Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

With all these Nicholas Sparks book reviews soon this will turn out to be a girly blog full of romantic views on life - hah! Well to let things clear I am reading other books other than just ones written by this one author. I am reading at the same time "Kane and Abel" by Jeffrey Archer and the famous "Nelson Mandela" written by none other than himself which by the way is taking me an eternity to reach even the middle of the book. If that wasn't good enough I am also reading "Joseph Anton Memories" which is the very thick book of 600 pages which tells the true story of Saalman Rushdie who had to spend five years of his life in hiding to preserve his own life.
But I am getting off the subject...the truth is that I got a new student who will be studying not more than a month with me before she flies off to Canada. In one of our first classes together she told me that she has the whole "Nicholas Sparks book collection" and since those words left her mouth I am lending two books a week from her so that way I can finish reading the collection by the time the due date of her trip arrives. And so in the past two weeks I have read four Nicholas Sparks book and my head has become filled with love stories, perfect men and kind women, love, passion, romance and other similar words. And yet I love it! 
In my opinion this book of his is great as it has a real good story behind it and it shows what many women go through in real life: physical abuse. I once read somewhere that 20% of the women in the world went through physical abuse and yet in Brazil this number already jumps considerably. In "Safe Haven" the author is able to portray the reality of this abuse and what goes through the heads of both the man that is violent with the woman and what are some of the causes that makes the woman stay with a man like this for such a long time. It is a very shocking story and different from the usual line of thought and plot that Sparks usually uses in his books. I think that this book has jumped a few notches in originality, creativity and context that his other books didn't reach as they kept only on the "lovey-dovey" and "perfect story" kind of novel. I highly admire Nicholas Sparks talent but I must say that in this one book he stepped up a lot and showed the whole world how far he can go when it comes to writing a great book - excellent in my opinion! A big thumbs up to  him!!! 

Book Review:

"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"--from author's web site.