The setup and the beginning of The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is intense in the characters, the setting, the situation, and the emotion. It has a sympathetic main character to care about. The events seem frighteningly real. However, as the book proceeds, it seems like a race to incorporate every bad thing that can happen into this one story. Let's just say that it goes too far and undermines the "reality" of the powerful setup of the book.

Reviewed for NetGalley

Now, if you’ve read my other reviews, you’ll know I’ve reviewed The Book Thief. This book, however, is not for children (sorry, young adults), but for adults. It’s also set on the other side of the war and shows a different perspective on the lives of two sisters. The two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, both live in France, but live two very different lives and are two very different characters.

The official genre for this book (according to GoodReads) is historical fiction. This is my first historical fiction book (unless you include The Book Thief). The book is written in quite a lengthy way. I found I couldn’t get into the characters. That’s not to say the characters were bad, in fact, I found the characters quite well defined. It just wasn’t my style of writing.

I recommended the book to my girlfriend, as I thought it’d be interesting for her. It turns out, I’m not the only one who finds it hard to read through. She also said that the story is good, but as a non-native, the story didn’t flow like it should. I kept saying; it gets more interesting the further in you get. She hasn’t read further than half-way yet.

Maybe young adult books have spoilt me. I find they bring you into the moment. This could theoretically be an action book because there is plenty of it inside. One of the sisters, the younger, Isabelle is quite a daring and thrill seeker, whereas the character Vianne is quite the opposite.

The book shows the power that women can have, especially overlooked in times of war. The strength of the two women make this story, but I feel it was let down by the writing. Overall, if you like books on the war, you’ll probably like this book, but otherwise, I would say to get it out at your library.