The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Author: Kristin Hannah
Original title: The Great Alone
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Contemporary
Format: Audio book
Read by: Julia Whelan
Duration: 15h02m
Goodreads

Blurb:
   Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.
    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 it means following him into the unknown

My thoughts:
       This book was beautiful and devastating, I found myself so incredibly frustrated with the characters. Domestic violence, PTSD, coming of age story and it covers so many destinies and themes, and overall a pretty solid book, but...Kristin Hannah wrote 70% of a novel and then 30% of a soap opera.
      We get the story of Leni and her family. "The Great Alone" is set in the 1970s, and Leni’s father is a Vietnam War POW who suffers from nightmares and an explosive temper. It makes you wonder why he chooses to take his family to Alaska, which feels like the end of the world and where they definitely become as isolated as they can be.  So from this point the things are getting worse.  As the days creep toward winter, the main character’s father becomes increasingly paranoid. Instead of working with the townspeople to keep everyone alive through the winter, he suspects everyone and isolate his family from the rest of people even more. The relationships between the characters are so volatile, that they go from loving each other to abusing each other in seconds.
       Kristin Hannah brings the beauty and danger of Alaska to life and this is a great background for drama that is taking place. I love the nature descriptions. The small town is vivid and full of memorable characters. I liked Large Marge, but really hated the parents of Lani: absolutely worthless, selfish and spineless people, who did nothing for their child to have a childhood. They put their own petty arguments ahead of their child’s safety.
          So the first better part of the book was just excellent, but the end...  By the end, it was pure soap opera and over-the-top tragic. It spoiled the whole enjoyment of the book and left some unpleasant aftertaste. Still the first part was 5 star read!

Rating: 

         5/5