Nicholas Sparks - Two By Two

Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . .
Russell Green has it all: a loving family, a successful career and a beautiful house. But underneath his seemingly perfect world, cracks are beginning to appear . . . and no one is more surprised than Russ when the life he took for granted is turned upside down.
Finding himself single-handedly caring for his young daughter, while trying to launch his own business, the only thing Russ knows is that he must shelter his little girl from the consequences of these changes.
As Russ embarks on this daunting and unexpected new chapter of his life, a chance encounter will challenge him to find a happiness beyond anything he could ever have imagined.

Comment: The first book I've read in February. I brought it with me from the library mostly because it's been a while since I've read something by the author. Although featuring sad issues, this wasn't a complete tragedy as some of his older books have felt like.

In this book we meet Russell green, a man content with life, with a beautiful wife and a cute daughter, a family he loves and a simple way of living. However, as time goes by, things start to change, mainly regarding his marriage. His wife decided to stay at home after the birth of their daughter and financially, that was quite a change, even though Russ tried to not think about ti too much. Things at work also start to cause him problems until he decides to leave and start his own company, but that puts a huge strain on his marriage. After a while, with things going from bad to worse, his wife decides to go back to work and that is the last straw for a relationship which hadn't been great for a while. Now seeing himself in the position of taking care of his daughter and of the house and of his slow developing company, can Russ really juggle everything when it feels like his life is upside down?

This author is known for his heartbreaking novels, filled with romantic scenes even when the plots don't end up in the HEA readers might have liked. Several of his books were turned into movies and that has given him even more projection. This book seems to be a turn into something simpler, more along the lines of believable situations (as opposed to some of the first books, where the romance often felt too good to be true) and with an end that, while not perfect, is at least understandable.

Russ is the main character and narrator of the story. He is seen by many readers as a beta hero, for he is a calm person, likes simple things, likes the predictability of his days and of his life and has found someone he fell in love deeply, although we are often given hints his wife Vivian might not be in the same page. Still, his life is pretty settled and everything is easy and constant for him.

The big theme in this book is how easily things which have been done a certain way, and based on feelings which felt like they were set in stone, can so quickly fall apart. In this book, unlike many of the others, it seems at first the story will be about a relationship breaking up but to me, this was more a study on how a person might react or not to what is important in life and how our state of mind can matter to our choices and perception. Russ isn't perfect, I often felt he should have been more decisive but if there are two things I can say, after reading this is: of course it's easier to have an opinion if one is on the outside (whether regarding fictional stories or in real life), and humans always want to avoid change, or avoid the emotional unraveling that might cause.

Russ is set in life, has things going well and his apparently innocent decision to quit his job - at a firm whose values he no longer recognizes - to start his own company will be the change to even bigger issues. I think this aspect was well presented, for how often people bet all their emotional well being on something predictable and stable but of course we cannot control the emotions and choices of others. I think there was something about the complexity of these feelings which the author did well by placing Russ and his wife at conflicting positions.

I think that, by having Russ being the narrator, this makes us clearly root more for one character than the other but the plot gets to a point where it's also difficult not to. Vivian's reasons and personality are hers to act as she pleases but it does make her seem a little bit selfish in some situations. Through this all, there's their daughter and if there's one thing they both never stop agreeing is that she matters the most, but they certainly don't go through routine  -even regarding the child - with the same mind frame...

When we reach the end, things have gotten to an unfair position for Russ. I understand his final decision and we have good things happening to him too, to counterbalance some of the difficult choices he has to do, but it does feel no one would win fairly. The book is long, so I assume some readers have also disliked how long it takes for everything to be set up and solved but the writing was fluid enough that, for me, the pages simply flew by. 

I liked this book, to be honest. Not as much as my favorite by him but this was easy and interesting to read. There's some tragedy content, though, so be warned not everything goes as smooth and simple, emotionally wise, as the blurb might suggest. I found the sad parts to be , well, sad, but not overwhelming or impossible to process. 

All things considered, this was an enjoyable book for me, perhaps not the best ever, but for those who are used to his style, entertaining enough.

Grade: 8/10

Nicholas Sparks - Safe Haven

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.

Comment: I purchased this book last year not only because I had read the author before, so I knew his style and what to expect, but also because this particular title was recommended to me due to the heroine's reluctance to embark on a romance. I was really curious to see someone fall in love despite not wanting to and I like those types of stories.

 

In this book we meet Katie, a young woman with a mysterious past and who wants to be left alone, earn her money and stay out of the spotlight. But Katie is pretty and she needs things for the house she's renting, so she meets Alex, a widower who owns the shop where Katie goes to. Alex starts to just be polite to Katie but when she helps with his daughter, Alex starts thinking about her differently.

They start to become friends, then attracted to each other, then they fall in love... all is well but Katie's past comes to bother her again and will put in jeopardy the peace she so painstakingly won...

 

This story is very different from the usual books by the author. It's not as lame and intentionally sad as some other titles and I liked how simple the story was when we consider the details used. I don't think this is a perfect story because there are two little things I couldn't put aside that I think were badly done. Not that they ruined the story, only that the way they were inserted made some things look like they were going into exaggerated territory and that was distracting, in my opinion.

 

I felt very engrossed in the story. This is more thriller oriented although it's not heavy or focused on that as a normal thriller would be. I liked how the author picked a known subject and didn't introduce too many flashback scenes as one would think, preferring to focus on Katie's life now and how she was coping to what happened to her and how she deals with things now. I appreciated it that Katie only wanted to life a quiet life, she didn't completely change her personality and she took her time telling herself she could fall in love. Sure, her relationship to Alex was slow paced but I liked that.

 

The romance is one of the author's writing best characteristics. We always know a love story will happen and in this case I liked how quiet and subtle it begun. I don't think it's easy for any woman in Katie's shoes or who's went through a similar experience to trust a man again and to be certain of his intentions. It was good Katie took her time and we could see many scenes with them before anything happened. I liked how they fell in love with each other.

Alex is a wonderful hero, of course, and I had no problem picturing him in my head.

 

The plot has some issues that surely would be very difficult to happen in real life, namely Katie's tactics to be out of the radar. I wonder how easy it could actually be? I mean, it's hard to imagine situations like those described, not about what led her to run but how she run. It seems so far fetched. But if someone feels trapped and without options... despite that, I think the author did a good job in portraying her need to escape and her wish to start again somewhere else.

 

My doubts are mostly about one of Katie's friends, someone she meets and who helps her to just talk, let it out of her chest but then we know of that person's real intent. I think it was too weird and it didn't feel as smooth as the rest of the story. Like the author thought about it just to add some drama, which I totally think was unnecessary. I won't go into spoilers but that friend didn't have to exist the way she did, I think things could have been done differently.

At the end of the book, something bad happens. Thankfully, no one important dies - what a relief! - but something happens that affects Katie and Alex's lives and although I understand the added drama again, it's still something avoidable and without much importance to everything anyway.

 

After all things considered, I think this was a good story, I enjoyed reading it, I think the good parts were much better than the things I'd exclude and honestly, I'm surprised the author can deliver such simple but emotional stories without all the exaggeration he sometimes puts in his books.

The HEA didn't felt as detailed as I wished and maybe an epilogue or a bit more closure in the final scenes would have been interesting, but I'm not very worried about it because I had a good time overall, and liked the book.

Grade: 8/10

Nicholas Sparks - The Longest Ride

Ninety-one year old Ira Levinson is in trouble. Struggling to stay conscious after a car crash, an image of his long-dead wife Ruth appears. Urging him to hang on, she lovingly recounts the joys and sorrows of their life together.
Recovering from a break-up, college student Sophia Danko meets the young, rugged Luke and is thrown into a world far removed from her privileged school life. Sophia sees a new and tantalising future for herself, but Luke has a secret which threatens to break it all apart.

Comment: It has been quite a while since I've read a book by Nicholas Sparks. I'm very fond of his first books but some of the most recent weren't as appealing and the four before this one I didn't even read yet along with a couple more. I found this one at the library, so obviously I've read the translation and it reminded me of starry nights, of a great love story. I'm not sorry to have picked it up.

This book tells two stories that eventually cross over near the end.
There's Luke and Sophia, a young couple that meets by chance one night and from there they become almost inseparable even among the hardships and the doubts.
There's Ira, he suffered an accident and while waiting fro someone to help him, he remembers his life and the love of his life, his wife, whose image he also sees in the car where he is trapped and that helps him hold on.
A coincidence - or not - sees these three together and shows that love is, indeed, the biggest journey of  lifetime.

I enjoyed this story quite much. I read the book non stop and it was hard to put down. In my eyes, this is part of the success, this need to keep reading.
The story is divided between Ira's story and Luke and Sophia's. There are chapters, each told from one of their perspectives, although nothing is first person narrator. We just see things through their POVs.

Ira had a very interesting life, we follow his memories from his childhood to his love Ruth, to the challenges in his life, namely the war, and his marriage years. We see the path he and Ruth took and the joys and the tears. Theirs was a happy life nonetheless, but the way things are told is the real magic, because it's emotional and deep and it makes you think about what it would be like to live a love like that and that there is hope for everyone to have such a romance. It was beautiful and I liked Ira's parts a lot.

Sophia and Luke's story is told between the two of them. It starts easily, innocent and develops to love in such a sweet way, at some point it doesn't seem anything could go wrong. In fact, there's nothing tragic in their story, only a bit angsty because Luke has responsibilities and feels really guilty over some issues and tries to help the only way available to him. But this isn't easy nor safe and that worries his mother and later, Sophia. Although we understand why Luke does what he does, it takes a while for the reader to truly see what could happen and the author makes a point when he portrays someone doing actions that sometimes are more harmful than heroic. But there's a fine line between those and in the end, it's a matter of making the right choice, of seeing what matters the most.
I'm happy to say everything ends well, but it's rocky for a while.
The romance is sweet and slow paced and I loved them together.

The end is a little bit unbelievable, highly unlikely to ever happen but I prefer to think this is one of those dream like possibilities that give hope to people, that allow us to dream a bit about what would be like. The end is happy and slightly magical, but the message it's there, the real treasure of someone's life is who we have with us, the people we really love. 
In a way I liked the simplicity of the story and I was surprised by how much I liked reading it even if it's not a favorite author. Good book, this one.
Grade: 7/10