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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
oh matthew <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Beautiful and harrowing—I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning crying over this book. Alaska and its people breathe so distinctly in this story of pain, love, joy, unbearable grief, resilience, and community. A lot of people gripe about the characters’ follies and that they routinely make poor choices—which is entirely the point. The book does a fantastic job in deconstructing and portraying the often disappointing reality of victims of domestic violence, PTSD, etc. An absolutely, spectacular story.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-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:
Complicated
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a really tough read. All of Kristin Hannah's books have been hard in their own way, but for some reason, this one was particularly dark for me. For one, the setting was very bleak. Alaska sounds absolutely beautiful. At the same time, it's incredibly dangerous and at times really felt like the characters were just trying to survive. They spent like 9-10 months out of the year preparing for winter. That type of life is just so different from everything I know that I was simultaneously fascinated, terrified, and in awe. The women and men who thrive in Kaneq are truly amazing and inspiring. Kaneq sounded like the best town to live in if you chose to live in such a harsh climate. The town community was just so heartwarming. They bring humanity and warmth to a very dark plot.
Unfortunately for Kaneq, Ernt Allbright comes to town. It was actually kind of fascinating to watch him decline. Untreated mental illness is terrifying. Ernt's PTSD and other trauma was actually really sad to witness, and not just because of how it affects him, but also how it has a ripple effect on his family and the town. I think it's mentioned that he's been abusive towards Cora, even before Leni knew, but it was unclear if he was abusive before he went to Vietnam or not. It doesn't really matter, but I think if one of the main themes is vets' (and particular POW's) struggles to reintegrate into society, exploring how their mental health declines and the implications of that is extremely important. I think for a while, I really could sympathize with Ernt. I totally understood his unhappiness and self-righteousness over how unjust the world is towards Vietnam vets and not liking that money awarded Jim Walker so much more privilege than he ever had. The problem was when he became entitled; he was conspiring with Crazy Earl, and then he started acting on his paranoia and making Leni and Cora suffer because of his choices. He became a dangerous, entitled menace to the town. I knew his abuse was not going to stop because abuse almost never stops when it's unchecked. Even when it is checked, it still might persist. In the mid 1970's and even '80's, abused women basically had no systemic, legal support. Jim Walker and Large Marge were hidden gems among the community. I actually did wonder if Cora and Jim would get together at some point after Ernt died. Ernt's paranoia, alcoholism, and sense that he was losing control was a dangerous combination. It actually is such a tragedy that there weren't any mental health resources for Ernt. But even if there were, I doubt Ernt would've gone. He could acknowledge what he was doing was wrong, but probably would've balked at anyone intervening to enforce change. He clearly had issues with authority and felt like the whole world was falling apart/everyone was out to get him. I'm not going to lie, I actually thought Matthew might've been the one to kill him or Ernt would just die by accident because they reiterated how unforgiving their environment was. The fact that Ernt drank so much, I'm honestly surprised he didn't kill himself while driving or misstep (like Matthew's mother). I don't think I expected Cora to be the one to kill him because she was just so devoted and emotionally chained to him. It's clear Ernt underestimated how much Cora loved Leni. I think if he hadn't turned his abuse towards her, he would've continued on without Cora's intervention.
There were a few things in this book that really frustrated me. They're not related to writing mechanics, just more frustrations with the characters (even though their actions are totally understandable). I have a much better understanding of battered woman's syndrome at this point, and I still got frustrated on Leni's behalf with Cora. It's clear Cora loved Leni, but was also terrified of Ernt. I didn't 100% understand why she couldn't trust Jim Walker and Large Marge to protect her adequately. I feel like they demonstrated multiple times that they could stand toe to toe with Ernt. However, the sheer fear she felt towards Ernt overruled her good judgment. Ernt terrorized them. Their hyper-vigilence was so hard to watch. No matter what they did, Ernt always ended up upset. At one point late into the book, Cora says "we'll just have to be more careful" I wanted to throttle her and say "you've tried that and it's not working", and finally Leni pushes back and tells her mom that tiptoeing around Ernt isn't protecting them at all.
The other times I got frustrated were with Leni. When her parents leave town for the day and she sneaks Matthew onto her family's property, we all knew it was a bad decision. She was selfish and took an unnecessary risk. At that point, Leni wouldn't have suffered the consequences, but Cora would've for being an accessory (in Ernt's eyes). When Leni calls for help when trying to escape...I actually smacked my forehead with my hand. Like. what the hell girl. How...I just don't understand how she made such a huge mistake. I can chalk it up to desperation? But it was just so weird/out of left field. Also, when she doesn't understand that helping her mother dispose of Ernt's body would implicate her -- that was way more understandable of a mistake, but the fact that her naiveté screwed them over was just...annoying. And lastly, when Leni writes down her confession as an accessory to murder at the end. EVERYONE told her don't do it, say as little as possible. And what does she do? She allows herself to be outsmarted (at least that's how she explains it to Jim Walker). I feel like she had really good legal advice from Marge and her grandfather and just totally disregarded it. You would've thought she would've learned from her experience with making the mistake of helping her mother hide Ernt's body. Like...she wasn't outsmarted, she just didn't listen. I think in some ways, the reason why these incidents frustrate me is that Leni does seem like a smart, resourceful young woman. So these blunders just seemed really out of character. Also the fact that she fucks up at the police station then it's immediately fixed. What was the point of even including that? I suppose Kristin wanted to emphasize again that the system is just messed up. Money buys freedom, women are kind of just screwed over if they're unlucky. Regardless, I guess those instances of stupidity (sorry...) just really ground my gears, and it made it hard for me to really love Leni fully as a FMC. I know she was dealt an absolute shit hand and I really shouldn't judge her, but nevertheless, I couldn't help feeling frustrated with her. I do think that Leni as a protagonist challenged my perspective in ways that FMC's I generally organically like more don't.
Leni and Matthew's love story was tragic. When she felt hopeless after his accident, I could feel it so palpably. His family's compassion for Leni was unparalleled. I don't think she should've beat herself up for the accident, it was really Ernt's fault for putting them into that position to begin with. I was so sad for them. It just felt like nothing broke their way. I'm glad he recovered as much as he did and could have a relationship with his family and son. I kind of wish we could've seen more between them as adults. But again, this is very Kristin Hannah -- she seems to really like depicting relationships where two people (or more) have the potential to have a great love story, but tragedy separates them and they might reunite at the end, but it's usually for a short period of time and it's usually under really sad circumstances. (This explicitly occurred in The Women and The Nightingale)
OMG and also when Cora and Leni get back to their cabin to find Ernt there because Cora wouldn't press charges. Like I wasn't surprised but I was like "ok here we go again...". The Walker family had experienced so much pain and loss already (Matthew and Ali's mother died in an accident, and Matthew saw it happen). The fact that Matthew pays a huge price for Ernt's actions just felt so unfair. I know that sounds juvenile, but it really didn't feel like Ernt was ever properly punished; even when Cora kills him, it just felt too easy, in a way. I honestly wasn't expecting Matthew to heal more than he did the last time Leni sees him before escaping from Alaska post-self-defense murder. (I also don't understand why Cora couldn't have said that she was protecting Leni. I know the law was cruel to abused spouses, but I don't understand why she couldn't have said she was protecting her daughter and Leni/the rest of the town backed that up. Marge and Cora just seemed to think no one would see Cora as the victim.) I also just knew Leni would end up pregnant. There was no discussion of sexual education or birth control being used. I don't know if again it was their naivete or what, but I saw that coming.
When Leni and Cora go back to Cora's parents, I actually really loved that part of the book. The fact that Cora's parents embrace Leni, Cora, and the unborn baby so readily was just really heartwarming. It was actually a really welcome reprieve from the bleak, depressing, traumatizing Kaneq. Cora and Leni really needed a change of scenery. They also deserved to be taken care of, which Cora's parents do. It was clear Leni wasn't truly happy in Seattle, but it was what they needed. I was really sad on their behalf that they had to say goodbye to Kaneq so suddenly. While problematic, I loved the depiction of Cora and Leni's relationship. Part of me was so thankful Cora had such a devoted daughter, part of me was frustrated that Cora allowed Leni to grow up in such an abusive environment, especially later when everyone is telling Cora to leave Ernt and she just won't. And part of me was frustrated that Leni wouldn't escape herself. And yet, I also understood it all. Cora's hands were tied. She was in such a vulnerable situation and Ernt abused it. She was offered help and just...idk she wouldn't take it. She said she didn't want to endanger anyone else -- her self-worth was in the gutter. And I know that's really common with battered and abused women (survivors in general, I think). But I still got really frustrated that she couldn't make a decision in Leni's best interest. That all said, the relationship between Cora and Leni was really sweet. Leni refuses to leave Cora/let Cora take the fall for both of them, and I think ultimately, they repaired their relationship while in Seattle, and Cora repaired her relationship with her parents, and that was really great and I was really happy for all of them. I kind of had a feeling Cora was going to die. Just based on other Kristin Hannah books and the fact that Cora was always depicted smoking/chain smoking. My heart broke for Cora's parents, and I was also sad for them when Leni leaves Seattle to return to Kaneq. Part of me was hoping there would be some mention of a continued relationship between them since the grandparents were so supportive of Cora and Leni after they escaped Alaska.
Anyways, this was still a really good read. It wasn't my favorite, but I got what I expected from another one of Kristin Hannah's books. I think I was expecting to bawl my eyes out like I have with most if not all of Hannah's other books. And some of the frustrations I had (mentioned above) got in the way of my fully connecting and sympathizing with the characters.
There were a few things in this book that really frustrated me. They're not related to writing mechanics, just more frustrations with the characters (even though their actions are totally understandable). I have a much better understanding of battered woman's syndrome at this point, and I still got frustrated on Leni's behalf with Cora. It's clear Cora loved Leni, but was also terrified of Ernt. I didn't 100% understand why she couldn't trust Jim Walker and Large Marge to protect her adequately. I feel like they demonstrated multiple times that they could stand toe to toe with Ernt. However, the sheer fear she felt towards Ernt overruled her good judgment. Ernt terrorized them. Their hyper-vigilence was so hard to watch. No matter what they did, Ernt always ended up upset. At one point late into the book, Cora says "we'll just have to be more careful" I wanted to throttle her and say "you've tried that and it's not working", and finally Leni pushes back and tells her mom that tiptoeing around Ernt isn't protecting them at all.
The other times I got frustrated were with Leni. When her parents leave town for the day and she sneaks Matthew onto her family's property, we all knew it was a bad decision. She was selfish and took an unnecessary risk. At that point, Leni wouldn't have suffered the consequences, but Cora would've for being an accessory (in Ernt's eyes). When Leni calls for help when trying to escape...I actually smacked my forehead with my hand. Like. what the hell girl. How...I just don't understand how she made such a huge mistake. I can chalk it up to desperation? But it was just so weird/out of left field. Also, when she doesn't understand that helping her mother dispose of Ernt's body would implicate her -- that was way more understandable of a mistake, but the fact that her naiveté screwed them over was just...annoying. And lastly, when Leni writes down her confession as an accessory to murder at the end. EVERYONE told her don't do it, say as little as possible. And what does she do? She allows herself to be outsmarted (at least that's how she explains it to Jim Walker). I feel like she had really good legal advice from Marge and her grandfather and just totally disregarded it. You would've thought she would've learned from her experience with making the mistake of helping her mother hide Ernt's body. Like...she wasn't outsmarted, she just didn't listen. I think in some ways, the reason why these incidents frustrate me is that Leni does seem like a smart, resourceful young woman. So these blunders just seemed really out of character. Also the fact that she fucks up at the police station then it's immediately fixed. What was the point of even including that? I suppose Kristin wanted to emphasize again that the system is just messed up. Money buys freedom, women are kind of just screwed over if they're unlucky. Regardless, I guess those instances of stupidity (sorry...) just really ground my gears, and it made it hard for me to really love Leni fully as a FMC. I know she was dealt an absolute shit hand and I really shouldn't judge her, but nevertheless, I couldn't help feeling frustrated with her. I do think that Leni as a protagonist challenged my perspective in ways that FMC's I generally organically like more don't.
Leni and Matthew's love story was tragic. When she felt hopeless after his accident, I could feel it so palpably. His family's compassion for Leni was unparalleled. I don't think she should've beat herself up for the accident, it was really Ernt's fault for putting them into that position to begin with. I was so sad for them. It just felt like nothing broke their way. I'm glad he recovered as much as he did and could have a relationship with his family and son. I kind of wish we could've seen more between them as adults. But again, this is very Kristin Hannah -- she seems to really like depicting relationships where two people (or more) have the potential to have a great love story, but tragedy separates them and they might reunite at the end, but it's usually for a short period of time and it's usually under really sad circumstances. (This explicitly occurred in The Women and The Nightingale)
OMG and also when Cora and Leni get back to their cabin to find Ernt there because Cora wouldn't press charges. Like I wasn't surprised but I was like "ok here we go again...". The Walker family had experienced so much pain and loss already (Matthew and Ali's mother died in an accident, and Matthew saw it happen). The fact that Matthew pays a huge price for Ernt's actions just felt so unfair. I know that sounds juvenile, but it really didn't feel like Ernt was ever properly punished; even when Cora kills him, it just felt too easy, in a way. I honestly wasn't expecting Matthew to heal more than he did the last time Leni sees him before escaping from Alaska post-self-defense murder. (I also don't understand why Cora couldn't have said that she was protecting Leni. I know the law was cruel to abused spouses, but I don't understand why she couldn't have said she was protecting her daughter and Leni/the rest of the town backed that up. Marge and Cora just seemed to think no one would see Cora as the victim.) I also just knew Leni would end up pregnant. There was no discussion of sexual education or birth control being used. I don't know if again it was their naivete or what, but I saw that coming.
When Leni and Cora go back to Cora's parents, I actually really loved that part of the book. The fact that Cora's parents embrace Leni, Cora, and the unborn baby so readily was just really heartwarming. It was actually a really welcome reprieve from the bleak, depressing, traumatizing Kaneq. Cora and Leni really needed a change of scenery. They also deserved to be taken care of, which Cora's parents do. It was clear Leni wasn't truly happy in Seattle, but it was what they needed. I was really sad on their behalf that they had to say goodbye to Kaneq so suddenly. While problematic, I loved the depiction of Cora and Leni's relationship. Part of me was so thankful Cora had such a devoted daughter, part of me was frustrated that Cora allowed Leni to grow up in such an abusive environment, especially later when everyone is telling Cora to leave Ernt and she just won't. And part of me was frustrated that Leni wouldn't escape herself. And yet, I also understood it all. Cora's hands were tied. She was in such a vulnerable situation and Ernt abused it. She was offered help and just...idk she wouldn't take it. She said she didn't want to endanger anyone else -- her self-worth was in the gutter. And I know that's really common with battered and abused women (survivors in general, I think). But I still got really frustrated that she couldn't make a decision in Leni's best interest. That all said, the relationship between Cora and Leni was really sweet. Leni refuses to leave Cora/let Cora take the fall for both of them, and I think ultimately, they repaired their relationship while in Seattle, and Cora repaired her relationship with her parents, and that was really great and I was really happy for all of them. I kind of had a feeling Cora was going to die. Just based on other Kristin Hannah books and the fact that Cora was always depicted smoking/chain smoking. My heart broke for Cora's parents, and I was also sad for them when Leni leaves Seattle to return to Kaneq. Part of me was hoping there would be some mention of a continued relationship between them since the grandparents were so supportive of Cora and Leni after they escaped Alaska.
Anyways, this was still a really good read. It wasn't my favorite, but I got what I expected from another one of Kristin Hannah's books. I think I was expecting to bawl my eyes out like I have with most if not all of Hannah's other books. And some of the frustrations I had (mentioned above) got in the way of my fully connecting and sympathizing with the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
Moderate: War
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced