⭐⭐⭐.5/5 stars.
"All the Winters After", tells the story of an Alaskan family who lives were forever changed during a tragic event twenty years back. Kache (pronounced catch), fled Alaska for good, but now his aunt Snag insists on his return. She admits she couldn't bring herself to check on his family's house in the woods, not even once since he's been gone. Kache is sure the cabin has decayed into a pile of logs, but he finds smoke rising from the chimney and a mysterious Russian woman (Nadia) hiding from her own troubled past. Nadia has kept the house exactly the same, a haunting museum of life before the crash. And she's stayed there, afraid and utterly isolated, for ten years.
What I really liked about this story was the character of Nadia. I found her to be the most interesting and it really made me think about what life would be like from her perspective. To willingly be isolated from the world for 10 whole years is something that the majority of mankind cannot fully understand, and what better setting than the vast and mysterious Alaska woods.
But while I was enjoying the main story plot, I felt as I kept getting further and further in, I was getting more bothered by how these characters were interacting. It was turning more into a Nicholas Sparks book (not to say anything bad about him, because I have enjoyed some of his work), and focusing too much on the love story between Nadia and Kache. I would have much rather seen them just as friends and then maybe at the very end get together. I also felt the writing was really strong in some parts and then in others it seemed very choppy.
Overall, this book was just okay for me. I definitely liked the setting and the family cabin tucked in the woods; giving a theme of isolation and a different outlook on survival. If you are interested in stories set in Alaska (which seems to be a popular trend now), I would personally say there are better ones, but if you are just looking for a pretty good story with a little fluff then I would recommend this. Many people have given this book a higher rating than mine, so it really just depends on the reader!
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