I hauled this book in my June Book Haul and read it
immediately after receiving the order!
I was so excited to check this book out, and I’m definitely glad I did! I read this book so quickly … in like 2
days! … then watched the movie right after. I loved the book, but unfortunately the movie didn’t live up
to my high expectations. However, this cover is definitely one of my all time favorites!
Title: Safe Haven
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: September 14, 2010
Pages: 368
Out in Paperback?: Yes; August 2, 2011
My Rating: 5/5
Review:
Goodreads Summary:
When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the
small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions
about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid
forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant
relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two
young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite
her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots
in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his
family.
But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with
the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her
on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of
Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes
that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier
rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.
Characters:
The main characters, Katie and Alex, were both very likeable
throughout the entire novel, and I never was annoyed or frustrated with
them. Both characters were sweet,
kind, and loving, and I found myself smiling as I read about their
interactions. The people of the
small town in North Carolina were not described much aside from those that work
at Alex’s store. However, they
were typical small town personalities, as they were kind and helpful, always
volunteering to help out at the store or with Alex’s children. Katie’s friend, Jo, was also very sweet
as she helped Katie adjust to her new house in the new town. I feel that these characters all had a
good heart and good intentions.
Now for Kevin, Katie’s ex-husband, he is a completely different
story. Kevin is introduced about
halfway through the novel. His
personality is just about the opposite of everyone in the small town in North
Carolina. Kevin is the main source
of anger and suspense in the novel, but I felt that it was well balanced out by
the budding romance between Katie and Alex.
Plot:
The storyline throughout the novel definitely kept me
interested and entertained. Often
times, romance novels (specifically Nicholas Sparks novels as he is the only
romance author that I really read) tend to not keep my interest unless I have
read a couple of heavier, complicated, darker storylines recently. Then, I tend to choose I lighter
romance novel. However, if there
isn’t a little action or suspense in addition to the heavy romance, I tend to
lose interest fairly quickly. If I
can predict the plot of the romance novel (such as True Believer), then it takes me a while to get through
it. With this book though, I could
hardly put it down! I spent most of
my weekend reading this book and didn’t put it down long enough to try and
figure out what would happen next!
The suspense and action made me panic and worry for the characters, but
I got through it (yes I did … it was
touch and go over here).
Writing Style:
As you probably already know, I do feel that Nicholas Sparks
is one of my favorite authors.
That only wavers when the plot is too predictable, but I always love his
writing style because of all the description. Safe Haven was no
exception; I could visualize the entire story as I was reading it, which I
loved! There was a very nice flow
to the words, and the story made no major jumps that left me confused as to
where we were or what was happening.
One of my favorite writing styles is when an author combines to
different viewpoints. Sparks does
this as he switches between Katie and Alex, and later Kevin. The quicker changes between characters,
later in the novel, increase the pace of the story and heighten the suspense
for the reader.
Movie Review:
As I mentioned earlier, I felt that I could see the entire
story play out in my head as I read this novel, which I love, but this did not
bode well for the movie. The movie
came out shortly after I had purchased the book so I went ahead and bought that
as well. I did enjoy the movie,
more than some of Sparks’s other movies, but it still didn’t live up to my
expectations (which are a little high because of The Notebook … so great!).
The movie varied a little from the book, not too much but enough to notice
since I had just read the book.
Since I loved the book, the changes in the movie didn’t go over well
with me, but overall it was one of the better movies from Sparks’s books.
Have you read this
book? What did you think? Have you seen the movie, and would you
recommend it? What is your
favorite Nicholas Sparks book-to-movie adaptation? Mine is The Notebook! :)
FTC Disclaimer:
All items mentioned were purchased by me. This is not
a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. No affiliate links were
used.
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