Safe Haven tells the story of Katie, a young woman who seems to have a past that she's running from, and Alex, a widowed father of two who's desperately trying to keep things together for his kids.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
There are many things I loved about this book. One would probably be the unexpected suspense that Sparks hints at from the very beginning. Like Alex said, Katie was a very mysterious woman, and the glimpses into Kevin's world in the later chapters kept me on the edge of my seat too. Another would be the character development, which Sparks always manages to detail quite well. I loved how in the beginning Katie was this sort of guarded person who put up walls around her and gradually begins to let them down as she starts to realize that the person she was before isn't who she is now. And Alex too, who at the start wanted to do everything himself, admitted that he couldn't, and that he could use some help too. It's kind of disturbing how in a twisted way, I get Kevin's way of thinking. I don't agree with him, of course, but Sparks writes him in a way that tells me he clearly believes what he thinks is true, and he's so convinced of it you too wonder if it really is. Lastly, of course I loved Jo. How could I not love her? [SPOILER: I knew there was something about her, that there was more to her than Sparks was letting on in the first chapters. I had the suspicion that she was really Carly when Katie dreamed of her. And it was her letter to both Katie and Alex that made me admire her, that showed just how much she loved Alex and the kids and wanted to make them happy.]
THE DARK SIDE
... (Okay. That's just plain ominous.)
While I loved this book, I still found myself wondering whether some parts were really needed. Some parts of the story were put there, I think, to further develop the characters but to me it didn't really feel necessary. To me the characters were already well established by the middle of the book and the entirety of it won't be affected if those parts were removed. Then again, it probably would not be the same without those small details, and make it the lovely book that it is.
Admittedly, I didn't feel compelled to read through the entire book immediately. I didn't stay up late to read it because I couldn't get enough of it, probably because it was laid back for the most part, before the build up to the climax. It took a long time for me to get into it and there were times when I'd wonder why I kept coming back to it. But then I realized, that's just it. Even though it was often sitting on the desk, (because I read it with a lot of breaks in between), I still found myself coming back to read what happens next. I think it's purpose wasn't to keep you on the edge of your seat, desperate and frantic to see what happens next, rather, it's to be something that's always there, a constant you'd like to go back to, a safe haven.
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