Okay, I have a confession to make. When I read a book that is set in a place or about a subject that I am familiar with, I have a tendency to be super nitpicky about things being factually accurate. That being the case, I ended up having some serious issues with this book, especially the first half.

I grew up in Alaska from the time that I was about a year old. I lived in different areas of Alaska for the next 30 years. From logging camps with less than 100 people to the largest city in the state. From the capital to a fishing village that, while technically a city, would never be referred to as such by anyone outside rural Alaska. Throw in a college town that hovers around 40 below zero in the winter as well. So when I say that I am Alaskan Grown, it's legit.

This book, while relatively entertaining, just had too many factual inaccuracies that continually took me out of the story. These are things that could've been fixed with even a mediocre attempt at research. Now, I'm sure that there are many people who had none of the issues I did. And I'm not trying to say that they are wrong in their enjoyment of the story. And I'm well aware that I'm the minority, if the rave reviews are anything to go by. But I just couldn't suspend disbelief. So for those of you who like salty, nitpicky, petty reviews, stay tuned. For those who don't, I thought the romance was okay once the story finally took off and the ending was satisfying, which is why this book gets 2.5 stars instead of one.

What I didn't like:

1. Factual Inaccuracies:
At the beginning of the book, Calla is taken to Bangor (Bethel) in a super cub airplane. For those who aren't familiar with little puddle-jumpers, this is a plane with only two seats: the pilot and a passenger sitting directly behind the pilot. Calla (our protagonist) is told by Jonah (brooding love interest) that the flight between Anchorage and Bangor (Bethel) only takes about an hour, and that it is about a 400-mile trip. That would be true, if we are talking about a jet that travels at 30,000 feet and 400ish mph. HOWEVER, a super cub only travels at about 87 mph...doing the math, that would be closer to a 5-hour flight. Even in a larger bush plane, it's still at least a couple of hours. Later in the book, one of the characters takes a small plane to Barrow. This is described as if it's no big deal, and later we're told it's a two-hour flight. Again, this might be true IN A JET. It's a 750-mile flight. That isn't exactly a quick trip. It feels like the author just went and looked up flight schedules on Alaska Airlines and used that info as if all planes are the same.

Also, one of the characters has a raccoon that he keeps as a pet. Not only is this ridiculous (We have dogs and cats in Alaska, people! Some people even own chickens and goats and whatnot. Sheesh!) but it's also really unlikely. Again, this feels like a thing where the author did a tiny bit of research without digging deeper. While it's true that raccoons were introduced into the wild in the 1930s, there is no substantive population of them today that would make me believe that you would just happen across one and make it your pet.

Oh, and there is no way that someone could mistake muskrat for beef. It's a completely different flavor profile. I'm not saying that as someone who has eaten muskrat, but as someone who took 10 flipping seconds to google it. It's described as having a flavor close to rabbit or alligator. I mean, Calla is an idiot, so I suppose she could've been fooled, but it's just one more thing that rubbed me the wrong way.

2. Calla and her mother. THE WORST. There is a scene in chapter seven where Jonah lets Calla have it and I was cheering. She is vapid, narcissistic, and materialistic. She lacks any common sense whatsoever. She is spoiled and lazy and is completely obsessed with appearances. She is 26 and lives at home rent and responsibility free. Oh, I forgot. She takes out the trash once a week. FFS. My son is 9 freaking years old and he has more responsibility.

It's difficult to put all the blame on her, however, when you meet her mother. She is just the absolute worst. She's Calla to the nth degree. We're told in the beginning of the book that Calla's stepfather (who is a psychiatrist and whose automatic retort for anything is, "And how does that make you feel?" I wish I were joking.) is basically a doormat who concedes literally everything to his wife, even though she's clearly still in love with Calla's father, who she left because she hated Alaska.

Calla spends the majority of this LONG book whining about how Alaska is awful because they don't have her preferred brand of soy milk. Seriously. It took WAY too long into the book for her to show any level of growth and by the point her character was becoming less insufferable, I just didn't care anymore.

3. Pacing.
Did I mention that this book is long. Because it is. It's WAY TOO LONG (almost as long as this review. Sorry, not sorry) It takes too long to get us from Toronto (the most unnecessary part of the entire book) to Alaska. Then it takes too long to get to the point with Calla and Wren. There is a trip to the grocery store to get her a freaking latte that felt like it lasted a hundred pages. It's TOO LONG. And really, nothing happens for about 75% of this book.

Other Odds and Ends:

1. The book takes place in the fictional town of Bangor, which would be recognizable to anyone who knows anything about Alaska as being based on Bethel, AK. It is the largest community in Western AK, it's right on the Kuskokwim river, etc. I don't understand why she didn't just use the name Bethel. She has no problem mentioning other communities in Alaska: St. Mary, Unalakleet, Russian Mission, Barrow, Seward...but for some reason she changes the name of the town where the main action takes place. It's not necessarily a complaint, but I just don't get it.

2. Many of the complaints I see about this are regarding Jonah. Readers seem to think he's a jerk for the way he treats Calla. I honestly don't get that at all. He is right in pretty much all his observations about her. She's ridiculous. I do think that a couple of the things he does are not okay, but those things lead to Calla doing something that is also NOT OKAY

when he hides her luggage and she retaliates by cutting his hair and beard while he is medicated and passed out.

I'm bummed because I've been craving a good Alaska story for and I hoped this would satisfy. It didn't.

If anyone out there is looking for a good Alaska book, I'd recommend the following:

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed The Sun & Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (Velma Wallis is an Alaska Native woman and these books are based on Athabascan legends.)


TL;DR - The main character sucks and there are a lot of factual inaccuracies that inhibited my enjoyment. 2.5/5 stars