The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah [Book Review]

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a story of resilience and trauma set against the backdrop of Alaska’s wild frontier in the 1970s. Read my review.

Overall, I loved The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, despite skimming various stretches here and there. Do I recommend the book? Absolutely! It’s a beautiful story filled with rich characters, great plot twists, and set in a unique and harsh setting. Hannah’s writing is easy to like and appeals to readers across genres, but… Hannah can get wordy, and I bore pretty quickly. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I was hooked on The Great Alone from the very beginning. I’ve read stories about Vietnam War veterans experiencing PTSD, I’ve read about Alaska, and I’ve even read about families terrorized by an abusive father, but I’ve never read a story where all of those ideas are expertly woven into such a unique and intriguing plot. From start to finish, I turned page after page to find out how Leni survived the Alaskan frontier of the 1970s and the ever-growing threat that was her father. I really had no idea how it would all end.

Right about now, you might be asking yourself why I would only rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars if I was so pleased with The Great Alone overall? While I recognize that description is both needed and often beloved by readers, my reading time is so limited these days that I get bored when the story isn’t moving fast enough. That definitely says more about me as a reader than it says about the book, but this is my review, so here we are.

I am so glad that I read The Great Alone, and I recommend that you check it out if you haven’t already. Kristin Hannah is a masterful writer, and her books are well crafted and have intriguing plots that cater to readers worldwide. If you haven’t read any of her work already, this would be a great book to start with!

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