Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

13 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This a great book. And a long book like this comes with a lengthy review! Despite its length, though,  it’s a quick read. I found myself unable to put it down for very long, which is saying something because I’m a slow reader. Now, for my thoughts on the story...

The novel takes place in the 1970s, but you need not worry about unfamiliar settings and references because Hannah makes the world around the Allbright family both richly detailed and extremely accessible.

The main character, Leni, is beautifully written. It’s so rare for an author to get a child/teen’s voice right, but Hannah nails it. Leni is thoughtful, intelligent, and sensitive; she’s a whole person. And we see her struggle and grow up in a turbulent family within a small community in a remote part of Alaska.

Though this story features many forms of abuse and domestic violence, Hannah uses a sensitive hand in the writing of it. It is believable and heart-breaking to watch Leni and her mother, Cora, both suffer at the hands of Ernt, their father and husband respectively. I love that the rest of the townsfolk stand up to Ernt and call out his behavior. I’m so used to media that features only hand-wringing bystanders. I love seeing people fighting back on behalf of Leni and Cora.

The (too many) twists of fate in the last third are terribly hard to read, partly because they’re so excruciating and partly because they require a lot of suspended disbelief. I would argue that the events in the last third take the plot outside the realm of what I see as plausible, especially considering the first two-thirds is written like a “slice of life” story.

I believe that making

Matthew and Leni fall off the cliff and making Matthew completely brain-dead after finally successfully escaping Ernt

was overkill. The

pregnancy

plot line did not need to be exacerbated by

Matthew’s accident when the pregnancy is huge enough as it is

. Also, while I’m happy that

Cora kills Ernt, which Leni helps cover up,

it is more than my suspended disbelief can handle. And don’t get me started on

Leni’s confession scene at the police station

. I almost said, “Oh, brother” out loud. Like, come on...

My rating on the first 66.6% of the book is 4 out of 5, but it just goes off the rails in the final 33.3%. These out-there events that feel forced/crammed in is what ultimately made me decide to rate this novel a 3.5 out of 5. 

It’s a weird book, but it’s packed with action and heartache in a captivating, soap opera kind of way. You can’t help but feel for the characters, even if some of the events are quite farfetched. I can’t help but want what is best Leni, and that is my litmus test for what makes for a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kmack79's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely enjoyed this book! It was mainly in Leni's perspective, a 13 yr old girl pulled to Alaska when her father came back from being a POW in the Vietnam War, and he came back a very different person! Leni and her mother walk on eggshells to try to keep him happy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

debbilynn42's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

scraig04018's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I wish there were more than 5 stars. I wish that my words were eloquent enough to describe just how beautiful this book is. My first book by thus author and was hooked. The characters tug at your heart. You want to hug each of them, the setting and plot is beautiful but dark and frightful. But, the community and acceptance is beautiful. I cannot say enough, this is one of my top 5 ever read and I will be reading it again to find things I've missed! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

As many trigger warnings as there are. Thus is a story of survival and finding one's voice. It's beautiful.

srq_book_lover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

heypoetrygirl's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

allthechaptersandverses's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A wonderful emotional book that made me cry. Definitely not lighthearted. The book was very slow and it took me awhile to get into it but once I did I couldn’t stop reading. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Blood

moack_5's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

erinrebecca922's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

An incredible coming of age story from the point of view of a girl who moves to Alaska with her family. Please note the content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent