The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah | BOOK REVIEW





Book: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 435

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Do you remember the feeling you get when you watch a thriller movie in a theater, how you creep closer to the edge of your seat in anticipation of the ending. And, unknowingly you reach out to the characters? That's how I felt when I was reading this book I wanted to reach out to Leni to shield her from all the atrocities that she had to suffer in her life.

The Great alone is a heartbreaking story of Leni and her mother Cora Allbright. Ernt Allbright, Leni’s father who is a prisoner of Vietnam War is always in search of a quiet, remote place, to get away from his nightmares and PTSD. So leni and her family uproot themselves from the city to a desolate place in Alaska. The story which starts as a yearning to belong in this world soon turns into a survival quest for both leni and her mother.

"All this time, Dad had taught Leni how dangerous the outside world was. The truth was that the biggest danger of all was in her own home."

In this book, the author explores how war can change a person completely and how it destroys not only an individual but family and communities as well. After war Ernt spends all his time trying to save his family from some impending doom and he spreads his paranoia to the whole community. And in a place such as Alaska which is so remote, the people have to be united to live in such harsh climate, and any discord is an invitation for doom.

The most dreadful thing in this book was when you see leni and her mother being destroyed little by little. From having to wake up in the middle of the night to practice shooting a gun, to carrying a bug out bag (emergency supplies) everywhere. You see the toll it takes on a person to survive in a harsh environment both outside and inside of a home. There are so many instances in this book where you'll want to do your best to protect an imaginary character.

The Great Alone is a historical fiction that will break your heart into a million pieces. This is my third Kristin Hannah novel and she has made me cry every single time. She writes in such a thought provoking and poignant manner that you have no choice but to fall in love with her books.


*Trigger warning - Domestic abuse. 


You can also read our review of other Kristin Hannah books:
The Nightingale - 
 https://thelivrelovers.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-nightingale-by-kristin-hannah.html

The Night Road - 
https://thelivrelovers.blogspot.com/2019/08/night-road-by-kristin-hannah.html

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