This was my first Nicholas Sparks novel. I had seen some of the movies based on his books (Dear John and The Vow) so I thought I'd give the written version a try. After all, everyone raved about Nicholas Spark! So I carefully selected Safe Haven because its plot sounded like the most appealing out of the bunch of books he'd already written.
Katie is new in the town of Southport, North Carolina. She leads a simple life and prefers to be on her own, not wanting to draw too much attention. However, Alex, a widowed store-owner and father of two children notices her and wants to know more about her. For some reason, Katie lets her defenses down with him. But the truth is that she is keeping a secret, and the reason why she came to Southport in the first place was that she is actually on the run, determined to flee from her past.
Well, first and before all: I absolutely loved and enjoyed Safe Haven. It was difficult to get used to the third-person POV at first because I was so used to first-person POV's, but Nicholas Sparks is a real master at doing this, and his writing is absolutely wonderful. What impressed me most were the details that were carefully put into the characters. Since the is a third-person POV, you actually get to see things from various points of view and each character had their own thought process and semantics.
The characters are wonderful, and the storyline was full of surprises, full of crazy twists and suspense! This book is like a puzzle, where flashbacks help you piece it together! I couldn't put the book down, because I wanted to know how Alex and Katie's relationship would evolve but also how Katie's past finally comes back to haunt her. Plus there is a major twist in the end of the story which just leaves you in tears.
Indeed, this book is more than a love story in a beautiful setting: it is also a very suspenseful thriller <spoiler>and a clear message to raise awareness of domestic violence and abuse. Indeed, the reason why Katie is on the run in that she is trying to escape her husband Kevin, an alcoholic and lunatic police officer who kept her hidden and under control in their home. The story of Katie's escape - an escape that she had been plotting for so long - was absolutely breathtaking and so well orchestrated by Sparks, not leaving any detail to chance. And finally, you get to see things from Kevin's POV, which are by far the craziest parts of the book. While he hunts Katie down, you get an insight of how messed up he really is: not seeing right from wrong, overly paranoid and delusional, trying to justify his actions by quoting the bible. The way this was written was absolutely phenomenal!</spoiler>.
But Katie and Alex do get their well deserved happy ending and Katie finally finds out that is it fate (or a higher power?) that brought her to Alex and helped her out to live the life she wants and deserves.
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Popular Highlights in this book
Because in the end, and no matter how hard it is, acceptance helps people move on with the rest of their lives.Highlighted by 3,943 Kindle readers- Everyone has a past, but that’s just it—it’s in the past. You can learn from it, but you can’t change it.Highlighted by 3,298 Kindle readers
- “Besides, every couple needs to argue now and then. Just to prove that the relationship is strong enough to survive it.”Highlighted by 2,784 Kindle readers
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Sparks' best book but I did enjoy it
(Review contains spoilers) I can't write that this was Mr. Sparks' best book but I did enjoy it. The hero and heroine were fun, although the heroine was a bit tiresome at times. I started to get annoyed with the text that had nothing to do with propelling the story forward (butterfly hunting? Really Nicholas?) and found myself skipping those parts. Overall, it's an easy read with a happy ending. What else could you ask for? Tinthia Clemant
Top reviews from other countries
Aditya
Nice
Reviewed in India on July 2, 2023
Aditya
Reviewed in India on July 2, 2023
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