Kristin Hannah's Captivating Novel "The Great Alone"

Kristin A. Whitmore: It definitely kept me turning the pages, and while I laughed a little here and there, I shed some tears also. I did find myself skimming though, especially toward the end when I wanted to get to the end of the story. I’ve read some books where I want to savor every word and this one wasn’t that way and I’m not really sure why a book makes me want to rush to the end and not savor every word, but that’s why I gave it a 4 and not a 5. I will read another Kristin Hannah book. Her writing, and the way the story moves me felt very similar to how I’ve felt reading many of Jodi Picoult’s books.

United States on Jan 15, 2024

BlessedNana: Enjoyed this book and finished it rather quickly as I wanted to know what happened next. Also an eye opener about life in the wildness of Alaska and what war does a soldier.

United States on Jan 10, 2024

Genevieve Drean: I am 60 years young & there are only 2 books in my life that once I’ve got to the end, I have felt like turning right back to page 1 and reading again- this is one of them. A book that will both transport you and transform you. Each character is fully formed, believable and flawed. Kristen Hannah understands real human beings and your sympathies for the cast of characters shifts allegiances as events unfold. No fairy tale ending but realistic resolutions. A few surprising twists ensure the story stays as unpredictable as life tends to be. The harsh but beautiful landscape depicted is as much of a presence in the book as any human. I am so glad that I’ve discovered this author- I can’t wait to devour her other stories. Highly recommended.

United Kingdom on Jan 03, 2024

Jess: An absolute page turner from chapter 1. Sometimes it had me on my seat, other times in tears. Beautiful book about a hard life of a mother and a teen girl who had to grow up fast and the beauty of Alaska. Loved all the characters even when the author broke my heart with them.

United States on Dec 29, 2023

jackey: The book is well written and the author manages to make us imagine and even visualize the expanse of the Alaskan landscape. Also, the protagonist and her father are well defined characters. With Cora, though, the writer fails to give us a true character: she is flat, pathetic, with no backbone. A victim of the worst kind. The plot, too, is not particularly interesting. Something could have been improved.

Italy on Dec 29, 2023

Kindle Customer: Loved it....lived it....was one of them through their journey....a very different read and experience....Alaska is the main hero of this book

India on Dec 04, 2023

Colleen Noyes: Look, I’m not gonna lie here. I don’t even know how to put into words what I just read and the 8000 emotions still going through my body. This is the first book I have read by this author and I had no idea what to expect although I had heard she had many great books. It just happened that this book was the one chosen by my book club, and man what a powerful book and story told in a unique, poignant, beautiful, emotional way.

This book will take you on one of the most incredulous journeys you have ever been on. Starting in the 1970s this story begins about a family where the husband has come home from Vietnam and how he is so different than the man who went to Vietnam. What you find throughout the story is that it is about so much more than this one family and the hidden secrets that they have, the things that they endure and more importantly, the things that they survive. You learn about Alaska, and all of its beauty that radiates every day. You are drawn in to feel the darkness that happens in Alaska and what that means not just for this family, but for everybody who lives in the community. You are shown just how important community can be and what other people are...

United States on Nov 02, 2023

Jane Reay: Thoroughly recommend this amazing book. You get lost in it’s pages. It’s a book primarily about love with all the joy, wonder, pain and heartbreak. It’s a book about Alaska and the people who live there. The characters pull you into their lives and you never want to leave. One of the best books I’ve read.

France on Sep 29, 2018

Enrique Lopez: Me parece una excelente novela. Los horrores de la guerra se reflejan en un ex combatiente en Vietnam, emocionalmente dañado, que desahoga sus sufrimientos con violencia hacia su esposa, en el inmenso, oscuro y helado terrritorio de Alaska en los años 60 - 70.
El desarrollo de la historia es estrujante, ya que no se avista un alivio al sufrimiento de la hija adolescente y su madre. El desenlace se mezcla con una historia de amor que complica la situación de una forma inextricable.

Mexico on Sep 04, 2018

BC: I was captivated from this novel from the beginning. So many factors are involved: Broken people with broken souls; family abuse; a sad portrait of a woman who tolerates abuse; the effects of abuse on a child; the tragedy of a Viet Nam Vet's post-war mental breakdown of his once good soul. For me, however, the most poignant and educational factors were the descriptions of a wild, desolate, beautiful Alaska in the 1970's. And the stories behind the characters involved who lived there - and played vital roles to the main characters. The tension is palpable. The story is mesmerizing, soulful, heartbreaking, suspenseful. It's one of those rare novels that had me breaking my rule of reading only at bedtime...I had to find out 'what's happening next?".

If the following passages do not whet the appetite, I don't know what will:

"Two kinds of folks come up to Alaska, Cora. People running to something and people running away from something. The second kind-you want to keep your eye out for them. And it isn't just the people you need to watch out for, either. Alaska herself can be Sleeping Beauty one minute and a bitch with a sawed-off shotgun the next. There's a saying: Up...

United States on Feb 25, 2018