Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Great Alone

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

244 reviews

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

Content Warnings

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!

Content Warnings

allisonkelly626's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

camjennings's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

crazybooklady91's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

rosecott's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

Beautiful, heartbreaking, devastating, incredible! Surprised me so many times! The main character was wonderful, as was the scene setting of Alaska. The kind of book that just lives in you. A story about absolutely unconditional love.
Highly recommend but warn that your heart will be ripped out and stomped on before the end!!!
I listened to the audio book which was brilliant but this is one I am sure I would have been equally as enthralled by the physical book.

Content Warnings

andrearbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Goodness. I knew this was going to be an emotional journey/read, and it was even more feels than expected. It was a beautifully written book, and it absolutely gutted me. It was a heavy read, but also a captivating one. It's one that's just going to stay with me for a long while.

Content Warnings