Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Great Alone

🌬️Kristin Hannah's first book brought me to tears. This one was no different. There is so mucy heartbreak and tragedy; just when you think the plot is nearing happiness and peace, it drags you back, to torment you all over again. There is a mix of lovable and unlovable characters, which drive the elements of suspense and uncertainty throughout the plot.

🌬️This book has two love stories — one of two hopeful teenagers who desired a peaceful and happy life together; and one of a mother who has made many mistakes and loves her husband irrevocably and her daughter who wonders why. These two narratives are strongly laced —revolving around the complexities and toxicity of certain families, caused by circumstance, hardship and poor life altering decisions.

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cheechica's review against another edition

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Having grown up afraid of a parent, I found this book to be too triggering. It was also somewhat therapeutic to hear Leni work through the abuse, but I didn't have the extra capacity to be on edge after reading right now in my life.

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randeerebecca's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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showingshelflove's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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claudiahsa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

The best book I’ve read in a long, long time - maybe ever. I picked this up because it was recommended for fans of Where The Crawdads Sing, and because of its setting in the Alaskan wilderness in the 70s/ 80s - I wanted something wild, emotional and gritty and this absolutely did not disappoint. For me, this was a story of brutality, survival and connection; of family, community and remoteness. A story where those closest to you could give you the world and take it from you just as easily, in the same way that Alaska herself could. A subsistence life, in terms of both land and love - but everyone knows that you can only reap from a fertile land.

I’ll admit that I’m an emotional person but even I was surprised when I kept crying as I wrote down all my favourite quotes in my reading journal. This book dealt with such difficult topics so please read the content warnings in case any might impact you. There were so many harrowing moments and such a deep dissection of family relationships (between spouses, parents and children, found family) and how far we’re willing to go to protect or hold on to the ones we love, but in balance this book brimmed with love and beauty and hope.

There are some absolutely deplorable characters in this book, and Kristin Hannah did such an incredible job at making them dimensional and complex, giving insight into their behaviour without excusing it - in fact depicting the conflicts felt by other characters having to excuse behaviours. This is a really difficult thing to capture but she does it, excellently. There were definitely moments when I completely lost respect for certain characters I had been routing for, who I loved and whose relationships I loved but who kept failing themselves and others by being apologists. It became so rewarding to see these same characters development across their stories.

When Cora finally said ‘Not my Leni’- MASTERPIECE. I’d so completely lost faith as I’m sure Leni had by that point, feeling stuck in her mothers choice to stand by this man, which I was so sad about because at the same time I absolutely loved the depth of their mother daughter relationship, that this moment of Cora surprising us all and liberating them both HIT.

I loved how the book introduced and reintroduced how strong the bond can be between parent and child, viewed from the perspective of 13 year old, 18 year old and 25 year old Leni and well into her own experience with parenthood. The “Peas in a pod. Two of a kind” quote will forever live in my heart - especially the way it was woven in at the end, which was such a beautiful and full circle moment. In this way the relationship that stood out for me was Leni’s with her mother.

Having said this I did also love love love the romance storyline, and how it developed from friendship as the characters came of age, supporting each other throughout their continued hardships

It was such lovely closure to see them becoming parents despite everything, and how their situation shed light for Leni as to why, in concept, her mother would have in love stood by his father after he came back from the war changed - I was just so glad for Leni that none of the toxicity came with it

. I also thought the community dynamics in Kaneq were done beautifully. Large Marge and Tom Walker in particular were so vividly created and felt so safe and strong and solid which was so needed as a reader when other characters were so turbulent. I even loved how some characters were purposefully left somewhat as an unknown, but still managed to feel like a familiar and comfortable presence in sharing love for the same people of Leni and sharing identity and values and motives in growing up in Alaska, which is what community is all about.

Finally, the way that Alaska itself is described makes me want to lean right into my outdoorsy side, sell all my things and go camping! Yes long winters and blistering cold and treacherous mistakes, but also spring break up, summer salmon runs, northern lights and starry skies - while foreboding, all of it sounds immense and magical, and so completely pulled me into the world of Kaneq while reading this book.

No notes - excellent world building, story telling and character journeys. I’ll definitely be reading more books by Kristin Hannah!

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