Staffer Reviews Nicholas Sparks Book “Safe Haven”

Nicholas Sparks’ books don’t lure me to the edge of my seat, they’re not thrillers. But they bring me straight into the book. I found myself laughing when Ronnie and Will argued in The Last Song and crying when Noah and Allie broke up in the Notebook. His writing puts me in the characters shoes, and I feel everything the way they feel it. Safe Haven is no different. We start out learning about a young blond named Katie, quickly serving tables at a waterfront seafood restaurant. I felt like I was walking with her as she made her way around her new home of Southport, North Carolina, a small town bursting with southern hospitality. Katie is likable from the beginning, but I got the sense that she was hiding something, from the way she avoided talking to anyone.

We are soon introduced to a young man with gray hair named Alex, who runs one of the only general stores in town and lives in the house attached to it. Since she has no car to get anywhere further away, Katie becomes somewhat of a regular at the store.

Alex attempts to be friendly towards Katie, but she tries not to reveal any information about her dark past, which still has not been explained. She wants to stay under the radar, which made her a blaring mystery to everyone in the gossiping town. If I lived in that town, I would want to know everything about the strange new girl who doesn’t talk to anyone. I found myself annoyed with the way she lived and her likability fell through the cracks.

Being a regular to Alex’s store, though, she figures she has to make small talk, and the two learn a bit about each other. Alex learns that she loves to read, and Katie learns that he has two kids, Josh and Kristen. She also learns that his wife died.

Their relationship blossoms in the usual Nicholas Sparks way; at first they are reluctant, but their conversations turn to witty flirtations, which was irritatingly predictable, to the point that I considered putting the book down.

As Katie meets her new neighbor, Jo, who moves in just after Katie, they start talking as a ply to extract information from Katie’s past to present to the reader. She explains how her “friend” had to escape from an abusive husband. Jo, conveniently a therapist, probably weaved into the book to lend inspiring quotes to the main characters, figures out what she means, promising not to tell anyone.

Being a Nicholas Sparks book, there has to be a profuse amount of sappy romance. Alex and Katie’s relationship begins slowly, but soon they spend everyday together. The cheesy conversations that these two have are hard to get through without laughing, let alone finding them romantic.

Meanwhile, Sparks adds in a dramatic, heart-pounding touch by unfolding a story of Katie’s husband and his hunt to find his runaway wife. Though written in third-person, his sections of the book are written with a childish, repetitive tone that reflects what seems to be the OCD tendencies he displays. He is later described by Katie as “insane”.

Through the sentimental screen of romance in Southport, you watch as Katie falls in love with Alex and his young kids. Alex realizes that his wife would love Katie, and accepts that she wanted him to find love. The story becomes a little too perfect, as the cheesy romance continues, and I braced myself for the imminent peril that always hits at the end of a Sparks book.

The writing mimics a countdown as the book nears its dramatic end. Every chapter switches back and forth, from story to story, as Katie’s husband, Kevin, gets closer and closer to finding her. Sparks draws you into the story as you fear for Katie and want to warn her about her insane husband.

Though the sentimental writing made me cringe with every sentence, especially the melodramatic whining as Katie explained how she not good enough for Alex, the cliche Sparks ending had me rushing to finish. As the book ended in a dramatic flurry of love and tragedy, I reflected on what I just read: A sweet yet histrionic love story that I’ll forget by the time the movie’s out on DVD.