When I was younger I promised myself I would read all Nicholas Sparks's books. I adored his writing style and the way he created his stories; they would usually leave me bawling my eyes out at the very thought of what had happened in the novel and I lived for that. Then Message in the bottle happened (a really shitty and boring book), I didn't even manage to finish it. That's why Safe Haven was left on my shelve for the next few years.

Why chose it now? The times are weird and I'm constantly looking for something lighter, romantic and just easy to follow. Sarks smiled at me from my tbr pile, asking for a second chance. I'm so happy I gave it a go!

Kate comes to Southport to start a new life. With a clean slate, she can finally catch her breath and try to heal from her traumatic past. In this small seaside town, she meets Alex, a widow with two kids, and immediately gets close to the whole family. They create a special bond until Kate's past catches up with her and her deeply buried secret sees light.

The first pew pages, I wasn't really in awe. Typical Sparks. The dialogues were sometimes unnatural, but nothing too annoying. The main character didn't seem like anyone special, her friendship with Jo annoyed me at best. It seemed forced and strange.
I stayed around purely because I wanted to know what happened to Katie in the past and then decide if I would like to continue. Alex was... alright. Too good to be true but I'm not usually bothered with that when it comes to romance novels as I know we're not going for a long ride. Just some emotions, sex and... goodbye. 

But then, I started getting into the book. Safe Haven raises the topic of domestic abuse and I think it does it really well. Shows the point of view of both the victim and the offender which at times was really unnerving. There were times when I had to put the book down and give myself a small break because the emotions were crushing me. It's been a while since a book made me shiver with the building of the story.
I also became emotionally attached to Alex and his kids, the cutest creatures on earth. Getting to know all of them turned into such a pleasure. I still don't think the characters were realistic, but they were nice to stick around.

The ending was okay. An emotional rollercoaster but that's Sparks for you. I didn't cry but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I like how the reader gets to choose what he believes in.  

Safe Haven is probably the best Nicholas Spark's book I have ever read. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, Sparks was the highlight of my teenage years, so my perception of some of his novels would probably be a little different now. I'm not wasting my time on rereading his old books, but I think my teenage self would be thrilled to hear I want to read all of Spark's novels again. Maybe his less popular ones are a bit better.

Next week I will talk about the movie Safe Haven, as I watched it with my boyfriend two days after finishing the book. Oh booyyyy, we have a lot to talk about.