Safe Haven

by Nicholas Sparks

[Leah]

Although I have three or four of Nicholas Sparks’ novels sitting on my shelf to be read, I’ve not yet managed to find the time to read one of them. The only Sparks-related thing I’ve ever seen was the movie A Walk To Remember which I really enjoyed (and which made me cry). I remember reading an article last year where Nicholas stated that his novels are not romance novels. That put me off; I may not have read any of his novels, but his books are primarily romance novels. If he was Nicola instead of Nicholas he would be classified as a Chick Lit author. I received a paperback copy of Safe Haven and I decided it was finally time to break my Nicholas Sparks duck. I’m incredibly pleased I did because I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be reading the rest of Nicholas’s books that I have as quickly as I can.

The cover of Safe Haven proclaims that the book is an “epic love story” (I’d love to know how Nicholas took that) and I would agree with that proclamation. Safe Haven is a really brilliant love story, introducing us to Katie, a girl who has rocked up in Southport leaving people wondering where she’s come from. Alex, owner of the biggest store in Southport, finds himself wondering about Katie, and the two slowly get to know each other. Alex recently lost his wife, Carly, and is struggling to bring up his two kids and Katie has a secret, something she doesn’t want anybody to know. I liked that Safe Haven eschewed all of the normal love story rules. Katie and Alex’s relationship progresses at a nice, steady pace and at no time during the book did they mess each other about. There are so few traditional love stories in Chick Lit that Nicholas Sparks provides a nice distraction.

There were darker undertones to the novel, and I thought Sparks handled them sensitively. I’d guessed Katie’s secret, as I suppose many will, but it’s well written and it didn’t necessarily bother me that I already knew. I don’t want to give too much away because although I knew what was going to happen and I’d guessed it, I still enjoyed the way Sparks presented it and there were many little surprises I enjoyed learning as I was reading. The novel is probably predictable in more ways than one, but for me, I got into it easily from the first page and I constantly wanted to pick it up and read yet another chapter. It was such a really easy read, despite some of the darker moments (particularly as those darker moments were incredibly absorbing). A lot of romance/Chick Lit fans worried Sparks isn’t there cup of tea should pick up Safe Haven because you will be proved wrong. I can’t say that’s the same for his other novels, though I’m sure I’ll soon find out.

I found the characters to be very well presented and very easy to like. Katie grabbed me from page one, with her hesitancy and her want for secrecy. Her life isn’t perfect and she isn’t perfect but I liked her straight away. I wanted to protect her from what she was running from and I wanted her to get a happy ever after. I also really loved Alex. It was so easy to feel sympathy to him as his wife had passed away and he found himself not only with a store to run but two small children to look after. I found his kids Josh and Kristen to be totally adorable; I’m not a big fan of children but I could have totally kidnapped those two as they were so sweet. Katie makes friends with her next door neighbour Jo and I was incredibly surprised about what we learned about her and I liked her too. I know, I know, I sound like a broken record. I do apologise. The one character I didn’t like in any way was Kevin. He was an awful, awful person. Memorable, very memorable, but horrible.

I thoroughly enjoyed Safe Haven. The ending is very fast-paced and I found myself constantly reading, reading, reading so I could finish it and see how it was all going to end. It was frantic, hectic, and I just couldn’t put it down. Nicholas Sparks is a hugely enjoyable author, I loved Safe Haven and I’ll certainly be picking up more of Sparks’ work. There’s no shame that he’s a romance author, his love stories are traditional and I can see why he’s so popular and why a lot of his novels are made into movies. I can see Safe Haven becoming a movie very easily and I would certainly go out and see it should it come to fruition. Safe Haven was just a wonderful read, it made me believe in love (corny, right?) and I wanted Katie and Alex to be together forever, becoming a new, happy family. Any one wondering if Sparks is worth purchasing, my answer is yes. He’s a brilliant author and I’m a convert now!