Kristin Hannah's latest book is a story about a family in turmoil set against the ruthless yet stunning beauty of Alaska in 1974.

This family saga felt like two different books. The first three-quarters was a gritty look at the Allbright family as they struggled to settle into the wilds of Alaska and deal with the trouble within their own family. Life in 'off the grid Alaska' was harsh, dangerous and lonely but Hannah's descriptions of the unforgiving wilds of Alaska were my favourite part of the book (with Alaska herself easily becoming my favourite character).

But after awhile the story started to feel redundant as the same issues kept popping up with the characters reacting in the same way each time. There's also a fair amount of 'telling, not showing' and I found the dialogue weak which didn't bode well for building a connection with Leni and the other characters who were a one-dimensional bunch.

Then, at three-quarters of the way through the book, it had a different feel. I ended up skimming the last hundred pages which was filled with hard to believe scenes and an ending that felt rushed and tied up so easily that it was eye-roll worthy. Hannah was going for tragedy and there are bucket loads of it but there were so many issues (PTSD, abuse, poverty, death ...) that it felt soap opera-ish. It was tragedy after tragedy without enough room in between for readers to take a breath.

Overall, I appreciated the beautiful descriptions of Alaska (and the delightful Large Marge - who should have had her own chapters) and I liked the premise but overall this book fell short for me.

Disclaimer: This ARC was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read the book after reading the description. After visiting Alaska once I've been fascinated by what lures people to live in such remote locations where bare survival is a priority. I have never read Kristen Hannah's work before but I will be sure to do so now. I hated finishing this book, the writing was excellent and I earmarked many passages. This book touches on so many subjects and keeps your interest throughout, I highly recommend it!

I loved the bravery and the striving for survival shown by Leni in THE GREAT ALONE.. I wish she had been able to stand up for herself to her father before the father is killed. I liked the descriptive passages about Alaska and the harsh but compelling nature. I think the doomed romance was a bit over the top. I think it would have been better to have Matthew be injured but survive and end up with amnesia like a soap opera. I think the abusive husband/father character got a little too repetitive before the ending.

Compelling story of perseverance in a 1970’s Alaskan wilderness about a mother & daughter who are determined to survive both the harsh environment and the abusive husband/father. This women’s tale of grit and determination kept me reading even when the prose became cliche and the dialogue was cringe-worthy. Hannah wrote a wonderful ode to Alaska and she has the personal experience to give insight into a climate many of us can only imagine. Her characters are a bit flat, I wish Matthew’s story had more depth and more of his perspective. The whole have a baby and keep a part of the man trope was weak. I think NIGHTENGALE is a better written book but I enjoyed the descriptions of the Alaskan world and wish Large Marge had been the narrator ( who seems so caricatured here).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this fantastic book. It's another amazing book by this author, right up there with The Nightingale, but a completely different plot line.

I stepped back in time to the early seventies, reliving some of what the main character, Leni, talks about going on in the world at that time. However, it was a whole new experience "living" in rural Alaska with her. Wow, what an experience! The characters and settings were so vivid I felt I was right there!

The author does a great job of exploring why people act the way they do (a good depth of Leni's father's POW frail mind after Vietnam), and the repercussions of each decision we make in life. I stayed up way too late several nights because I just had to know what happened next in Leni's world!

This book was an epic, amazing, emotionally draining, beautifully (BEAUTIFULLY!!!) written, soul-crushing, roller-coaster of a read. I'm still reeling. It's totally different than my two favorites from KH: Firefly Lane (my favorite book of all time ever) and The Nightingale. I loved the characters (except for her father- he's wretched) and also Alaska, which was really another character. Thank you so much for letting me read & review. KH is brilliant & I have no doubt this will be on the bestsellers list for weeks and weeks- and will make a phenomenal movie!!!! I will recommend this book to everyone!!!

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

My Thoughts: I love the setting and the era in which the story begins. It takes me back to what was happening in my life in the 1970s. The Vietnam War, protesters, Nixon and Watergate…and a feeling of a country divided. Not that different from the world today.

Ernt Allbright is the MC, who, along with his wife Cora and daughter Leni, hopes to find a new life in Alaska. Ernt’s experiences as a POW in Vietnam have left him with nightmares, flashbacks, and rage. A lot of rage.

Long winters in Alaska bring out his worst emotions…what will happen to his family in the isolated “great alone”?

Leni’s third person narrative kept me thoroughly engaged, and I felt such empathy for her experiences, having grown up in a family with domestic violence and rage. A family that relished its “outsider” status.

Leni’s fear that her father would eventually kill her mother held me by the throat, as I watched the intensity grow. Her friendship with Matthew opens up the world for her, but her father’s hatred of his family enhances the danger. Will Leni find a way to escape? What will need to happen before she can find the peace she craves?

A beautiful saga of an unpredictable wilderness and the people who brought a sense of belonging to Leni, The Great Alone spanned decades, and left me feeling the beauty of the land and the people who had found their place there. 5 stars.

***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley

Alaska - The Great Alone.

Its 1974. Imagine you're 13. You've been drug to a place you can't get to except by boat or plane by your alcoholic father and emotionally fragile mother. If anyone can write a train wreck in a beautiful setting, it's Kristin Hannah. I was heartbroken by the life this poor kid was dealt, but somehow I understood her love of the wild beauty that is Alaska. I felt the biting cold winters she described as if I were there. I could smell the mountain air. I could taste the fresh salmon they fried on the shores after pulling them fresh out of the water. It takes a special writer to make the reader have an experience like that. And yet... What a tragic story.

Being a kid who grew up in the 80's, I can remember hearing about the men who returned from Vietnam, damaged and bruised by circumstances beyond their control. As bad as they were, nobody thought to get help. It's sad to think how many families were destroyed by it. The girl in this book was trapped in hell for years. If it weren't for the tight knit community looking out for her and her mother, they might not have survived. This book brought out so many emotions in me. I struggled through the last half of the book because of the violence and tragedies that came one after the other. Why do we torture ourselves like that? Because it's in these stories that we learn about perseverance. I appreciate the care in which Hannah approached this topic. I imagine it wasn't easy, but I'm glad she wrote it.

Kristin Hannah wrote 70% of a novel and then 30% of a soap opera.

I know this isn't likely to be a popular opinion. Hannah is an incredibly popular writer whose books sell into the millions. This might be a case of "it's not you, it's me." The same problems I found in her sentinel work The Nightingale came back to haunt The Great Alone: weak female characters, use of death and tragedy as plot devises, and an overwrought, melodramatic narrative. People who liked Hannah's earlier work, will probably love this book. But if you've not been a fan in the past, don't expect much to change with this Alaskan tale.

The book starts when Leni Allbright is thirteen, awkward, and unable to fit in anywhere. It doesn't help that her parents are constantly moving her around the country. Her father, Ernt, is chasing that next big opportunity that will make him happy for good. Her mother, Cora, is hoping the next town they land in will transform Ernt into the man we was before Vietnam. The Allbright family wind up in Alaska, in a cabin without pluming and electricity and far from any real civilization. When they arrive at the start of summer, Ernt is able to relax in the natural setting, and Cora and Leni think he might really return to how he was before the war. But as they days grow colder and the sun disappear from the sky, Ernt's demons come back with a vengeance.

Cora reminded me a lot of Vianne from The Nightingale, only with an abusive husband this time. Like her predecessor, she acts like a sad doormat the majority of the book until the moment she snaps out of character (spoiler: and murders someone). Ernt is the usual abusive husband archetype-- drinking and beating and obsessing. One character I loved was Large Marge, who doesn't take any prisoners and doesn't suffer any fools. But I almost felt like making Marge an African-American in Alaska and obese gave her the "excuse" not to be yet another shrinking violet.

I actually quite liked the first 70% of the book. I was rooting for Leni, I enjoyed her friendship with Matthew, the understanding boy next homestead over, and I was waiting for Ernt's dangerous end-of-the-world prepping to come to a head. This book really brings Alaska and off-grid living to life. But then it all fell apart.

I feel like Hannah wanted to make her readers sad, so they would feel things, and isn't it a good book if it makes you cry? So lets kill off some characters. Heck, let's kill off all the characters! Teenage pregnancy? Sure, that's juicy stuff and very romantic. Wait, I killed off too many characters? There's a fix for that. Perfect bittersweet ending! I wound up skimming the last 30% of the book. The last hundred pages made me hate how much I enjoyed the first three hundred pages. I don't think I'll be picking up another Kristin Hannah book any time soon.

It is 1974, and Ernt Allbright is home from having been a prisoner in Vietnam during the war. The experience has left him with emotional scars from which he cannot seem to recover. He is constantly on the move while seeking a time and place that will be better for him and his family, wife Cora and thirteen-year-old daughter Leni. He believes the solution to have arrived when one day he receives a letter saying that his buddy who was killed in the war has willed his land and cabin in Alaska to Ernt. This is the new start that he has been wanting. So he uproots his family once again, they load up in their VW bus and head to Alaska.

They are totally unprepared for the Alaskan life. But thanks to the help of their neighbors, they are able to prepare to face the harsh winter that awaits them. But the outside weather is not the only harshness that the family must face. As darkness and cold settle on them, with it come the nightmares and bad times for Ernt. Following that, the meanness and abusive behaviors appear, making living in close winter quarters dangerous for Cora and Leni.

In spite of the hardships, the family loves the isolation and beauty of their Alaskan home. They make friends and adjust and adapt. Unfortunately, their happiness doesn’t last. Tragedy strikes and their lives change forever.

Hannah brings the setting alive on the page with her vivid and detailed descriptions of the magnificent Alaskan scenery. The accounts of what is needed to prepare for survival in an Alaskan winter in the 1970’s are comprehensive enough that I felt exhausted just reading about them. And when winter actually arrived, I could feel the cold and isolation in the significance of the title, The Great Alone.

With this book, we see how those war demons can ruin the lives of not only the soldiers but also of their families. Soldiers can’t always leave the war behind when they return home.

This book is also about the bonds of family, friends and community. These relationships are strengthened by hardship and love in spite of all odds. In these bonds, we also see forgiveness for past transgressions and acceptance of one another’s faults. Surprisingly, the book is populated with strong female characters who manage exceptionally well in a harsh world. And spousal abuse is woven into the story to tell of another kind of survival.

The Great Alone takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride. As soon as you reach the high at the top, the bottom drops out leaving you emotionally drained. Before long you are going up the steep climb to the top again, hoping that the ride will come to an end there.

This review is written following the reading of an e-galley courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley

If you would like to read more of my reviews, visit https://mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com/ .

This is not The Nightingale but is an amazing story in it's own right.

A coming of age novel set in the 70's and 80's Alaskan frontier. This is a hard book to review without giving a lot of it away.

I adored and was rooting for Leni throughout. At one point I had to set down the book to make dinner - muttering about a choice she had just made the whole time. I thought about the characters and story in between my reading of it. I was invested.

It's amazing to me how the Kristin Hannah was able to make Alaska itself a central character in the novel. Beautiful. Untamed.

The plot explores complicated themes in a multifaceted way.

It was wonderfully written. My only complaint is a situation towards then end that was handled to easily for the depth of the rest of the book.

I don't want to spoil any of it. Just read it.

Trigger warnings: violence, some language, alcoholism, PTSD

This book and the story told is heart wrenching, with hope for a better day in the eyes of a young girl.

Who doesn't love a Kristin Hannah book? I was intrigued by this one even though it seemed a little slow at the beginning. I understand now after finishing it, that we needed all the beautiful descriptions of Alaska in order to appreciate the picturesque landscape that consumes us as the story unfolds. When Leni and her family move suddenly, it is a new start for the young girl as she has never felt like she fit in with the rest of the kids. But winters can be harsh in Alaska and her family has secrets that will tear them apart given the harshness of the climate and the conflicts with the townspeople. But Hannah's books never disappoint and I loved the ending with all its pathos and beauty.

Leni is the teenage daughter of a Vietnam POW. Her father, Ernt, used to be a great guy, and now he is abusive, dark, moody, paranoid, violent. They up and move to Alaska and try to form friendships with people who have been living off the land for years.


That's really the first part of the book. About 50% of the way through, it switched to a love story. Honestly, I had no idea where or what was happening or why. Point of views switched randomly (and not often. Hannah seemed to just switch for convenience). It was slow moving and just not a fun read. The only interesting aspects were the details about living in Alaska. It's a different world, and Hannah really emphasized that. Otherwise, I wouldn't read this book if you are looking for a compelling story.

I love reading Kristin Hannah because she always delivers on transporting you to the world of the book. The Great Alone did not disappoint not that at all. You could really feel the emotion and struggles of the characterrs. There is always a twist or turn I do not expect and it keeps me hooked knowing she will make it an amazing read.
I think this was one of her best!

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I couldn't put this down! What a great story! It's been a long time since I've read anything so well written. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

A beautifully written story. An inside look at homesteading in Alaska and the relationships that really matter in a hard, challenging life.

Sadly my review copy expired before I finished reading the book. Being a fan of Kristin Hannah's I was eager to read this one and what I did read did not disappoint at all. The harsh setting of 1970s Alaska combined with Leni's chaotic homelife worked beautifully in contrast to the warm community that the locals built. I'm looking forward to finishing the book when it comes out.

Thirteen year old Leni is always trapped between her parents. Rent, her father, comes home from Vietnam a completely different man and her mother Cora, who will follow him anywhere even when he wants to move the family t Alaska. Alone in the wild, things begin to fall apart. Novel of survival and resilience.

There is honestly so much to this book that I really hope to do it justice. It really, for me, boils down to a book on physical and mental survival. On the one hand, there is survival in a beautifully described, desolate terrain and survival of the body against not only the harsh winter but also of physical assault. Mental survival saves some characters and the lack of it destroys another. The rawness of nature plays into the rawness of spirit and of being.
At the core of the story is a floundering family, barely surviving in Washington due to the father’s PTSD from being a Vietnam prisoner of war. Adding to the PTSD is the whole American milieu of anti-war, anti-veterans from a loud and verbal protestation. When Ernt Albright learns he has inherited a cabin and land in remote, untamed Alaska, he packs up his wife Cora and daughter Leni to claim the cabin totally unprepared for the realities that await them yet filled with a hope of finally escaping the torment the resides in him.
It is a story also of Leni’s maturing from a thirteen year old rejected by her peers and finding a place and a person to love in a beautiful but harsh environment. It is Cora and Leni’s resilience fortitude and reliance that drive the book through the horrors they encounter and the hardships that they daily endure.