Hannah is a master at creating believable characters and putting them to the test in exceptional circumstances. Her imagination knows no boundaries in The Great Alone-literally. This book provides a little bit of everything and has some current parallels that let the reader realize that history is truly cyclical. Strong female characters abound in Leni, Cora, and secondary characters. This outing by Higgins is definitely worth the time.

Combination of a coming of age novel and the novel Into the Wild. Absoulutely loved it. So different form the Nightingale. I will highly recommend it to friends and patrons., but with caution.,Nnot to expect the same type of story as the Nightingale. I am amazed at this author's ability to continue to write such wonderful stories..

Loved, loved, loved this book. Beautifully written. Amazing descriptions. Relatable characters. One of my top five most favorite books!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. I am a huge Kristin Hannah fan and have read all of her books, so I jumped at the chance to read The Great Alone. It is the story of Leni Allbright, a girl who's life is anything but bright. Her father is a Vietnam vet who was a prisoner of war and has returned a totally changed man. He suffers from PTSD and feels that a fresh start away from everything and everyone, will be the solace that he needs to heal from his invisible war wounds. He decides to move Leni and her mother Cora to Alaska. The move to Alaska does not bring everything the Allbright's hoped it would. They were totally unprepared for challenges that Alaska brought them, and the fragile cracks we saw in the family before the move to Alaska, turn into huge chasms after the move.

This story was completely original and very complex. The setting made, what could have been a familiar plot line, extremely intense. There was also an interesting dynamic between Cora and Leni- how living in Alaska shaped their mother-daughter bond, which led to some terrifying decisions for them. The supporting characters were also really well-written. This story grabs you from the beginning and even though you may think you know where it is heading, you don't. It is a terrific story.

Kristin Hannah never fails to amaze me another wonderful book

I love Kristin Hannah books; The Nightingale is one of my all-time favourites. I was excited to receive an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion. Warning: some may find spoilers ahead.

This book hooked me from the beginning. The writing is lovely; she describes Alaska as both bleak and beautiful. The characters are strong when needed but Cora is a little too weak for my taste. The book talks about PTSD resulting from the Vietnam war (which we all know went undiagnosed) and how that war can change a man. What I would have liked to see were more detailed flashbacks to show how Ernt was before he went away to war; as it was, I had no sympathy for him as all I knew of him was his paranoid, erratic, and violent behaviour. The short sentences describing how he 'wasn't like that before the war' really were not enough for him to be a sympathetic character or for me to have any empathy for him. Which, perhaps was the point.

Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A little bleak and difficult to read at times but no more so than some of the scenes in The Nightingale. I'm very thankful to have had the chance to read this book before publication and I can't wait for the next!

Cora, Ernt, and fourteen year old Leni are headed to the great state of Alaska to start over…again. Ernt, a former POW and Vietnam Vet, has been struggling ever since he returned from the war. Unable to keep a job, he receives some free land from a former soldier and decides they will live off the land and start anew.

However, the change of scenery does not change everything, and Ernt continues to struggle with his demons. As the years progress, Leni learns to love the Alaskan way of life, and embraces the town, its people, and a new friend in Matthew. As her dad declines, his sickness will force Leni and her mother to make difficult, life changing decisions. Decisions that will ultimately follow them and affect the rest of their lives.

This is nothing like her popular novel The Nightingale. The Great Alone is completely different, but charming, and entertaining nonetheless I really enjoyed this novel and read it in no time flat. I just cannot say enough wonderful things about this novel but one thing is for sure, I did not want it to end.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Here's your honest review.

5 stars

You've got to give credit where credit is due. There are very few books that can keep me from my sleep. In fact, I often pick up my book in the wee hours of the night in order to turn my brain off so that I can fall back to sleep. This one kept me up for two nights! The fact that it was able to keep my sleep-deprived brain captivated is testament to how occupied I was in this story. Another factor of my 5-star rating was the fact that I felt compelled to talk to my husband about the story. I rarely do that. This one had me talking about the characters on several occasions. That's something in my book.

This is a very dark story. Sure, it's set in Alaska, so the winters are especially long and dark, but the story and the sub-text are also very dark. It was sometimes difficult to know exactly where the story was headed, but that was part of the appeal. The story varied in its pace. The first part was rather slow to build and then the pace sped up, slowed down and sped up again. It kept me wondering and engaged.

In all, I enjoyed the whole experience. I loved how Hannah developed her characters and brought me into their lives.

Oh my goodness! I couldn't get this book out of my mind. The descriptions of Alaska almost made me cold, although it was almost HOT weather when I read it. You could feel how brutal, yet beautiful it is. This book deals with a very difficult subject of domestic violence. It was very troubling at times to read. yet, a topic that needs awareness. I highly recommend this book!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is an egalley from St. Martin’s Press received from Net Galley. It is a story of the lives of Ernt, Cora, and Leni as they escape to the “great alone” of Alaska because of Ernt’s desire to start anew in Alaska. Ernt suffered from mental trauma from returning from Vietnam War as a POW, later known as PTSD.As result of this move, abuse ensues on Cora and Leni from Ernt, but they learn to love and survive in the beautiful and harsh environmental conditions of Alaska.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and th author for allowing me to read an advanced copy in trade for an honest review.

In the 1970’s, Leni’s father (a POW in Vietnam) decides to uproot his family and move to Alaska. There, the family becomes part of a community where others help everyone. However, having nightmares, especially when the nights are long Leni’s Dad slowly becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Leni and her mother begin to worry about what they do and say around Ernt.

How will Leni’s family survive in the Great Alone?

What a well written book. I have not read too many of Hannah’s previous books, but have a ton of backlist titles on my shelf. I have never read a book of hers I did not enjoy. Can’t wait for this book to come out, so I can put it in the hands of others!

Kristen Hannah's new novel The Great Alone is a wonderful and tragic love story. Alaska is the background for most of the story and actually plays an important role in the plot. The story revolves around a war hero suffering from his experiences as a prisoner of war. Alaska is a hard place to live with fright temperatures and long months with little sunlight. the family struggles to make a happy safe home but the father's struggles with drinking and violence towards his wife lead them down a dark and destructive path.
I felt the book was well written and does have a happy ending.

This book...this book wrecked me..but in a good way. I stayed up till 2am sobbing as I finished. Kristin Hannah writes characters and prose that just rip the heart of your chest and places it back again. It's the first time I've read a book that made me feel like the location of the book, Alaska, became a character in the book. It had it's own heartbeat and it took on a life of it's own. As soon as I finished, I just wanted to read it again. This book will stay with you for a long long time. Kristin Hannah at her best! And I believe it's her best book to date!

4.5 stars for the latest by Kristin Hannah. The story deals with a beautiful and harsh land while relating the story of survival, love and abuse and how they go hand in hand for some.

The abuse parts were probably realistic for many, unfortunately, which might be a hard read for some to watch Cora accept this "love" from her husband. All alone in Alaska with a man who has undiagnosed PTSD from Vietnam, raising a child in the wilderness, no one could deny that Cora's life is hard. Her supporting friends and daughter want her to leave him, but she can't/won't and is willing to suffer the consequences, but at what a cost to her and her entire family.

This book certainly kept my attention and I felt it was one of her best. Though it might be a novel, this story likely happened for some of the more daring among us who ventured to Alaska long before the cruise ships gave us the chance to see the beauty of the land. The Great Alone showed us what may have gone on behind the scenes as we never saw anything beyond tourist areas.

I loved the Nightingale by the same author so I was looking forward to reading this book. However, as several other people have said, I just could not get into the book. I knew Leni's father had severe PTSD from the War, and that was very evident in the first few pages of the book. I felt for Cora and Leni to have to live through that abuse. I wanted to shout at Cora to be strong and leave her husband and the abuse. I thought Mad Earl was totally crazy and it reminded me of people in this world who talk and act like him and Ernt and that is truly scary. I knew that Leni was going to get pregnant and several times I thought about putting the book down. But I did finish it and the ending with Matthew recovering and Leni bringing their son to Alaska was a surprise. I don't know if I would recommend this book. However, I would totally recommend the Nightingale by the same author.

I had to read this book over several days to take a break from the grittiness of the story. It is well written. It is an honest depiction of Alaska bush in the 70's.

While the storytelling and descriptions of the landscape and the time period were well written and well done, the story just didn't hold my interest. Although Ernt was going through PSDT, both Cora and Ernt were basically self centered and selfish, individually and as a couple. Leni was far more a grow up than either of her parents. The story was dark (no pun intended) and slow moving.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

The Great Alone is one of Kristin Hannah’s finest novels to date. The characters come to life on the pages. It is quit obvious the author knows her Alaska-and it’s history- and loves it deeply. The words she puts to paper flow with that love. The Allbright family-Ernt, Cora and Leni are vivid. The bone chilling cold so real as to make one shiver. The hunger they feel their first winter in Alaska enough to make one search the pantry for a snack.
As a returning Vietnam vet, Ernt has baggage he cant or won’t resolve. His inability to control his temper has causes him to lose jobs. He also takes it out on his family, repeatedly.
He resents a neighbor he perceives as having it all and assumes an anti government stance with another group. His new friends teach him important tips about living in Alaska. For a brief time, all is well for the Allbright family. Then suddenly it’s not. Leni and Cora have walked on eggshells for so long, that one day the shell was bound to crack.
The story is never sweetness and light. It’s mostly shades of dark. That’s not to say it’s without hope. At the cre, this is a novel about a young girl’s hope for a better future for herself, for her family. The Great Alone is a great book.

Wow! Kristin Hannah's "The Great Alone" was an intense rollercoaster! During parts of the book, all I could do was hang on and enjoy the ride up, knowing the ride down was going to be a crazy one. There were tears, smiles and an overall sense of pride "watching" Leni experience life with her dysfunctional parents. A book that I think you should read!