Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

4 reviews

sydnik3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

probably my favorite nicholas sparks story, i love it so much. 

first time reading it through instead of watching the movie and im really shocked at how different it was. I feel like Alex’s character is completely different in the book with getting an actual background and depth to him. 

also seeing kevins inner thoughts was extremely disturbing so look at trigger warnings and read at your own risk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

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

Minor: Death of parent

rikke_bay's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.5

I am not saying this is a bad book, but I am saying, that I now have a new pet peeve when it comes to romances; 
Why is the man with kids ALWAYS a widower? Why can't authors leave the poor wives alone? The idea seems so silly to me, because it is so overused, and I would love for once that it was just an ordinary divorce with a still-existing, normal ex-wife. But apparently nothing is sexier than nuclear families, I guess?
In general I was a bit annoyed throughout the book. I hated the heroine's new BFF - she was a very two-dimensional character and annoying. 
I honestly felt really irritated by the plot twist in the end. It was so overdone and cheesy.
What I did like was the flashbacks to the heroine's history and the bad guy's POV. The book was also pleasently fast paced and the point of no return exciting.
But it was not enough to make me particularly like this book. Again not a bad book, but it was definitely not what I hoped for, and now I am ready to quit on Nicholas Sparks forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Grief

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Honestly this is probably more of a four, but I’m not going to change my rating. 
This was a reread to me and I still really enjoyed it. This story is a lot different than his other books(if you know you know) and I enjoyed that. The plot of this kept me engaged and I love a small town vibe. The romance was honestly whatever. Sparks male leads are all the same and have zero personality in my opinion. This does deal with some heavier topics. The middle of this did kind of drag which is why it’s closer to a four star. I also cried reading this which I don’t know if I did before so there’s that. I would say this is one of his better books and would recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail