Media Review- Safe Haven

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks seemed to have become a nationwide sensation over night. With the release of the movie shortly after the book release Nicholas Sparks’ fans were going wild. With the highly anticipated movie release due to the casting of the beautiful Julianne Hough many fans were hoping it would reach its full potential and become one of the greatest books made into movies of all time such as The Notebook also written by Sparks had done previously.

As in all Sparks’ fashion, the story line starts off extremely slow in the book. It gives you a large amount of background information that was needed to really get a grasp on the characters and how they think and would act in certain situations.  In the book we meet Katie; a beautiful girl with blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She seems to be a mystery from the very start and as though she is in some sort of danger and it leaves the reader extremely curious. She seems rough around the edges and as though she is running; but from what?  That is unknown. In the movie, the pace is much different. The movie picks up much faster than the novel does. Although the pace is at a much more rapid pace, it leaves out a lot of information about the characters which seemed essential to the beginning story line. When you get introduced to Katie, she is much different than Katie you meet in the book. She has brown hair with the same blue eyes. But that isn't the only difference. Personality wise she is much different. She seems to be more spontaneous in the movie where as in the novel she was better thought out and every move seemed precisely made out and extremely strategic.  

But the question is why? What exactly was Katie running from? The answer is domestic violence. Katie had a husband named Kevin, who would abuse her emotionally and physically.  She would do anything possible to please him; this meant cleaning, cooking and dressing exactly how he wanted her to. Everything Kevin wished for, Katie would do. But it wasn't always that way. They used to live the “picture perfect” life style, or so it seemed from the outside. Throughout the book Sparks does a great job with a balance between showing the violence from the victim’s point of view and the assailant.  It was like you were a part of each characters brain and thought processes. In the novel, you did not find out right away what Katie was running from due to the fact that the characters switch point of views in the book. Sparks goes back and forth from leads and each storyline tells the events in different ways. But with the movie, it is harder to do so. Although you can see through facial expressions and body language what was going on with each character, there was never as much of a sense of urgency or panic among the characters as much as the book had “illustrated” on your mind. The fact that Kevin was Katie’s husband was given away entirely too fast and took away much of the suspense the book had given.

Also with the domestic violence standpoint, the book did a very good job in showing an awareness factor. It made there seem like there was hope for other females in Katie’s shoes. By making an extremely strong and intellectual female lead in the book, Sparks was able to be a voice for woman everywhere. I believe this sense of “woman power” was missing from the movie. Katie in the movie played more of a victim role rather than a woman who had control over everything and was able to fight her way through every obstacle. With this element missing, I think it takes a lot away from the story line and the general tone of the story. Within the story, Katie was very strategic with every single move she made. She plotted out every single baby step she would take in order to make sure she would have no margin of error and she could escape to find happiness. But in the movie Katie ran away without much thought or consideration, she Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks seemed to have become a nationwide sensation over night. With the release of the movie shortly after the book release Nicholas Sparks’ fans were going wild. With the highly anticipated movie release due to the casting of the beautiful Julianne Hough many fans were hoping it would reach its full potential and become one of the greatest books made into movies of all time such as The Notebook also written by Sparks had done previously.

As in all Sparks’ fashion, the story line starts off extremely slow in the book. It gives you a large amount of background information that was needed to really get a grasp on the characters and how they think and would act in certain situations.  In the book we meet Katie; a beautiful girl with blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She seems to be a mystery from the very start and as though she is in some sort of danger and it leaves the reader extremely curious. She seems rough around the edges and as though she is running; but from what?  That is unknown. In the movie, the pace is much different. The movie picks up much faster than the novel does. Although the pace is at a much more rapid pace, it leaves out a lot of information about the characters which seemed essential to the beginning story line. When you get introduced to Katie, she is much different than Katie you meet in the book. She has brown hair with the same blue eyes. But that isn't the only difference. Personality wise she is much different. She seems to be more spontaneous in the movie where as in the novel she was better thought out and every move seemed precisely made out and extremely strategic.  

But the question is why? What exactly was Katie running from? The answer is domestic violence. Katie had a husband named Kevin, who would abuse her emotionally and physically.  She would do anything possible to please him; this meant cleaning, cooking and dressing exactly how he wanted her to. Everything Kevin wished for, Katie would do. But it wasn’t always that way. They used to live the “picture perfect” life style, or so it seemed from the outside. Throughout the book Sparks does a great job with a balance between showing the violence from the victim’s point of view and the assailant.  It was like you were a part of each characters brain and thought processes. In the novel, you did not find out right away what Katie was running from due to the fact that the characters switch point of views in the book. Sparks goes back and forth from leads and each storyline tells the events in different ways. But with the movie, it is harder to do so. Although you can see through facial expressions and body language what was going on with each character, there was never as much of a sense of urgency or panic among the characters as much as the book had “illustrated” on your mind. The fact that Kevin was Katie’s husband was given away entirely too fast and took away much of the suspense the book had given.

Also with the domestic violence standpoint, the book did a very good job in showing an awareness factor. It made there seem like there was hope for other females in Katie’s shoes. By making an extremely strong and intellectual female lead in the book, Sparks was able to be a voice for woman everywhere. I believe this sense of “woman power” was missing from the movie. Katie in the movie played more of a victim role rather than a woman who had control over everything and was able to fight her way through every obstacle. With this element missing, I think it takes a lot away from the storyline and the general tone of the story. Within the story, Katie was very strategic with every single move she made. She plotted out every single baby step she would take in order to make sure she would have no margin of error and she could escape to find happiness. But in the movie Katie ran away without much thought or consideration, she didn’t have any mindset other than to leave. But why did she not call the police?  Kevin was the police, and a very good detective.

This is where the story became complicated. Katie begins her journey and finds a small town where she doesn’t ever think she will be found. Along her journey she meets this man named Alex. He has two kids and owns a small convenient store right on the lake in North Carolina. They meet under coincidental circumstances and are of course drawn to each other. As the movie trailers give away, Alex is a widower and seems to find a hard time balancing being both a mother and a father figure to his children. He tries to be everything he can for them but there seems to be something missing and that is where Katie comes in. This part of the story and the movie is extremely similar and I think it did a good job in the way it was presented in each. There are a few minor differences in the story lines. For instance in the movie Alex and Katie seem to fall hopelessly in love right away in the movie then bam it all seems to go wrong so quickly and unexpectedly fast when Katie’s past seems to creep up on her. But in the novel it all goes slowly almost as to protect the children and not make any sudden movements in order to make sure it would all go according to plan. The contrast between the novel and the book in this aspect make them seem completely different and the events that go on from here continue in the same fashion, not very similar to each other at all. They have the same basic concepts and end in a very similar way, but the details in between are lacking similarity.

Without giving away many spoilers it is almost impossible to compare and contrast both of these media’s. But I do think people who are die hard Nicholas fans books may be disappointed in the outcome of the movie. By reading many of its reviews I have found that people are far from excited about the outcome of the movie. Although there seemed to have more of an action movie and suspense tone. The tone of the movie made the screenplay more inviting to other audiences other than teenage girls and woman such as the novel did. The movie made it so that men could enjoy the movie as well which I believe was the director’s goal due to the fact that it would be released on Valentine’s Day. Overall I do believe both were well written and had enough similarities to make them both reach out to many people. Hopefully the message for domestic violence can reach many people and awareness can be spread.

 have any mindset other than to leave. But why did she not call the police?  Kevin was the police, and a very good detective.

This is where the story became complicated. Katie begins her journey and finds a small town where she doesn't ever think she will be found. Along her journey she meets this man named Alex. He has two kids and owns a small convenient store right on the lake in North Carolina. They meet under coincidental circumstances and are of course drawn to each other. As the movie trailers give away, Alex is a widower and seems to find a hard time balancing being both a mother and a father figure to his children. He tries to be everything he can for them but there seems to be something missing and that is where Katie comes in. This part of the story and the movie is extremely similar and I think it did a good job in the way it was presented in each. There are a few minor differences in the story lines. For instance in the movie Alex and Katie seem to fall hopelessly in love right away in the movie then bam it all seems to go wrong so quickly and unexpectedly fast when Katie’s past seems to creep up on her. But in the novel it all goes slowly almost as to protect the children and not make any sudden movements in order to make sure it would all go according to plan. The contrast between the novel and the book in this aspect make them seem completely different and the events that go on from here continue in the same fashion, not very similar to each other at all. They have the same basic concepts and end in a very similar way, but the details in between are lacking similarity.

Without giving away many spoilers it is almost impossible to compare and contrast both of these media’s. But I do think people who are die hard Nicholas fans books may be disappointed in the outcome of the movie. By reading many of its reviews I have found that people are far from excited about the outcome of the movie. Although there seemed to have more of an action movie and suspense tone. The tone of the movie made the screenplay more inviting to other audiences other than teenage girls and woman such as the novel did. The movie made it so that men could enjoy the movie as well which I believe was the director’s goal due to the fact that it would be released on Valentine’s Day. Overall I do believe both were well written and had enough similarities to make them both reach out to many people. Hopefully the message for domestic violence can reach many people and awareness can be spread.