Book Review: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.
Book Summary: Love hurts. There is nothing as painful as heartbreak. But in order to learn to love again, you must learn to trust again. 

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.

Liana's Summary: Katie is going to start a new life-- a different one, away from her past, away from the man that had hurt her the most. She finds herself in the town of Southport, a small town, where everyone knows everyone and people get along well. She meets Alex, someone who proves to her that it's capable to love again, even after being shattered. Katie thinks everything is perfect now, though she's vaguely aware that wonderful things can't last forever. So what does she have to do when her past lurks around the corner and threatens to take the life of her and the life of the man she loves? She has to kill it. Kill and stop her past.

Rate(1-10): 10!

You know what, I am so shaky right now I can't even. There's this crazy surge of emotions going through me at the moment and all I really want to do is type gibberish to get it all out. I feel relief, hope, and sadness all mixed together and I don't even know how to type this review to make it make sense to everyone.

Well. I wanted to read this book because I'm going to watch the movie in a couple of days, and I HATE HATE HATE watching movies without reading the book first. Some people tell me that it's better to watch the movie first and read the book after because, when they watch the movie, and then read the book, they can expand their knowledge of what happened in the movie by reading the book. But, I prefer to read first and then watch so I can rant about how the producers left out the most important part or added something that was less than necessary. Honestly, I like to see something I read become something of action.

As you all know, and I'm pretty sure I mentioned this already-- I was getting really sick of the Dystopian/Fantasy/Paranormal genres. After getting sick of Dystopia, I thought I needed something Fantasy, or Medieval, but after reading something of that genre I realized what I really need- Contemporary. So here I decided to read a Nicholas Sparks novel-- my 5th N. Sparks novel, to be exact. He's too fabulous.. Honestly he's one of the only contemporary authors I actually like.

To talk about the cover.. Unlike many other covers, this one actually has a lot of meaning to it, like, omg. Omg. Oh my gaaaaaaaaaaaawds. And it's so gorgeous, too..

Can I just go on to the character discussions. Okay. This time I will discuss the antagonist because I need to.

Katie- It's been SUCH a long while that I've met a protagonist that I actually like. I can't even recall the last time that I met a strong and kind protagonist like Katie. She's so amazing, like, omg. She received so much abuse but she still was smart enough to form a plan to get away from it all- she was strong enough to escape with such a risky plan and she withstood 4 years of hell. She's a really amazing protagonist. She's so caring and kind and omg wow

Alex- Honestly, when he was first introduced to the book, I imagined him as an old man, since he had gray hair and all. But he's not old at all, in fact, he's young, just stressed and tired with all the things he has to deal with. What's remarkable is that he dealt with all those things with amazing patience. Wow, wow, wow. He's a really considerate father. He'd rather die than see his kids harmed. Katie and Alex- I ship them so hard they probably broke their bones because of my ship

Kristen and Josh- These kids are so mature. In fact, too old for their age. They know so well and they know better than to do what most little kids do- scream and cry when unnecessary. They're really nice kids and SO CUTE. (Usually little kids just annoy me out of my mind but Kristen and Josh are SO CUTE)

Jo- I feel as if she's that one friend who would always listen, who would always care, and never betray. A good friend. 

Kevin- I dislike him very much. He plays a good role as antagonist. I dislike him so much that if I met him in person the first thing I would do is push him off a cliff and make sure he falls all the way down and dies. I seriously can't say any more without exploding.. yeah I really hate him. Nicholas Sparks has the ability to create crazy and evil antagonists, it's truly amazing. omg. I just hate Kevin..

"..you're a vegetarian, right?"

OU SNAP, DON'T ASSUME.

"Isn't that a bow on the handlebars?"

Aw, he even bothered to put a bow on it. (x

"Believe me, the last thing I'd do is buy you a bicycle."

"That weekend, I told her that the two of us would get married one day."

"He called me Erin."

"Do you know what I like about you?"

"My body?"

"..and he knew it was all Erin's fault."

"Kevin hung up the phone without another word, knowing he'd found her."

Holy hell..

-----------

And that's that! What did you think of this review? (;