No Fences in Alaska

This book right here had me happy then confused I like the aspect of the family with her and her grandpa and I like books set in Alaska so I was all here for it but the teenage pregnancy to a college drug dealing boyfriend I don’t really get that part but I did like this one a lot more than I thought I would

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book.
It was such an amazingly important read I honestly couldn’t get enough.
At some points this book was really heavy reading if I’m being honest.
The story I feel is a really Important one and I’m glad I got the chance to read it.
4 stars.

Big thnx to NetGallery for a free copy of this book.

I find it light, entertaining, and interesting read. It feels like watching a movie play in front of your eyes, and I really believe it will be screened one day :).
Characters are interesting and warm, the plot is somewhat predictable, but I didn't mind. The writing is great, it really takes you to the vast territories of Alaska - you can see the beauty of its rawness, and the honesty of it's people. The book is a real page turner, so when you start, you wouldn't be able to put it back until you finish.

Overall, a great book to read on a hot summer days. My reccomendation.

What makes this book so different than the rest? It deals with a ton of issues that are real life issues & it does so in a way that makes it seem like someone's actual story instead of a work of fiction. The topics that are dealt with are written & described so well. I can't comment on the exact representation of them because I've not personally dealt with them except for losing someone to suicide & almost losing myself to suicide.
This book is in one word, amazing. I read the synopsis & immediately requested to read this book via NetGalley & was approved. I'm so grateful I was approved. This book deals with issues such as dementia, drug use, drug addiction, suicide, teen pregnancy & over coming difficulties in life. The characters are all amazing & so realistic. The character development & story development are absolutely amazing. This book is beautifully done & I 100% recommend it. There were some parts that shocked me & broke my heart but also some that made me laugh & sometimes get mad at. I think everyone needs to read this book. While reading it & after finishing it, I cried so much. The ending wasn't what I was hoping for but it was no less a great ending to a great book. In my eyes its an easy 5 star book & I can't wait until its published so I can get a physical copy. I'm so glad that I read this book.

Okay, so I enjoyed this book quite a lot.... I was excited to sit down and read a few more chapters, but it was lacking something.
I would say that it had a very promising beginning but the very welcome addition of the lovely Cooper gave some much needed relief from Harper’s tiresome attention seeking.
I just could not gel with her... in not sure why, especially as I have been a teenage girl with some wild tendencies myself!
I just found her a little spoilt, and with too much free reign.
Cooper was warm and reigned me back in to the story with gusto.
I found the story a bit cheesy at times, with too many overblown ‘I love you’s’ - but it’s still well worth a read.
The very visual descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness are wonderful.

I was searching my kindle for my next read and the cover of this one caught my eye. I then saw the byline of “No fences in Alaska sweetheart, “Never let them build one round you” which made me want to read the blurb which had me want to start reading the book. The genre’s listed for this book are New Adult, YA, & Teens, which this book is certainly suitable for but I would like to add I think the book should also be classed as General Fiction as I think many adults would thoroughly enjoy reading it.

The very basics of the story are that Harper Lyon is a young 16yr old who is not getting on with her parents. Harper’s mother Natalie and her parents are very religious and strict and Harpers father Greg, found religion later in life and is trying to be very strict with his children. Natalie’s parents put a lot of pressure and have exceedingly high expectations from Greg as headmaster of a school they are funding. The slightest infraction of rules is to be punished no matter who that individual is. Which is how Harper finds herself expelled from the school her parents both work at. Greg also carries what some would say is emotional baggage from his childhood. The baggage he carries is in reference to this emotional baggage is in connection to his younger sister Heather who had been into boys, drink and drugs. Heather had died despite the best efforts of Greg’s parents. Greg blamed his father for his sister’s death and also for having an affair and causing the total breakdown of the family. This is one reason that he comes down so hard on Harper, but it is also a reason she feels she cannot talk to her parents. As Greg presumes Harper is on the same track of behaviour his sister was and attempts to clamp down even more on Harper. This however just pushes Harper further away, and into the arms of an older boyfriend, Zachary who uses her insecurities and ends up having her meet him in secret, gives her drugs and when she wakes up next to one of Zachary’s friends in bed at the side of her she realises she is in fact being used. I won’t go into much more detail but Harper decides to go to her Grandfather, (her father dad who they haven’t seen or spoken to for years) to live with him. Harper uses blackmail to get her parents to purchase her a ticket. Sadly, the blackmail is in a way a last cry for help from Harper to her parents but her father is so worried about losing his job that he caves and buys her the flight ticket. Harper doesn’t know what life will be like with her paternal Grandfather but assumes at this stage it can’t get any worse. Harper is totally unaware that her Grandfather, Cooper has just been given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and is still coming to terms with that. Cooper admits he may not have done everything right in bringing up his children or his marriage but he is sure and really wants to help this granddaughter that he hasn’t seen since she was a young child that stood on a table during a boat journey and sang at the top of her voices. Those on the boat applaud her singing, however her father Greg did not, pulling her from the table saying people have to eat from those etc and telling her off. In fact, he argued with his father about it and they had never visited each other since. Cooper hopes Harper still has a love of singing as it is something, they will have in common that they can build on. Which they do become increasingly close yet still keep their biggest secrets to themselves. Eventually there comes a point where the secrets reveal themselves. It is through the process of tackling one of the secrets that Harper meets a boy around her age who works as an EMT and plays his guitar and sings around different venues for money. It’s not long before Cooper has them set up singing in different venues for payment. Then things take a turn for the worse for both Harper and Cooper…..who can help?

I feel like I want to tell you so much more, but to go into more detail, reveals far too much of the plot, and you need to have the sequence of events to be revealed in the order and at the time the book does so.

My favourite character is Cooper, the man who has been living alone without his family for such a long time with only his cat Houdini and dog Snowball for company. He is desperate to help his granddaughter when she reaches out to him, despite him not knowing the whole story of her situation. As time goes on in the book, Cooper becomes eager to help Harper find new interests and “set her on the right track” whilst he is still well enough to do so. He is determined to help to set up Harper’s future before he succumbs to Alzheimer’s. Having said that Cooper is determined no one will have to look after him when he gets to a stage in his illness that he can no longer take care of himself.

I seriously loved this book, I was easily drawn into the book and went from thinking Harper was going to be a maybe “wayward”, alcoholic teen but the further you read into the book you realise that she is somewhat misunderstood. In that when an alcoholic drink was found in her bag at school and it is reported to the headmaster who is also her dad, she is immediately presumed guilty and expelled then blamed for “ruining” her father Greg’s reputation. Her father seems very quick to believe the worst of his daughter, he cannot seem to help himself but compare Harper to his sister Heather. As a reader you can understand why she feels she cannot approach her parents to talk about her situation and problems. When she couldn’t see that Zachary was just using her I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her and shout, you are worth so much more. Then her rushed decision to go to Alaska to her grandfather, to me showed her maturing and wanting to do better for herself. After reading some of her interactions with Cooper I wanted to hug her and shout at them both for keeping secrets lol. This book does take you through a wide range of emotions. I found it difficult to put this book down and was frantically wishing for a happy ever after ending for Cooper, Harper and her family, but that wouldn’t have been realistic and this book really represents Alzheimer’s and the other issues featured accurately and in an honest, way. I think this book covered a lot of different issues really very well. There’s the dementia, the drugs, drink, peer pressure, family issues and more all dealt with so well in this book. The descriptions of the area are so good you can envision them easily. The byline, is said by the character I adored and kind of gives you a lump in your throat and then you totally understand how powerful it is within the book too.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were, Wow! What an amazing read! I am not ashamed to admit this book had me sobbing for the last 2% of it. Alzheimers/Dementia is portrayed honestly, truthfully and without frills or lies. Absolutely loved the relationship between Cooper and Harper. Would love to hear from these characters again a few years on, I will certainly be adding Glen Sobey's other book, The War Blog to my Want To Read List and keeping an eye out for any more titles written by him.

As a final sum up what can I say? I highly recommend reading, No Fences in Alaska!
Just make sure you have some tissues handy!

This is such a heartfelt read! I immediately fell in love with the range of character personalities and the way the author was able to dive into the mind of a teenager and really bring the reader in from the first page. This is the story of Harper, a wild, drug-addicted, boy-crazy party girl and her journey to redefine herself in backwoods Alaska with her estranged grandfather. As the mother of a teenage girl, the trials Harper faces truly resonated with me. Her need to fit in, to rebel against her parents, to be the girl the boys want her to be, are all things that young girls go through in real life. Harper, however, finds herself pregnant by an older college boy who wants nothing to do with her or her baby. She isn't even sure what to do about the baby herself. When she sets off for Alaska to visit her grandfather, Cooper, whom she hasn't seen since she was six years old, her intentions aren't to get attached. But they end up being everything the other needs at that moment in time. Cooper was hands-down my favorite character. His wisdom and unconditional love for his family (and pets) is what ties the whole book together.

The plot was a little predictable and cheesy, but was still a real page turner. The writing was amazing. I am so impressed with how well the author describes the Alaskan scenery. I have never been to Alaska, but had no trouble picturing the beauty of it. After some research on the reader, I have found that the other lives in rural Alaska, so that vast beauty is something he sees every day. I really like that he chose a setting that he knows so well. This is a perfect summer read - I laughed, I cried, I rooted for characters at times and hated them at times. I was truly engaged in the story. It was like a movie playing in my head; I couldn't put it down. It is the perfect beach read for parents of teenagers, or any fan of YA fiction.

All in all No Fences in Alaska was a good book. I absolutely loved the Alaskan wilderness and probably enjoyed that part of the book more than the actual storyline. I found parts to be a bit over-descriptive, and at times it felt like the days moved too fast. The only negative thing I found is the way part of it's written.

No Fences in Alaska follows the story of Harper, who is a stereotypical wild child. Partying, sex, drugs. Throughout the book you get to be right there with Harper as she learns some life lessons. This coming-of-age read would be great for teens and adults. It can be a bit predictable, but worth the read. Through the whole book starting when Harper arrived to Alaska, I could picture myself out there. I believe it would make a good movie!

I really loved this book, I was simply drawn into the story and went from thinking Harper was going to be a maybe “wayward”, alcoholic teen but the more I read into the book I realised that she is rather misunderstood. The characters and story line were very well done it explores family relationships and character development. The book is on the mature side, dealing with some intense themes. It does, however, induce a sense of joy that happens when one is part of a complete family, chosen or biological.

No Fences in Alaska has a more "real life" feel to it then many books I've read, when it comes to real life. There are many problems with drugs, boys, family and health, that many people deal with in life, often all at the same time. I loved that aspect of it, although it was a lot sometimes, which is just an aspect of life. All the characters were really well written, you had the people you liked and the ones you didn't. The animals played a big role in the story and that was awesome.

I gave this story a 3/5 because I loved the characters, the message and the real life aspect. I wish some of it was a little stretched out and wasn't a week long story when it felt like it took a couple years. It was a constant, event after event sequence and that made it a bit hard to follow. That sequence also didn'y help the characters development, clearly there, but rushed and unrealistic. Overall, very good story, had times where I couldn't put it down. The message was lovely, because the title is true. You have nothing stopping you in Alaska.

I enjoyed this book. It is well written and the characters are described well. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

No Fences in Alaska is about a girl named Harper who is going through some things at the age of 16 and feels like her parents just dont understand her. When Harper gets herself into a lot of trouble she ends up in Alaska with her grandfather that she hasn't seen in years.
Harper and her relationship with her grandfather Cooper is just beautiful. I loved their understanding and needing of one another. This story deals with a lot of issues. Trigger warning for sex, drugs, rape, death, and mental abuse. I enjoyed this story it was definitely a page Turner, but there was some parts of the story that made me cringed with cheesiness and insta love.

Brilliant. I went through a whole series of emotions reading this book. So many issues are tackled in this story. They are tackled sympathetically and with a feeling of understanding. I will remember this book for a long time and would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Warning this book does have triggers to mental health issues drug related issues and Abuse.

I enjoyed the story it’s a very hard hitting from the start this book does not gloss over hard hitting issues.the book follows 16 year old Harper whose life is a train wreck she has a abusive boyfriend is addicted to drugs dresses up and blackmails her parents. And her younger sister wants To be like her. Untill one day she gets in contact with her estranged grandpa Cooper who is struggling with his diagnosis of dementia and together they form a unbreakable relationship and are great together.

I liked the chracture of Harper towards the end. At the beginning she was a bitch but as her story unfolds we find out she has a abusive boyfriend who gives her drugs and has sex with her I felt overwhelmed with how many issues that Harper has and I couldn’t keep up I just wanted to shout at her and disliked her. When she goes to Alaska I am rooting for her she had a great relationship with her grandfather and I liked that. At 16 she has a tough journey but by the end of the book I was rooting for her. good chracture progression you can have issues and come out the other side.

Cooper is Harpers Grandpa at thebstart you find out he has dementia and is estranged from his family. I loved Cooper as a chracture I really connected with him. The dements rep was spot on and I was in tears reading Coopers dementia getting worse but still determined to do things and show Harper his Alaska before the dementia sets in.

Harpers Family especially her dad is overprotective understandable as his sister Heather died and is worries about Harper going the same way. Harpers dad likeable towards the end and goes on a good parent learning curve. Harpers mum is ok as a chracture she has a lot of backstory throughout the book.

Harpers siblings Harper has a older brother Chris who is in the Army he is mentioned a couple of times but not alot wich is a shame would of liked him to join the family at the end.Alex and Jack are the younger siblings ok chractures they dont really add to the story in my opinion.

Rachel. Harpers Grandmother is sensible wanted to find out more about her apart from being Greg and Heather’s mum.

All in all I enjoyed it the plot was good easy to follow. this book is very emotion and Raw very gritty doesnt gloss over anything. I loved the description of Alaska. I enjoyed the book would of liked a but more about Chris Harpers older brother cried at the end.

Raiting: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book absolutely kept me hooked - I read it through in one day. The characters were strong and believable and that included some of the more minor characters like her mother and her sister where the author is careful to give enough detail to explain their motivations and their history. The descriptions of Alaska were also awe inspiring and really made me want to plan a trip one day. (Not so much for Texas - cochroaches - urgh!) I feel sure the author has personally experienced the mountains, the moose and probably the bears!

Saying that I did have some reservations. There is a strong theme of Christianity in this book which runs alongside issues such as drugs and teenage pregnancy. Naturally the protagonist feels a conflict when she considers abortion but I was very surprised that a girl in her situation would change her mind and I did wonder whether the author had made this decision because of their own beliefs. Equally, you could argue that almost losing the baby and also having a stable family environment which would help her raise the baby helped her make that (extremely difficult) decision. However I was absolutely not convinced by the grandfather, Cooper, changing his lifelong atheist beliefs and adopting the power of prayer; that felt odd and contrived. I am glad that Gabriel, the boyfriend, was allowed to retain his atheist beliefs!

I found the ending where the baby's father appears rather unrealistic; the whole situation was contrived - clearly the only reason she mentions her pregnancy on stage is to engineer this ending to clear up all of the loose ends. (This declaration of pregnancy felt very "off" to me as I read it but once I reached the ending I understood why it had been used). Saying that, the author does explain Zachary's extreme behaviour by re-listing her threats towards him, and adding messages which haven't been received. I don't think this was a necessary element though - he is completely off stage by this point and could have remained so.

This is a tough review for me. For most of the novel, I felt like it was a bit overdone...unrealistic, too perfect, Hallmark movie-ish. So, why am I sobbing through the last quarter of the book? Obviously, something connected with my hard heart! This is a fast read and has a lot going on, and even though the characters seem a little cookie cutter, you'll find yourself cheering for them and hoping for the happy ending (although it might be unrealistic, you'll really, really want it!) And I must say...LOVED Cooper! Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing an advanced copy of this novel for review.

This book gave me goosebumps! A first class story of love and understanding in a family setting, even if it's a generation apart. It's a great read for anyone and everyone.

A broken family filled with anger and addiction is a tough one to navigate, especially when you haven’t been given a guide book!
Harper is a strong willed and teen who has been paying the price of her aunt’s mistakes and a conviction from her father before she barely had a chance. She’s gotten mixed up in things too old for her as a replacement for the parental love and acceptance that she has been denied. Her hope is that her grandfather in Alaska can help her, even though he is dealing with his own guilt of the past and bleak outlook of his future.
The plot is engrossing, even though the characters often aggravate with their pettiness, and you find yourself pulling for the underdog. This is a story of how to be human, and how one girl is struggling to find her true self in the midst of chaos. Well done.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book. It was a real page-turner. I read it in one sitting, I found it to be entertaining and a very interesting read. The plot was somewhat predictable, but the characters were great.
I felt like I was watching this on tv instead of reading it, It really took you to the depths of Alaska. The honesty of the people, along with the rawness of the book, it was a great read.
I follow the author on Instagram, and he had actually sent me a copy of the book, he shares with me the Alaska adventures he goes on. He is a very friendly and kind person.

This was a wonderfully, tough and thought provoking read.
In many places the depth of the plot and the characters sucked me in and spat me out a few chapters on.
To use the phrase " emotional rollercoaster " would be a sin, it was so much more. It was like surfing on a rough sea of mixed emotions.

I had trouble liking Harper in the beginning, but soon realised how common her lifestyle and choices actually are. I feel it shed alot of light on important relevant issues and delt with some very difficult and challenging situations gently and with respect.
My heart broke many times while reading and I still couldn't put it down.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book made me feel a wide range of emotions. I guess that being a mother myself, I wanted to both hug and slap Harper, our main character.
I loved the Grandpa and how much he cared for his grand-daughter. Accepting her as she is, without trying to be judgmental and controlling (which we all are at some point). Their connection felt magical.
The writing is very good and I like that the author is actually male, writing partly from a teenage girl point of view.
Alaska is such a beautiful setting.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Actual rating of 4.5

Harper Lyons is sixteen years old, and she's a hottie, just ask any of the boys that know her. A party girl through and through, all that Harper cares about is partying, looking hot, getting high, and her college aged boyfriend - Zachary. So when her parents try to stop her leaving the house to meet with him, she threatens them with suicide, this starts her down a rocky road that will change the course of her life. When she soon finds out that she is pregnant, she panics. There is no way in the world that she can tell her parents, they will never understand, so she does the only thing she can. Contacts her estranged Grandfather, Cooper Lyons, that she hasn't seen for ten years who lives in Alaska. Cooper lives alone with his dog - Snowball, and his cat - Houdini. He has recently been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and he doesn't plan on letting his disease run it's course, he'll shoot himself first. So when he receives a call from his Granddaughter, asking for his help, he can't say anything but yes. A story that follows a teenager who is off the rails, a man who feels that he is losing everything, and the relationship that saved them both.

I've had this one sitting in my review pile for a good while now, I knew that it was probably going to be fairly deep in it's themes, so I needed to be ready to read it. I was not wrong. I cried through the last few chapters of the book, and I had to sit for a little while to try and come back to the real world once I'd finished. I'm going to open this review by noting trigger warnings, as this is a hallmark read - though it does have some semblances of one in it's cheesiness at times - this story deals with loss, death, drug use, underage sex, wild and domestic animal deaths, mention of rape, miscarriage, abortion, sexual abuse, guns, underage drinking, and suicide.

I'm not going to lie, for the first third odd of this book, I absolutely HATED Harper. I wanted to throttle her and ask her what she was doing with her life, and how she was affecting her younger siblings while doing it. I wanted to punch her father and tell him to pull his head out of his arse and act like a father instead of a displeased prison warden. I'm not gonna lie, this book made me feel SO many emotions, and to be honest, I think I'm still trying to process it all. Harper's parents are religious, though her father wasn't always, he became religious because of her mother who was raised Christian. Harper's father - Greg - is the headmaster of a christian school where Harper was expelled from. This caused a rift between them because Harper had to try and deal with everyone knowing she was the headmasters daughter and assuming how she would act towards things and activities because of this. It gave her the sense that she had to prove everyone wrong in their assumptions, which assisted in leading her into her out of control lifestyle. Greg didn't help things, he constantly yells at her. Because this book is written in third person, we get a glimpse into everyone's thoughts, I couldn't help my overwhelming need to scream at the characters at all times to just stop yelling at each other and freaking TALK. To tell each other how they really feel instead of acting out and pushing each other away in the process. Then I realised, there are some parent/child relationships that are like this. I'm lucky. I've always known that I could go to my parents with anything, and while they couldn't promise to not be angry, I knew that they would help me. Harper didn't have this. She became to self dependent that she felt unloved and unwanted by her parents. I can't help but think of how lucky I am. So the characters were well written, they are all beautifully flawed and they seemed so much more real because of this. We all know I love a flawed character. Cooper is such a gentle soul and it broke my heart every time he had a dementia episode. A character that Harper meets in Alaska was a liiiitttlllleee unbelievable in that he's only 18 yet he's ready to take on someone else's child for a girl he's just met, but I guess, it could happen, so I'm not going to complain about it. Each character had their own distinct voices and had a level of dimension to them that made me feel like I was reading a real account of someone's life, at times.

The story was enthralling. It's an emotional rollercoaster that at times had me so angry I wanted to throw my phone, so happy that that I couldn't stop smiling, and so sad that I cried. It's a story not only about a pregnant teenager who has gone of the rails, but it explores why. It explores the family dynamic and family relationships and also how important it is to tell those around you that you love them because you might not get another chance. It's a story about a girl who was abused, who didn't realise it, who was seeking out love in all the wrong places, and she didn't know why. It's about there being just ONE person in her life that she could turn to for help in her darkest moment. It's about how one person has the power to save a life without even realising it. This is a story of regret, love, hate, anger, illness and loss.

I did feel that at times the religious side of the story was a little bit on the nose and heavy handed. Harper's grandfather on her mother's side is a zealot who believes God should be feared. I'm not religious, but I don't believe that true Christians see God as someone to be feared, so I instantly hated this character for that. While I feel that the religiousness of certain characters definitely added a much needed element to the story, I feel that the praying and reliance on God could have been lightened up a little, it almost felt like it cheapened the story a little bit at times.

I felt like the ending was a little bit rushed. It was almost like the story had cruised along a nice pace and then the ending needed to happen NOW. I also feel like the even near the end (which started my tears) was not needed. The reappearance of a certain character which resulted in a death felt more as though it was added in for a bit of shock factor which I couldn't understand the point of. I still don't get why this scene was included because it didn't add to the story in anyway. I felt like it took us a few steps backwards from where the characters had finally reached. While I had a feeling that this death scene and another one were unavoidable at some point, it didn't make them hurt any less.

Yes, there were a fair few predictable things that happened in this story. There was some incredibly cliched and cheesy things as well. But I feel it just added to the beauty of the story. Sometimes we don't need unpredictable, I don't believe a story including predictable story lines or cliches that have been used a million times over make a book a bad one, this one certainly wasn't.

All in all, this is an emotional story about familial bonds and trying your hardest to be the best version of your self that you can. We don't all get it perfect the first go, sometimes you've gotta try again. We are the only ones who can change the things in our lives that we aren't happy with, no one else can do it for us, but they can be there to lend a helping hand when we are ready.