I tried several times to read this book, but I couldn’t get past the first few chapters for two glaring reasons.

First and foremost, being from Alaska, I found hundreds of small inaccuracies that I could not tolerate. A sample: school ends before Labor Day in Alaska. In the first chapter, the protagonist talks about sitting in class on a hot June day. Yaaaaaa....so not right. Another sample: never ever would someone use the word “sqaw” to refer to an Alaska Native—more likely than not, kids here wouldn’t even know the word. AK culture is very present in the curriculum (and I have firsthand knowledge of curriculum in three different districts, including Anchorage).

Those are just two glaring inaccuracies that appeared in the first few paragraphs. I just couldn’t go on with this book. I suppose that if you’re not from here, you wouldn’t notice the errors, or assumptions on the part of the author. I, however, did.

The other problem I had with the book was the writing style. The sentences were very short and abrupt. Like this. And this. Perhaps the author does not like commas or is trying to communicate something with the trunctuated style of writing. If so, I did t get the message.

Overall this was a miss for me, as most books written about Alaska by non-Alaskan writers are. Too bad, I had high hopes.

A dystopian wilderness adventure with simplistic characters?

‘The Alaskan Chronicles' tells the story of awkward teenager Jim, who lives with his family in Alaska, USA. When a solar storm hits and power goes off around the world, chaos quickly descends, and the family must gather up what supplies they can and flee into the wilderness. The story follows their attempts to adapt to a new world without electricity, the mental strain of a dramatically reduced lifestyle and the perils of both an Alaskan winter and of course other bands of survivors who are out to establish control in a new dystopian world.

The main strength of this book is the wilderness sections, which are thoroughly researched and compelling. The hunting and foraging become an important part of the characters' lives, and the book is littered with tips and facts that make it almost non-fictional at times! The writing style is simplistic and easy to read, and while many other reviewers have criticised the book for being too slow, I found it moved quickly and didn't focus too long on the formulaic ‘world slowly descends into chaos' opening as is often the issue with dystopian style stories. The book contains numerous action sequences that are captivating and keep things moving along.

Unfortunately, the characters in this book didn’t really resonate with me. The target audience is young adult, yet even still almost every character was far too simplistic for me with fundamental personalities and nothing uniquely different. People seem to be considered only for their occupation, and even the main character doesn't feel very natural which made it difficult for me to get into the book, particularly for an apocalypse style book where often the interactions between characters are the most interesting part. There is a romantic subplot, but it just felt weird and slightly forced to me, particularly as Jim is repeatedly described as awkward and inexperienced. Every group the family encounters seems to be either survival experts or complete idiots, which I don't believe is especially realistic.

The overall premise is obviously a little farfetched as; personally I don't believe things would deteriorate that quickly in real life; there is also some suspect science in the book, why do cars continue to work if the electrical grid is down for example? The book contains many pop culture and not very subtle political references, which didn't seem to be relevant to the story.

In conclusion, ‘The Alaskan Chronicles' is an interesting read mainly due to the exciting and well-researched wilderness sections and actions sequences, particularly towards the end of the book. However, I feel complex and believable characters are a vital part of any novel, and this book just didn't offer enough for the vast majority of its characters.

Boromir

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I was interested to read a survivalist take on the ever popular dystopian theme for a variety of reasons, the earth apparently passing it's point of no return several years ago seeming abstract yet frightening, my daughters and husbands recent trips not to Alaska but to Svalbard where they skied with pulks across an altered less-frozen landscape to even their first trips several years ago as an effect of global warming, and stories like Into the Wild (where the protagonist was clueless and died).
This book is written as Young Adult fiction, but is a good story and would make an excellent film. It follows the struggles of a family after society has collapsed after technology is wiped out by a solar storm. I was interested initially in how the younger members would cope, but the story draws you in quickly so that it's about how quickly the family adapts to survive.
If I were to criticise the book it would be that I felt their bushcraft felt non-intuitive and a but unrealistic. I also couldn't see how new ways couldn't be found to overcome the effects of the solar storm.....but that might just be something an adult might find an issue.

Not for me a struggle to read and a real shame as it sounded like it could be good but it wasn't. Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC.

I loved the concept, but it was not engaging and the language made it difficult to follow. I really wanted to love this too.

Did not finish. It was painful and pretentious and I could not get through the first 50 pages without cringing and shutting the book. Kept trying to pick it back up and eventually decided torturing myself wasn't worth it.

It was confusing, I had to look up words more than once (which is normally fine, but the narrator is supposed to be living in a dystopian universe where he's the only one who knows how to read and write and he's not very comfortable with it...), and not only that but it wasn't even a hint of believable! The narrator is supposed to be telling the story of when he was a teen (in 2016/2017) and he's saying things like "I was hoovering the living room." I don't know if anyone told the author but no teen calls vacuuming "hoovering" and hasn't since 1958. The author kept flipping back and forth between "girls are too fragile to run the country, I'm glad Hilary didn't win" to "how could we have let Trump be president?" and it was difficult to follow.

I have only said this about two other books (and those two I at least finished), but I hated it.

This is just too slow.
If you wish to fall asleep read this.

This review is based on an ARC of The Provider (The Alaskan Chronicles #1) which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (John Hunt Publishing Ltd./Lodestone Books).

DNF @ 16%

I really wanted to love this book. I really had high hopes based on the synopsis, and I was very excited about being approved for an ARC. Oh, was I let down. I put the book down hours ago because I just did not care to read another word of it, and now I just have no desire to pick it up again.

Some people might like this book--might love it even! The idea is there, and from what I read the story might be spectacular. For me, it's the execution that is wrong. I don't care for the narration, the characters, or the plot buildup at all. I wish that this had either been written by somebody with real knack or talent for writing, or written by the same author later, after much practice and honing of his skill.

The characters just aren't believable. Nobody has any voice, and the personalities are just so forced that they all come off weak and uninspired. Take Bess for example. I cannot stand to read another line about her. She is stereotypical, stupid, and horribly unbelievable. No real person is like that. She is a badly written character who was modeled after what the author must think real girls are, without success. Bess is just my main example, but I didn't like any of the characters.

Another reason why I did not want to continue reading The Provider is all the political talk. I hear enough political talk and opinions and arguments as it is, please don't bring Donald Trump into what is supposed to be enjoyable fiction as well.

So The Provider is definitely not for me. I really wish I could have loved this book.

Honestly, this book kind of terrified me. I’m used to dystopic novels being set hundreds of years in the future, a safe arm’s length away. This book is set in 2020. That’s only two years. It’s set at just an uncomfortable distance. Pair that with the fact that the Event could possibly happen at any time, and this story gets scarier than any horror story.
I really found myself getting into the story. Scary realism put aside, it was really interesting following Jim and his family through this huge event, and watching them as they learn to adapt to this new way of life. I had a tense feeling in my chest throughout most of this book, thinking that there was some huge conflict just waiting around every corner. I was disappointed at certain parts, as I felt that some things were just brushed over, but overall it was an interesting read, and I look forward to the next book.

A modern day Swiss Family Robinson. The author imagines a scenario where solar flares wipe out all the electronics in our world. He does this through telling the story of a normal, everyday family in Alaska. The main character is a (possibly slightly autistic?) 16-17 year old boy in the family. After the flares, the family, along with some friends, relocates to the wilds of Alaska, to avoid the chaos occurring in the cities.
The story progresses through the first seasons spent in the wilderness, the struggles, stumbles, and triumphs. It really takes hold in the final third of the book, when outside influences occur.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot. I enjoyed the story very much. It was not anything earth-shattering, as I said before, it was a modern day Swiss Family Robinson.
But the ending! Wow! Just when you thought you could see how it was going to wrap up, the author throws a huge wrench into the mix. I was very surprised! It enables the author to really keep the story alive, and to greatly crank up the action. I can't wait for the next installment!

I am not sure how to rate this book. It starts out with a good plot line but falls flat.

Interesting premise and reasonably well written. The author tries to put President Trump in a bad light but that is hard to do with a world ending solar flare. One character blamed it all on Hillary but that was equally outrageous. It was not clear if there were to be follow on books in a series but if so they would be worth reading. The group escaping to the wilds of Alaska seem to be more self sufficient could be expected.

I found this novel extremely masculine and hard to relate to, however, I do believe that male readers will relate to and resonate with this novel well.
The writing was great and very descriptive.