The Great Alone
Ratings277
Average rating4.1
This is the best book about domestic abuse I read! A true psychological thriller. The author is brutally honest about depicting the characters. None of them us depicted as a 'saint', or a 'monster'. This makes the whole story deeer and scarier.
A great story that really explains to me (an outsider) some of the sayings people have about Alaska living. I really loved the amount of thought and time that went into the resolutions after the main conflict completed.
I had tears a few times, and leapt up a couple others. Incredibly moving story.
Es un libro con mucho drama, no es una historia feliz pero explica muy bien como era la vida en Alaska en los años 70s.
Parece como si vivieras allí.
Well I ended up binging this in 2 days. As usual for Kristin Hannah books, this was great. Such good writing - I loved this book, however maybe not as much as others I've read of hers. I was still glued to it and cried throughout
I really did enjoy this. I did find some of the perspective switching to be confusing and I'm not sure I was completely on board with all the family dynamics, but I devoured this book.
What a beautiful story of love, loss, and finding happiness.
Ernt and Cora Allbright embark on finding new happiness in Alaska with their daughter Leni. Ernt has never been the same since coming home from Vietnam and Cora bears the brunt of his agony. In the 70's Alaska is barren with only a handful of homesteaders present who are able to tackle The Great Alone. Leni soon finds herself in love with a local boy who's family established the town they live in. Soon Ernt can no longer bear the isolation and in a tragic turn of events Cora and Leni have a hard choice to make.
This story of love and loss is gut wrenching and well developed. I only gave it four stars solely based on pace, there were a few times I wanted to give up because plot progression was inching along. I'm glad I stuck it out though, the strong female characters are important and their story was told very thoughtfully.
THIS TOOK ME OVER A MONTH TO READ but im so glad i finally did. love this book, its ingrained into my brain and i think abt it all the time. this book was so well written in my opinion, the characters felt very real and the descriptions of alaska and winter and survival will never leave my brain. theres so many amazing lines about motherhood, justice for women and family dynamics and i couldnt stop annotating. it was hard to read at times and dats also why it took me so long to finish coz i needed breaks but i love this book anyways.
I tried very hard to connect to the characters in this book, but I couldn't. This book was just not for me!
Do not read this book. . . unless you have the time to read it straight through (all 545 glorious pages), because you won't be able to put it down. Seriously.
I was captivated from the get-go. I've tried to go back and figure out why because I'm an author myself and I want to give my readers this same experience. Maybe it was the time (1974), maybe the main character (Leni, 13)) or maybe her untenable situation (child of an abusive couple.) Truly, every turn and twist in this book was pretty much dictated by the crazed, Vietnam vet dad. Even after he was out of the picture.
Another character that needs to be mentioned is the setting. Alaska. And the quirky folks that state attracts—including a man who married a goose. This goes beyond color. Also, the whole idea of months of darkness and the pressure it applies to human behavior gives twists and turns to the book that couldn't happen anywhere else.
If there was a bad spot, I sort of guessed the ending. But even that was worth reading for the masterful way Kristin Hannah tells a story. On to her next book.
First off, literally no prepper says TSHTF in conversation, using instead the more impactful and much easier to say, “when the shit goes down”.
Secondarily, any applicant who closes her college essay with “That's why I want to go to college” should be automatically denied and their English teacher/counselor fired.
I just can't with this book.
I really enjoyed this book but I lost all interest at the court and trial nonsense. Just felt like Kristin Hannah wanted to toot her own horn but nothing is more annoying than a character in a book admitting all their wrong doings to a cop and then being like “oh no, I needed a lawyer didn't I?!” like I know people are that goddamn stupid but it really irks me to have to read about it especially when this book was going in such a strong direction prior to the last quarter.
First half was good and interesting but there was so little character depth and by the end it was just cheesey and cringe.
This book completely took over my life. For the first couple of chapters I couldn't tell where the story was going and wasn't sure if I would enjoy it so I decided to shelve it for a while. Three days ago I decided to pick it up, only about 50 pages and let me just say I fell in love. It was so good. The characters seemed so real and the relationships, though not always good, seemed so realistic that it felt like I was reading someone's memoir. The best part for me though was the beautiful descriptions of Alaska, I honestly could visualize the scenery. My next read by Kristin Hannah will definitely be The Nightingale
MMM like I loved all the Alaskan survivalist details, and the escalating tension with Lena's PTSD-afflicted, violent father was really well-rendered.
But around the back third it got a little like...too dramatic in a way that didn't quite match the beginning of the story?
like I get that she'd been telling us and telling us how dangerous Alaska is, so the fall on the rocks makes sense, but then everything with the murder and fake identities and then Lena's dumb confession and subsequent immediate freedom from consequences was like.........a little too soap operatic for the more grounded rest of the book?And a little preachy about women's rights/domestic violence etc but like, sure, I'm in favor of that. Of women's rights I mean. Not domestic violence. You know what I mean.
But like still I couldn't put it down and cried a bunch, so.
I really enjoyed this book. I haven't read anything else by Kristin Hannah so I had no expectations. I will be leading one of my library's book groups for a few months. This book is the one they are reading for July. It was a great book to read after a dry spell of reading! Set in Alaska it tells the story of a young girl becoming a woman. It has it's soap opera moments but I honestly enjoyed every minute of it! I think it will be a great book for discussion.
I chose this book for the Good Reads Summer reading challenge for 2019. This was my “Good as Gold” pick. I really enjoyed it!
This book left me breathless. The descriptions of the wilderness and the struggle the main character endured were beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I was in tears and one point and 5 pages later ready to throw my phone across the room I was so mad. I can see why this book is highly recommended-the writing stays with you for a long time. I'll be thinking and turning this book over for a while.
Beautiful, intense, gripping and emotional. I don't think any book has ever made me cry so much as this one did.
I've always had a fascination with Alaska. It's always seemed like the most expansive wilderness that's still mostly untamed. That would be even more true back in 1974 where this book takes place. I'm that wild setting, The Great Alone ties together enough different storylines, all from the same household, that you feel connected to their lives, their fears and their dreams. This had similarities to Educated, but with more tears, less fundamentalism and equal amounts of fear that the government is out to get you.