Take a dysfunctional family in crisis, add in the long, dark winter nights of Alaska and you have the basis for Kristen Hannah’s phenomenal new novel, The Great Alone.  Leni’s dad, Ernt, is a Vietnam POW with a temper that is hard to control due to horrible war experiences.  Cora, her mother, loves him and takes the adage, “Stand by your man” to a new level.  Leni’s mother is her best friend and she does all her in power to protect her.   All this combines to make for a heartbreaking story you can’t put down.

The plot is multi-faceted but Ms. Hannah handles the various plots and relationship dynamics superbly creating a seamless storyline that holds you enthralled to the last page.  The characters are normal everyday people and we can relate to them and their situations.  The emotions that are displayed are heartwarming and at times, also gut wrenching.  Just when you think you know where the storyline is heading, it abruptly changes.

I read this book in two days, I could not put it down.  I identified closely with the relationship between the mother and daughter (which I’m sure a lot of readers will) which made the novel very personal.  Because this story deals with very adult situations, I recommend it for older teens or young adults to adult readers.  Pick this book up, you won’t be disappointed.

I loved this book; I couldn't put it down! I think I'm going to read it again!

Leni, Ernt and Cora seem like the perfect family: tightnight, always together, loving. But inside the family circle the truth is far different; Ernt has never been the same since coming back from Viet Nam, and the stresses of is service manifest in the physical abuse he heaps on his wife Cora. When a former comrade leaves Ernt a cabin and some land in Alaska, it seems like the perfect option for finally leaving his past behind and starting over.  But its not that simple. As the family takes everything they have and move to an isolated plot at Lands End, with no running water, no electricity, very long summer days and very short winter days, Ernt goes farther and farther over the edge. 

Leni is 13 when they move and thrives in Alaska. But her father's increasing paranoia and resulting abuse of her mother makes it clear that they need to escape. Her mother Cora's love for Ernt is so deep that she will do anything to help him, even at the expense of her own life. As Leni grows up, the situation grows more and more dire, and Leni see's that they most make a change, or they may die. 

The Great Alone is one of those books where you become engrossed in the characters lives. Leni in particular is so real; you feel her love for her father, and feel as it changes to fear. You know when she realizes what she most do to save her mother's life and her own.  When things reach a crisis point, Leni and Cora face a terrifying moment of truth...

I can't recommend this book enough. It's not only worth a read, it's worth re-reading and reading again.

I loved this book. Kristin Hannah is one of my go to authors and she did not disappoint!

An interesting but disturbing story about a father, (PTSD after Vietnam) young mother and pre-teen/teen daughter's (yet another) move, this time to remote Homer, Alaska without the life skills needed to survive to appease the disturbed father. The beauty and terrors of remote Alaska are  beautifully rendered, as well as the small colorful pragmatic clannish town folk that save the Allbright family.

Kristen Hannah is a third generation Alaskan with a passion for her native state. It comes through every page of her story. Unfortunately the tension created by the  Vietnam vet father of the main character, Leni,  is so explosive and all-consuming, that I didn't have time to enjoy the wonders and beauty of Alaska. Instead the danger of the north country had me on the edge of my seat. As an aside I wonder what authors would do if they didn't have the Vietnam War to blame for the madness of their men. 
Leni is caught in the sick pas de deux of her parents' relationship, with her mother constantly excusing her husband's abuse by declaring her undying love and telling Leni, "Oh if you only knew him before."  Well frankly, that got old very quickly and I had little patience for her and her fatal flaws. Perhaps a decade ago this continuing pattern would pass unexamined, but to today's reader, being imprisoned in a destructive marriage has lost its dramatic appeal. The setting is the 70's, but the reader is contemporary.
The other major complaint is the author's use of deus ex machina to extricate Leni from one bad situation after another. Those great neighbors with their powerful friends and the grandparents with an unending supply of money all manage to appear at just the right time. 
I must say, after enjoying The Nightingale thoroughly, I found this book a disappointment, especially since it was a subject dear to the author's heart.

I am a fan of Kristin Hannah's books. After reading The Nightingale (5 star) I wasn't sure if she could follow  up with another blockbuster like that. Well she did!! I received an ARC of The Great Alone which is a story about a former POW of the Vietnam War moving his family to outskirts of civilization to try and escape his demons. It's a story about survival...not only of the Alaskan wilderness but of the dysfunction that plagues this family. It's a love story, but not the usual love story of boy meets girl, they fall in love and get married. This is a love story that touches you so deeply that it will take your breath away. You will get to know the perilous side of Alaska and how a community takes care of their own. The characters will draw you in and you will learn about the resilience of the human spirit. Carve out some time and settle down for an adventure you won't forget!

Set in the early 70’s. Lenora and her family are alway moving since her came back from the war. Now they are heading to Alaska to get away from the ever changing world and hoping that this will be there what will save them. Hoping that this will help her father find his place and help him change. But came they survive the long Alaska winters? This epic novel shows you the beauty along with the raw wildness only Alaska can offer.  And only the strong can survive.  Another great story from Kristin Hannah.

At once an ode to the dangerous beauty that is the Last Frontier and a tribute to all the women and children who have suffered silently in homes of abuse and fear, The Great Alone is a powerful, moving work that deftly captures love - of people and places - and all its pathologic and transcendent aspects. Ms. Hannah's broken, fragile characters contrast starkly with the breathtaking, majestic landscape in which they find themselves; at the same time, their darkness and turmoil finds a mirror in the long, cruel, and unforgiving winter of The Great Alone.  I found myself longing again for (the albeit more civilized areas of) Alaska while racing through these pages and I am so grateful to the author for depicting it so well, in all its brutal, unforgiving grandeur.  An excellent book.

Damn, this book made me cry no less than three times. That rarely happens. It’s interesting, too, as there was a point I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading it. It’s possible the topic was a bit difficult for me in that it was realistic and not part of a thriller or murder mystery, where I might expect it. Ernt did frustrate me to no end, and I couldn’t figure out why his family put up with him for so long, but I realized they didn’t have much of a choice, and really, neither did he. 

The writing is honest and straightforward, and the author truly makes you fall in love with the Alaska wilds. I loved Leni’s character and how strong and realistic she was. There was a scene at the end that almost changed my opinion as it was rather trite, but the moments prior to it were enough for me to let it go. Overall, this book surprised me, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed “All the Light We Cannot See” or “The Alice Network.”

I really enjoyed this book, although it was so bleak and heavy. It was a time and place I did really know much about, though I almost feel that communities like that still exist.

Three and a half stars.  Kristin Hannah doesn't disappoint.  The story of 13-year-old Leni and her family after they move to Alaska to begin a new life can't be put down.  Leni's father has been left land in Alaska by a friend who died in the war.  He persuades his wife to bring their daughter and join him in this opportunity to leave his past behind.  The reader quickly comes to the realization that this man suffers from what we now know to be PTSD.  Leni comes to see that the wilderness brings out the best in some people and the worst in others.  My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

I stopped reading this about half way through. I received this as an ARC and had high hopes after reading The Nightingale. However, I was sorely disappointed. It started out promising, but I got so tired of reading one more book where an abusive man controlled the lives of others around him, specifically his wife and child. I cringed at several scenes, including (spoiler alert) him forcing his daughter to eat a still beating rabbit heart after a hunt, but finally stopped reading altogether after repeated scenes of domestic violence. This could have been a promising story, but the characters were just too cliched and unlikable for me.

We absolutely love ourselves some Kristin Hannah. And as always, this was beautifully written. But it was just so sad. Sadness atop misery atop trial. We kept waiting for some relief but only got a tiny bit at the very end. We were disappointed.

I can't get through this book. It started great, but by the time they hit Alaska it started to drag.  I eventually gave up on it, and I seldom do that.

Regrettably, I waited too long between reading and reviewing to write a detailed review, but I did absolutely love this book. The journey Leni takes from confused teenager following her father, stricken with extreme PTSD, to grown woman living with impossible life decisions, was amazing to read. I had a little trouble getting into the story at first, but by about 15%, I was hooked. It really took off until the end. The ending, although it featured just a little bit of "everything working out too perfectly" still managed to feel real in the complexity of human emotion and pain it portrayed. Not a happy read by any stretch, but very very good!!

WOW- we are blown away (once again) by this author and her ability to write an amazing story. The Great Alone was so different and just absolutely fantastic! The story is so different from what we have been reading and I think that's what we needed to "cleanse our pallet" from the same story being told over and over again.
Kristin Hannah is such an impressive writing and we can't wait to read more from her!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah. After losing his job, POW survivor, Ernt Allbright, inherits a home in Alaska from fellow soldier, Bo Harlan. Feeling like this is his only chance to succeed in life and put the past behind him, he moves his wife, Cora, and thirteen year old daughter, Leni, to what turns out to be a rundown shack in Kaneq,  referred to as “the last outpost of civilization.” Life is pretty good until the long dark days of Winter set in and Ernst becomes disturbed and physically violent. Cora loves him and strives to make a good life. Leni survives with the friendship of fellow classmate, Matthew. This book is full of unforgettable characters, like store owner, Large Marge, and wealthy landowner, Tom Walker, who will change the lives of the Allbrights forever. This book is a wonderful insight into human character, forces of nature, and the will to survive in “The Great Alone”.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah really hit home for me.  As the daughter of a Vietnam vet who did 2 tours of duty as an Airborne soldier I was really able to relate to Leni.  Leni is a teen girl in the late 70's whose father has recently returned from being a POW in Vietnam.  Sadly, Leni doesn't really remember what her father was like before the war but her mother frequently tells her that he was not so violent.  Leni has to endure watching her mom be abused by her father multiple times.  Her father decides that they are going to move to Alaska to live on some land left to him by a buddy who fought with him in Vietnam.  The family is not prepared for the harshness of life in Alaska and things escalate as tension arises between Leni's father and their neighbor.  This book will make you feel so many emotions.  The ending had me in tears but in a good way.  Read and enjoy!

I am a huge fan of Kristin Hannah and look forward to each new release. The Great Alone is, in my opinion, her best yet. It is a one-sitting kind of read. The characters are so real and the action so intriguing that I had trouble putting it down to go to work, and then I found myself thinking about it, wondering what would happen next and predicting how it would turn out. I was not disappointed! I will buy a copy  for my daughter and recommend it to many friends.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

As a fan of The Nightingale, I was really excited about reading this pre-pub from NetGalley. It did not disappoint!

The quotes from the poetry of Robert W. Service help to set the scene of the wild Alaskan wilderness in 1974. A Viet Nam vet who is suffering from PTSD brings his family into this inhospitable environment. The cold, harsh winters affect all who live there. 

Kristin Hannah weaves a thrilling tale of adventure, love, and coping with internal and external obstacles.