Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

54 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

h4e1bemily's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book actually broke my heart several times. 
The characters, setting, everything felt so real that it seemed like I was reading a memoir. Raw emotion, tension that turned the pages for me. I cried for, I hated, I loved each character. The ferocious beauty of the Alaskan wilderness cut through each page. It truly keeps only the strongest alive.
I dont want to spoil the story, but will say that domestic abuse is a main plotline, and it's honestly written. 
Not quite 5 stars because towards the end it did pass the point of believability for myself, but it is a novel, not memoir, I need to remember...still definitely worth the read. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is heavy. Please read content warnings before beginning this one. 

My experience reading Leni’s journey through adolescence and into adulthood was harrowing, shocking, revolting, and frustrating. I felt all of these things but I did care about all the people in Leni’s life

except for Ernt

, which kept me riveted, hoping for everyone to end up happy. Although I didn’t feel like I truly knew Leni as a person, the one thing I knew for certain was that she valued those she loved. This was her core belief throughout her story and the author does a fantastic job of making you care for those people as well. The amount of time you get to spend seeing Leni’s loved ones through her eyes makes every twist and turn absolutely heart-wrenching and fraught with emotion. This book was never boring and it’s one of those stories that, upon finishing, you will need to lie down and just contemplate for a bit, exhausted but satisfied. 

Read if you like emotional, terrifyingly believable stories about survival and family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Cancer

nc_unknown_user's review against another edition

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

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, War, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cancer, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, and Gore

Minor: Pregnancy

kspotts2010's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Medical trauma, Gore, Death of parent, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Cancer

Not Hannah’s best work. Very predicatable , frustrating and sappy,

sarwils's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Pregnancy, and Cancer

skyeeh523's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

I cried no less than five times :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Car accident, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit

jenneyrebecca's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.5

It’s hard to rate the pace of the book because it starts slow and then accelerated rapidly About halfway through.

Two faults: 1. the beginning feels hollow and cliche - a coming of age story about a gangly redhead whose always the new kid at school. (But this quickly evaporates into a compelling and beautiful family drama.) 2. There are a few plot points that feel like they happen only because the author needs them to do something (create tension, let time pass).

(like the move to Seattle and finding the newspaper clipping that prevents them from going home to Alaska, or Mama catching Leni calling Matthew and forbidding her from doing it, which keeps them in Seattle and ignorant of whether he’s recovered, and then when she returns, everyone almost says whether Matthew is conscious but still I hung in every word. Also what about the poor Seattle grandparents? We just leave them behind grieving the loss of their daughter while their granddaughter and great grandson immediately move away forever!

 

It has been a long time since I stayed up all night reading a book. I could NOT put it down. It absolutely hooked me with its themes of domestic abuse, mother-daughter trauma bonding, horrifying discoveries about one’s own parents … and with such a satisfying ending. There are people who would fault the book for not being dark enough, for plot points that aren’t cruel enough. Not me.

And the imagery was great! I have never been to Alaska but I felt I could imagine the town and the people vividly. Two of the heart-rending quotes that stopped and caught me will tell you precisely the core of what this book is about:

“You could always tell when Dad was gone. Everything was easier and more relaxed in his absence.”

“The baby’s minuscule fingers closed around hers. A searing, cleansing, enveloping love blew her heart into a million tiny pieces and reshaped it.”

They seem simple but went to the heart of what hooked me about this book - the felt sense of being in a household with an abusive man

(especially as the realization of it is a huge part of the first half of the book)

and the many mothers in the story learning and sharing what motherhood means.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Gore, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Rape

ameliag_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Jesus Christ that was sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Gore

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