readinggummybear's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Easy read and enjoyable. Some flat characters without much characterization. Liked Katie/Erin. Wished the ending was a little different and focused on couple.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
rayraytaylorr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Reading a Nicholas Sparks book is like eating bread and butter - not quite enough to hit the spot but it does the job when you're desperate. Safe Haven is a beautiful yet heartbreaking tale - the movie was what lead me to reading the novel - but I found it lagged often and I had to push myself to really read it, especially considering the story isn't super dialogue heavy and focuses on lots of exposition. I thoroughly enjoyed reading things from Kevin's point of view - it was so interesting getting into the mind of such an unhinged character - the way he would try and justify his actions based on the bible or his love and was just unable to see the true awfulness of his actions - it just made sense. I really loved how much I despised him. His fast-paced point of view moments really pushed me into the story more as his mental cognition became more and more damaged, compared to slow-paced, questioning everything and learning to live again Katie. I really loved Katie and Jo's relationship though and the ending was hard to read. And of course, yay happy ending!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
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