Mini Reviews: The Great Alone || An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Pages: 440

Publication date: February 2018

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.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

Likes: This is a “weirdos in the wilderness” book, so of course I had to read it. Whenever a dysfunctional family moves to the remote wilderness, you know that something intense is going to happen. I am here for that!

The first 70% of this book is excellent. It’s easily the best writing I’ve read this year. Kristin Hannah brings the beauty and danger of Alaska to life. I love the nature descriptions. The small town is vivid and full of memorable characters. Large Marge is my favorite. She cares about the people in town, but she won’t put up with nonsense from them. You get the sense that she could live through anything. I agree with other reviewers that most of the characters are clichés, but I was invested enough in their lives that I didn’t care.

My favorite aspect of the novel is the slow buildup of tension. The plot is very slow, but I never got bored. 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 builds a wall around his property and considers burying bombs. It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck. You know that somebody is going to get killed, but you don’t know who. The relationships between the characters are volatile. They go from loving each other to abusing each other in seconds. I wanted to keep reading and find out who would survive.

“They were trapped, by environment and finances, but mostly by the sick, twisted love that bound her parents together.” – The Great Alone

Dislikes: For the majority of the book, it was a 5-star read for me. I was enjoying pretty much everything about it. Then the last 30% happened, and . . . yuck. By the end, I was cringing so hard that my face hurt. Why couldn’t the characters just be happy?! The plot suddenly shifts from slow-burn tension to fast-paced tragedy porn. We skip from tragedy to tragedy so fast that it becomes melodrama. I felt like I was suddenly reading a completely different novel. I usually love bleak books, but damn, the end of this one is over-the-top tragic.

I don’t know if I’d call this a “dislike” because evoking emotion is usually a good thing, but I hated the main character’s parents. They put their own petty arguments ahead of their child’s safety. They’re selfish and spineless. A few times, I got irritated enough at them that I put the book down. I always picked it up again, though.

The Bottom Line: The plot left me disappointed, but if you’re a wannabe writer, you should read this novel. The writing is stunning.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Genre: Adult science fiction

Pages: 352

Publication date: September 2018

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Likes: This is one of those books that you objectively know has problems—the characters are flat and the writing isn’t great—but you don’t care because you had so much fun reading it. If I was better at sitting still, I could have easily read this novel in one sitting. Whenever I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be reading it.

The main character, April, is the first person to discover an alien robot. Her life is changed forever when she sets out on a fast-paced, hilarious quest to discover what these aliens want from Earth. The pacing and storyline reminds me of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, but An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is more thought-provoking. It’s about fame, the media, Internet culture, and how people choose to see the world. Also, there are robots named Carl, which is awesome. The mystery of the Carls is compelling. I got just as caught up in solving it as the characters did. The plot is a rollercoaster. I loved it.

“I’d heard all this before, but I also knew that this line of argument worked. If you tell people that they’re being attacked for their beliefs, then suddenly they want to defend their beliefs, even if they didn’t really believe them before. It’s pretty amazing, really.” – An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Dislikes: I didn’t love the characters or the writing. Maybe because I’ve been watching Hank Green’s YouTube channel for an embarrassing number of years. This novel reads like a long version of his videos: fast-paced, funny, lots of science and philosophy, some random tangents. Obviously, I like Hank, but I was very aware that he’s the author of this book. That made it difficult to get into the story. April is too much like a flat version of her creator. Actually, I wish we knew more about all of the characters. They get lost in the plot. Maybe that’s the point? The robot obsession shoves everything else in their lives to the fringes.

My only other complaint is about the slow spot in the middle. There’s a section where we mostly watch April Tweet. It’s not very exciting. Luckily, the crazy ending makes up for it.

The Bottom Line: So . . . when is the sequel coming out? I’m invested in the mystery of the alien robots and want to know what happens next.