Sunday, January 20, 2013

Book Review: A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks

A Bend in the Road
By Nicholas Sparks
Release Date: April 1, 2005
Source: Own copy
Summary: Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second-grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Sarah and Miles reach out to each other...soon they are falling in love. But what neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in--including their love.
In A Bend in the Road, Nicholas Sparks writes with a luminous intensity about life's bitter turns and incomparable sweetness. His affirming message carries a powerful lesson about the imperfections of being human, the mistakes we all make, and the joy that comes when we give ourselves to love.

Review: I will read absolutely anything by Nicholas Sparks and believe it or not, there are only three of his fiction books left that I haven't read. So, I decided to pick one up from that list and hopefully fall in love with yet another of his stories. Sadly, after reading this one, I wasn't as blown away as I normally am by my favorite author. 

Miles' wife died in a hit and run accident, leaving him and their young son Jonah all alone. Being a police officer, Miles wasn't going to let her case going unsolved. But after three years of obsessing with no results, Miles just doesn't know what to do. When Jonah starts struggling in school, Miles meets his teacher, a new-in-town woman named Sarah. Miles just might have found the perfect solution for moving on. But Miles has gone through too much to believe things can stay perfect forever. 

Normally, I fall madly in love with the love story in Sparks' books. But I just couldn't connect with Sarah and Miles. There was nothing wrong with them, there was simply no burning need to keep reading their story until I was done with the book. When moments happened that I know were supposed to be climatic, I didn't really care. I wanted a book that would make me laugh and cry and feel so many emotions that I just didn't know what to do with myself. By the end of the book, I hadn't shed a tear and barely felt any emotion above an "oh, isn't that nice" moment. 

While the romance was sweet, that's about all this book had. Jonah was a cute kid, but I feel like his character was a little too cookie cutter perfect. I don't know, I just think I was expecting a lot more than I actually got. While this one was a nice romance that deals with love and loss and love again, it was something anyone could have written. Hopefully the next Sparks book i read will be a better experience than this one!



4 comments:

  1. I love Sparks too! I haven't read this one yet and it sounds like a tearjerker ..bummer it didn't pop ..I felt that way about Safe Haven.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It has been awhile since I read this book and it was one of the first Nicholas Sparks books I ever read, so I didn't have much to compare it to at that point. I love your review and you are right about there really being nothing connecting readers with Sarah and Miles. I think I am going to re-read this book now! Great review.

    Chelsey@Charming Chelsey's

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ah, I remember this one...yeah there was just something missing. I guessed the ending right away, so that may have taken all the emotion out of it for me. It was good, I agree, but yeah...not as emotional as his other ones.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vampires is not at all like in the movies or books. Sure, I understand. You are young you have the whole world open to you. You can be anything that you choose if you apply yourself and try hard to work toward that goal. But being a Vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, But how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity, I can help you solve any problem you are having
    (1) If you want your ex back.
    (2) If you want to stop having bad dreams.
    (3) You want to be promoted in your office.
    (4) You want women/men to run after you.
    (5) If you want a child.
    (6) You want to be rich.
    (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever.
    (8) If you need financial assistance.
    (9) If you want to stop your divorce.
    (10 If you want to divorce your husband.
    (11) If you want your wishes to be granted.
    contact the Vampires Lord on his Email: Richvampirekindom@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...