When it comes to getting a beautiful book cover (and end sheets with beautiful gold embossing), it helps to be a well-known bestselling author like Kristin Hannah.
I would give the book a rating range of 4-5 stars even without the beautiful cover. Five stars because Hannah's writing continues to be excellent (and she knows how to keep her verb tense consistent -- lack of which drives me crazy as you know if you read my last review of another author's book), and the story itself is mesmerizing even more so, for me, when I found out that Hannah has lived in Alaska (and I found the link to her life embedded within the story). Four stars because I don't know that I will read the book again, and I have no bookmarks in the book. Bookmarks show me that I found a thought that I want to come back to again and again, usually something philosophical or theological or thought-provoking.
My response to other reviews of this book:
The main antagonist deals with some issues that will annoy, frustrate, irritate, or anger some military families. Some of those reviews have a point. Hannah's explanations might have been a bit too pat and convenient. For one of my family members, characters putting up with abuse frustrates him and makes him stop reading. Yes, here is your forewarning: there is abuse in this story.
Some felt the ending was abrupt and again, conveniently romantic. After the tension of surviving in the country itself and surviving the situations in the book, a more uplifting ending was fine with me. Resolutions generally are short.
I can tell you right away, no thinking about it, I would not survive living in Alaska. I admire those who do. I enjoyed the story; I appreciated the characters. I was as frustrated with some of them as my family member would have been (but I kept reading). Also, I felt Hannah kept the story based in reality.
💕💕💕 Family -- the good, bad, and ugly are included in this book. From my own personal experience, I am not good at teaching survival skills (see above -- I would not survive). My preparation for sending children off to college was to make sure that they had tasted baked goods such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs (food we normally did not eat). In situations where teaching children to survive is needed, I am not the one.
--- Ask me about surviving spiritually, and I want to talk about not just surviving but growing and thriving. The "great alone" lower case, not the story of the book, can be beneficial when it is silence, solitude, and time between one and one's Creator. But, it can also be gut-wrenching when it is alone and lonely.
The narrative of 'The Great Alone' is set in a vast lonely place; however, community shines throughout the story. As my own family was discussing so many sorrows hitting at once, the common saying, "God never gives you more than you can handle" tends to come to mind. Actually, the Bible verses people base the above saying on doesn't refer to tragic suffering. Sometimes we do get more than we can handle...alone. We need help, from God, from others.
I would give the book a rating range of 4-5 stars even without the beautiful cover. Five stars because Hannah's writing continues to be excellent (and she knows how to keep her verb tense consistent -- lack of which drives me crazy as you know if you read my last review of another author's book), and the story itself is mesmerizing even more so, for me, when I found out that Hannah has lived in Alaska (and I found the link to her life embedded within the story). Four stars because I don't know that I will read the book again, and I have no bookmarks in the book. Bookmarks show me that I found a thought that I want to come back to again and again, usually something philosophical or theological or thought-provoking.
My response to other reviews of this book:
The main antagonist deals with some issues that will annoy, frustrate, irritate, or anger some military families. Some of those reviews have a point. Hannah's explanations might have been a bit too pat and convenient. For one of my family members, characters putting up with abuse frustrates him and makes him stop reading. Yes, here is your forewarning: there is abuse in this story.
Some felt the ending was abrupt and again, conveniently romantic. After the tension of surviving in the country itself and surviving the situations in the book, a more uplifting ending was fine with me. Resolutions generally are short.
I can tell you right away, no thinking about it, I would not survive living in Alaska. I admire those who do. I enjoyed the story; I appreciated the characters. I was as frustrated with some of them as my family member would have been (but I kept reading). Also, I felt Hannah kept the story based in reality.
💕💕💕 Family -- the good, bad, and ugly are included in this book. From my own personal experience, I am not good at teaching survival skills (see above -- I would not survive). My preparation for sending children off to college was to make sure that they had tasted baked goods such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs (food we normally did not eat). In situations where teaching children to survive is needed, I am not the one.
--- Ask me about surviving spiritually, and I want to talk about not just surviving but growing and thriving. The "great alone" lower case, not the story of the book, can be beneficial when it is silence, solitude, and time between one and one's Creator. But, it can also be gut-wrenching when it is alone and lonely.
The narrative of 'The Great Alone' is set in a vast lonely place; however, community shines throughout the story. As my own family was discussing so many sorrows hitting at once, the common saying, "God never gives you more than you can handle" tends to come to mind. Actually, the Bible verses people base the above saying on doesn't refer to tragic suffering. Sometimes we do get more than we can handle...alone. We need help, from God, from others.
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