail Leni out because again Leni makes a stupid decision and even that ends up not mattering because surprise surprise she gets bailed out *again* (for like the 5th or 6th time) by Matthew's rich dad. What was the point? to get Leni and a now crippled Matthew together? She could of just called, she has a good reason like you know their child she kept from him for years.

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danileah07's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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