If you're in the mood for a romance novel that will probably make you feel a lot of feels and probably shed a tear or two, you can't go wrong with a Nicholas Sparks novel. I thought I'd read a fair few of his but checking off the titles listed in the back of Every Breath, turns out I've probably only read 1/3 of them. Either way, I feel like I know a little bit about Nicholas Sparks books, in that I know that I will cry at some point and Every Breath* didn't prove me wrong.
Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. At thirty-six, she's been dating her boyfriend, an orthopaedic surgeon, for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family's cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future.
Tru Walls has never visited North Carolina but is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. A safari guide, born and raised in Zimbabwe, Tru hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother's early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable . . . but in the immersive days that follow, their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.
The trick with these sorts of books is to remember it's fiction (even though it sounds like a true story Nicholas states in the authors note at the end that he made it up) and while we know that love at first sight and throwing everything away for a person you met literally 3 days ago seems wrong, just go along with it. While you're in the moment and watching these two people be together you don't care that they only met a few days ago and are making very adult life-changing decisions, you get drawn in and soon you're attached and feel everything they feel. Damn right I cried at one part of this book, it was emotional, all I wanted was a happy ending for Tru and Hope.
The only real problem I had was with the ages of the characters. We begin with them being late 30's/early 40's and end with them being in their 60's. There were only a few moments where these ages seemed appropriate and I was reminded that they weren't in their 20's/40's even though it seemed like they were. I have a feeling that I imagined them being initially in their 20's because I'm in my 20's, the characters are relatable and because you connect with them you ignore their actual age and feel like you're the one in their situation. I imagine someone reading this in their 40's would imagine them being in their 40's, and someone in their 60's imagine them in their 60's, and so on.
If you're familiar with Nicholas Sparks novels they're usually set somewhere in North or South Carolina, as is this one, but the added interest of Tru being from Zimbabwe and introducing this new destination and place descriptions made it all the more interesting. I wouldn't necessarily imagine Zimbabwe being like how it was described, but immediately I felt like I was in that safari jeep being guided by Tru. Sparks really has a knak for making you feel like you're there with the characters, his writing as previously mentioned just sucks you in.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Nicholas including himself in the story to make you believe it was a true story, but because it was only really at the beginning and end it's not that big of a deal.
If you're into romance novels, and previous Nicholas Sparks books, totally give this one a try. Let me know if you cry!
*Gifted
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