Right off the bat, I want to say Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. Her novels have all been 5+++ star reads for me!! The Nightingale is quite possibly my favorite book ever (if you haven’t read it, it’s a MUST READ). Ok, so knowing all that of course I was thrilled to dive into The Great Alone!! The synopsis is only a couple of lines and very vague, but that only make me want to read this novel even more!!!! Now sitting here after reading The Great Alone, I know why the synopsis was so short - the blinder you go into this the novel, the better!!

I am sort of at a loss of words to describe my thoughts on The Great Alone- phenomenal and amazing are my initial thoughts, but they don’t give the magnitude of just how epic this book is. Kristin Hannah exquisitely and intricately added layer upon layer to the create a completely original storyline which wow’ed me the entire way through. My heart went on such an emotional roller coaster with beautiful highs and heartbreaking lows and there were definitely lots of tears (of both joy and sadness)!! There were plenty of well timed twists and turns that I never saw coming— loved that!!! The Great Alone is a 5++++ star read that is a top favorite book of 2018 for me. I don’t say this lightly, but if you only read one book it his year, The Great Alone is the one you want to read!!

If you've read Hannah's previous work Night Road you can kinda get the same feeling from that book to this one but with twists. This is probably one of favorite Hannah books.

Good read, very compelling descriptions of domestic abuse. Ending was neatly wrapped up (too neatly?).

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Have read other works by this author and have learned so much from them, looking forward to more of the same with this book.
This one starts out with Leni and she's a teen and they are moving again. Her dad keeps losing his job, drinks a lot and beats up her mother then when he comes out of his PTSD he apologizes.
They end up in Alaska, a cabin from one of his Nam buddies and they are welcomed into the community. What I like the best is how others help take care of them and prepare them for the winter months.
Leni is able to go to school then come home to do chores-she also is into photography. Her school buddy Matthew shows an interest in her and her in him. They are able to spend some time not at school but her dad doesn't like the way Matthew's father pays attention to his wife, Cora.
He has blowups and takes things out on his wife still. Love hearing of all their struggles and how they are able to make it all work. As Leni gets older she's able to learn more and experience more in nature to help keep them alive and safe.
So much to this story, locations, colors, love all the nature, very detailed descriptions of the area and issues surrounding the community, Northern Lights, school excursions.
Love where this story goes and glad things went in the direction they did and how things go full circle. So much to look forward to. Love hearing the connection she has with him over the years and waits for his words to reach her-they are both so damaged.
You can always go home and you don't have to be alone.
Love how this story came about from real experiences. Went through so many emotions as I read this book, had a hard time putting it down to make dinner.
I received this review book from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Full review to be published online in mid February, 2018.

THE GREAT ALONE is actually my first time reading Kristin Hannah’s work; and I must say I was pleased. I was attracted by the setting of the wilds of Alaska, and stayed for the evocative writing. Len and her family moved to Alaska when she was a teen. Her father suffers from PTSD since the Vietnam War, and is looking for a life of isolation after having difficulty functioning in society. Unfortunately, all is not well with the family, as the reader discovers. Kristin Hannah, lushly portrays the loveliness and the brutality of the Alaskan landscape, as well as the struggles of those who choose to live there. The unadulterated essence of family life is well played; the pain, love, and loss that each member inflicts on each other as well as the compassion and loyalty that comes from friends. The book shows the harsh life in the Alaskan wild, and the close relationships between members of the community needed to survive living so far off the grid.

THE GREAT ALONE has lingered in my mind long after turning the last page. Beautifully written, and I will be looking for more works by Kristin Hannah.

Great character development and an unusual setting combine to make this a great read! I was drawn in right away to the story of Leni and her parents, Cora and Ernt, as they move to a remote part of Alaska in hopes of getting a fresh start. Ernt suffers from PTSD after serving in Vietnam, and is convinced moving to Alaska will be the spark they need to overcome their problems. Set against the starkly beautiful landscape of Alaska, the struggles of this family are both heartbreaking and hopeful.

This is my first Kristin Hannah title, but I can guarantee that it will NOT be my last. This story about Leni and her parents, seeking healing and solitude in Alaska was amazing! The story, set primarily in the 1970's explores the dysfunction of Leni's family - a father who was a POW in the Vietnam, a mother who loves and fears him and Leni. Her father believes that Alaska is his 'promised land', far from the disappointments of the 'civilized' world and that he will be better there - no nightmares and no violence. None of them are prepared for the cold, dark, isolation that comes with the Alaskan winter. As the years pass and Leni realizes the threat posed by her father, the suspense builds and the book becomes harder to put down. I am hooked!!!

I am a huge fan of Kristin Hannah and was excited to get my hands on her newest book. It did not disappoint!! I loved exploring the wild landscape of Alaska and seeing the different types of love between the various characters. This was a fabulous read and another hit book for this amazing author.

A surprising story from Ms. Hannah. Not because it differs from previous books, but because I did not know she was from Alaska. This was a good story because her descriptions of the desolation, abuse and community were realistic.

This was a wonderful book that kept me enraptured with the story and the characters. One of the characters was Alaska herself. Well written, absorbing and brutal. I can't imagine going through all Leni went through. great read!

The 'Great Alone' is a great read. It is gripping and heart-breaking, with real, flawed characters. Alaska, in all its wildness and beauty, is as much a character in this novel as the misfits and refugees who dare to make a home there. I have never been to Alaska, but this book transported me there for a short while.

This is a very different novel from 'The Nightingale', but it is written with the same care and skill. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who reads.

This was a great read. In The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah takes us to Alaska in the 1970s to follow the story of Leni Allbright and her parents, Cora and Ernt. Her father has been unable to settle anywhere or to cast off his demons from his time in the Vietnam war and as a POW, so they move to Kenai for a new start. Initially, the Allbright family are wholly unprepared for what Alaska holds in store for them, but they settle in over time.

I found their struggles to adapt to Alaska to be so vivid and fascinating-it sounds like such a breathtaking and rugged place. I had wondered how true to life these aspects of the story were, so I was pleased to read that Hannah has a connection to Alaska and that she also consulted with early homesteaders to capture their experience. The Allbrights' other struggles were less welcome; I found it heartbreaking that Leni and Cora had to deal with domestic violence and Ernt's struggles and abuse of his family and the other townspeople. Speaking of the townspeople, I loved Large Marge and Thelma, in particular, but there were so many other interesting types, too.

I was thankful for the early focus on Leni's relationship with Matthew and her dreams of a different life, as I found the scenes with Ernt a bit stressful. The last part of the novel moves rather quickly and felt a bit like a rollercoaster, but I was glad that I held on until the ending. Very pleased that I was able to read an advanced copy through net galley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Kristin Hannah books and this one didn’t disappoint.

The theme of this story of physical and mental abuse is ideally set against the isolation of living in Alaska. The author draws you into the characters she so richly develops. How the community rallies around the main character helps make the unbearable bearable. Hannah's books never disappoint.

Like a curved, upturned palm, Alaska beckons with her beauty, her majesty, and her prolific grandeur.

The awe-inspiring allure gestures first until the ruggedness of her backbone sets in.

The Allbright family lives on the edge of a nomad's existence. Seattle, once filled with promise, no longer does. It's 1974 and these displaced individuals are the walking wounded. Ernt bears the mental and physical scars of being a prisoner of war held in Vietnam. The nightmares are no longer wrapped in the darkness. They seep into the day and explode without warning. Cora, his wife, flits back and forth with her feeble attempts to sidestep his abusive behavior. And caught in the throws of this disfunction is thirteen year old Leni. Her silence lays a mantle over the brokenness.

Ernt receives a letter from the father of his best friend who was killed in Vietnam. Earl Harden tells Ernt that Bo left him a sizable plot of land and a cabin to him in Kaneq, Alaska. It's his for the taking. Ernt whoops with joy and begins to sell everything they have for a beat-up VW bus in order to make the journey. Cora sees the face of the love she long remembered from before the war. Perhaps this is the new beginning that they are so desperate for. And Leni just yearns for a place of permanence for once in her young life.

With hardly a plan or adequate preparation, the Allbrights find themselves in the jaw-dropping majesty of the Alaskan wilderness. With the help of Mad Earl's family and the resourceful Marge Birdsall, also known as Large Marge, the Allbrights cut into the land and start to dig in. Like the famous line from Game of Thrones: "Winter is coming." Tremendous effort must be put forth in order to exist through the brutality of an Alaskan winter.

"Alaska herself can be Sleeping Beauty one minute and a bitch with a sawed-off shotgun the next."

Filled with grizzly bear, caribou, wolves, and enormous moose, danger is around every turn. But our story brushes against more than Nature........human nature to be exact. Ernt begins to resent his new neighbors as the darkness within him takes hold once again. And once again, Cora invents excuses for Ernt's behavior until she begins to believe it all herself. She and Leni hardly breathe in the confines of that tiny cabin.

Kristin Hannah creates a storyline that lays bare the tragedies of war, broken families, unfulfilled dreams, and the explosive side of a dormant wound. Her characterizations are remarkable as life unravels from 1974 to 1986. We will experience the dramatic changes that take place within Leni as she shields herself from the rages that exist within as well as those from the treacherous land itself. Kristin Hannah writes from a source of profound respect for the individuals who ramble down the uneven terrain of life. Her words will invoke a gamut of feelings within you as you leave your own footprints behind. A remarkable read, indeed, and so worthy of your attention.

I received a copy of The Great Alone through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Kristin Hannah for the opportunity.

I love Kristen Hannah!! I love how this book took me through different time periods and different struggles. I just love the suspense!!

his is a hard book for me to review. I didn't really like it, but I couldn't put it down. It started out slow and I was sure I wasn't going to like it at all. Then the action picked up and I couldn't stop turning pages. I still didn't like the characters. The subject matter was uncomfortable. But maybe that's what made it so readable? I think this is a book that's going to have to sit with me for a while before I can truly work out my feelings about it. Despite my mixed review, this will definitely be a book I recommend to others.

This is a spectacular epic. A love for Alaska shines through the twisting, turning story of a small family who love and hurt each other. We see the horror of war in it's after effects. The glimpse of life in the 1970's. Our heroine is a child who moves so often she never fits in. Her father is left property in Alaska by his army friend who didn't make it back.
When the story moves to Alaska everything comes vividly alive, the scenery, the characters and the story.
It was everything! Beauty, tragedy, love and redemption. Riveting, horrifying and absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend this soon to be classic.

I enjoy Kirsten Hannah’s work. This book is no exception. I was totally unprepared for what happened to Leni and Matthew. This book showed such unconditional love in many ways. The love of a mother for her child being the strongest.
The beauty of Alaska was also vividly described along with the loneliness..
I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the review copy of this book.

I loved this book. Everything about it. The writing, descriptive, emotional, wonderful. The setting-beautiful Alaska, treacherous Alaska. All the characters, rough around the edges, folks who are escaping to or from something... all the hopes and dreams...

I have read many of the author's previous works and generally liked them, although some were a little too much in the "women's lit" category for my taste. However, this one was perfect in so many ways. I don't usually cry through books, and if I do, it's only once. Hannah brings out all the emotions of being a daughter, a woman, a mother, married to a damaged VietNam era vet and plunks it into the most beautiful setting, with the best supporting characters.

Highly recommend this one.