Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

10 reviews

kathrynok's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent

neleusb's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.75

i cannot in good conscience rate this higher considering all the bullshit nicholas was pulling in this. check trigger warnings too because they’re around every corner in this book

Spoiler

yeah i did cry at carly jo’s letter, wtf is that name about

 this is in third person following different characters, usually alex and katie which is great until fucking

Spoiler

KEVIN the ABUSIVE HUSBAND ALCOHOLIC COP

’s POV gets just far much space on the page. i heard a little too much of the ramblings of a horrifying man. the end of the book flies by because it’s fucking intense

Spoiler

just waiting for kevin to find her at the carnival or whatever

the switching POVs/ narrative focus or whatever made it a quick read, but i’ll never return to this book
also WHY was alex

Spoiler

an EX COP

randomly, ick

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Car accident, and Blood

jostahly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

amleers's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I would say it was 5-star if only we were not robbed of a good ending. Don't get me wrong, it's all happy and good... but it felt like Sparks was in a hurry to turn this in and didn't give a proper closure to the characters.

Spoiler

Alex just gave Katie the letter and no further reassurance of how their relationship will pick up from there on—with the kids being traumatized and the store needing rebuild, etc. It's not enough for him to simply say his feelings haven't changed. 

Katie as Erin... will she ever be that person again? How will Larry Feldman react knowing what she did? Shouldn't she also face charges for identity theft?

Kevin just died like that? A quick and easy death? No consequences for the years he beat up Erin. Alcohol and a gun. What a shame. I would've loved to see him behind bars really.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Physical abuse

briannehuffman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Gun violence

reclamgelb's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

Bissl enttäuscht von Bestie Sparks. Protagonistin ist super unsympathisch und der Typ hat nen Mommy-Kink. Wenn ich noch einmal lesen muss, dass sie ne super Mutti für seine Kids wär, kotz ich. 
Plot war so vorhersehbar, dass selbst ich es hab kommen sehen. 
Also, can we please give women some friends? Nur eine einzige Bezugsperson, die nicht der Love interest ist? Bitte? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Body shaming

louisesophia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

THE MOVIE IS SO BAD LMFAOOOOOO

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Alcoholism

lizziertaft's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

goldandjules's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

My first Nicholas Sparks book... the movie was better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent