Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

4 reviews

lizsim's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

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

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

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

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