I seriously cannot believe that the average rating on this is nearly 4 stars. That must mean that there is a sizable number of people who have given it 5 stars, which just makes me sad for the state of our country.This book sucked so bad I didn't even finish it. I would give it zero stars if I could and still have it register an entry.Seriously, the author must have gotten an advance on this sight unseen and then the publishers just decided, well, we've sunk this much money into it already, let's just publish the thing and see how many poor sods buy it. And it's standard-priced at only 7.50 right there on the cover, which has to tell you something. (And no, I didn't pay 7.50 for it; I got it for free when an expat was leaving Switzerland and needed to get rid of some books.)Okay, why did I dislike this so much? First of all, the cover says that '...Julie is soon fighting for her life in a nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire...' Sounds interesting, right? Well, I lasted until page 260 (out of 494 pages) and there was neither nightmare nor deception in sight. To be absolutely fair, it could be that things picked up on page 261, but Julie and her merry band of undereducated yet homespun and well-meaning service industry workers had more than worn out their welcome with me by that point.The entire first 100 pages or so was full of drivel like this:======Mabel removed two plastic glasses from the bottom drawer and made herself more comfortable on the couch. By the time Julie joined her, Mabel had kicked off her shoes, propped her feet on the table, and already taken a drink. With her eyes closed and her head leaned back, it seemed almost as if she believed she was sitting in a chaise longue on a distant beach, basking beneath a tropical sun.'So what's Mike up to these days?' she asked, her eyes still closed. 'He hasn't come around here much lately.''Nothing too exciting. Working, feuding with Henry, the usual. Other than that, not much.'======Yeah, just like the entire book. I mean, the writing isn't necessarily embarrassingly amateur and inane (I would rather say straightforward and uninspired), it's just that.... nothing happens. Ever. Which wouldn't be so terrible if the book had been billed as the daily life of a boring hairdresser in Podunk, USA. I simply wouldn't have picked it up in that case. But I did pick it up on the strength of the author's name (Nicholas Sparks, 'the author of some of the most memorable love stories of our time') and the blurb on the back, part of which I quoted above. Aside from the complete and total lack of plot, the characters were flat and uninteresting; I didn't care who Julie ended up with, which seemed to be the actual point of the book (up to where I read anyway). There was no suspense, nothing driving me to turn the next page. There was no sense of atmosphere. It was stated that this was in some small town, but I never really got a feeling for the town at all. The supporting characters were likewise completely lacking in sympathy, spark, or individuality. I suppose the one thing I can say is, the book was believable. Most people's lives are exactly this boring. Don't waste your time.
Como não poderia deixar de ser, Nicholas Sparks prendeu-me logo nas primeiras páginas do livro. Fiquei arrebatada e apaixonada por uma história que além de ser de amor, também tem a sua vertente policial.A leitura deste livro como já previa foi uma agradável surpresa, uma narrativa apaixonante, envolvente, emocionante, repleta de mágoa, tristezas, sentimentos, perdas, acção, suspense e perigo, que me fez verter algumas lágrimas.A escrita deste autor prima pela simplicidade, clareza, beleza, activa, enérgica e encantadora, um estilo de escrita própria que nos transporta para o interior das suas páginas. Li estas 448 páginas sem dar por elas, quando reparei estava no fim. Dá-me a sensação que a este escritor as palavras saem sem ele dar por isso de tão belas que são.Uma narrativa, enredo e personagens muito bem estruturados e fantásticos.Esta é a história de Julie Barenson que fica viúva na flor da idade. A partir da morte do marido Julie sentia-se morta por dentro e nada a fazia alegrar. Mas, na noite de Natal fazia quarenta dias que o marido Jim tinha morrido, quando nessa noite recebe uma caixa grande embrulhada. Dentro da caixa encontrava-se um cachorrinho, mas um cachorrinho assustado, doce e feio que olhava para ela com os seus olhos remelosos, e ao seu lado encontrava-se uma carta. Uma prenda que o marido tinha preparado em vida.O cão Singer tornou-se no melhor amigo de Julie, compreendia tudo o que ela lhe dizia assim como percebia tudo o que ela sentia. O autor apresenta na perfeição a ligação existente entre Julie e Singer.Com o decorrer dos anos Julie está pronta para refazer a sua vida afectuosa, no seu caminho encontram-se Mike Harris melhor amigo de Jim e Richard Franklim.Richard era sedutor mas Julie sentia que algo não encaixava na sua maneira de ser. Seria ele o homem ideal?Até onde iria Richard Franklim após ser rejeitado por Julie?Sobreviveria Julie à mente doentia, possessiva, perversa e diabólica daquele homem?Um livro que nos marca e mexe com os nossos sentimentos mais sinceros .Um desfecho assombroso e arrepiante que nos deixa a pensar e divididos entre a tristeza e a alegria. Tinha sido o companheiro de uma vida e o seu guardião final.Uma mensagem de amor, afecto e dedicação dos nossos amigos animais.Este livro é daqueles que por mais que escreva, tenho a sensação que fica sempre algo por dizer. Por isso: “Quando não sabemos o que exprimir, então o melhor é ficar calado, por vezes o silêncio vale mais que mil palavras”. Recomendo que leiam esta história que me cativou, encantou, maravilhou e deslumbrou. Que dizer mais de Nicholas Sparks, LEIAM LEIAM muito este Grande Senhor da Literatura. Sou uma viciada livrólica de Nicholas Sparks :)
What do You think about The Guardian (2005)?
Perfecto, perfecto, y simplemente perfecto. De las historias de Sparks que he leído, esta ha sido, de lejos, la mejor. Un lugar donde refugiarse me encanto, pero El guardián no tiene comparación. Que el 90% del libro sea suspenso, pero que Nicholas no haya dejado de lado el romanticismo del que estamos acostumbrados en su libros, es simplemente maravilloso.He tratado de buscar algo malo del libro, y la verdad no lo encuentro. Solo tengo cosas buenas que decir. Y es que no pueden imaginar todo lo que he fangirleado con esta obra. Contiene suspenso, el cual es uno de mis géneros favoritos, está escrita por uno de mis autores favoritos y tiene un final, que aunque desgarrador, es perfecto. ¿Qué más se puede pedir?
—Marcela M.
Muchos años atras lei esta novela y me encantó. Adoré a Singer y a Mike y esta novela me pareció la mejor de cuantas habia leido de Sparks. Y ahora queria volver a releerla. Al principio fue tal y como la recordaba, empezo MUY bien y Mike y Singer seguian siendo tan adorables como los recordaba. Pero pronto Julie empezó a caerme mal y todo su encaprichamiento con Richard (el malo) me parecia absurdo, por no decir que estaba siendo t-o-n-t-a y c-r-u-e-l con su mejor amigo, Mike. Julie SABIA que Mike estaba perdidamente enamorado de ella pero para ella era como "¿Mike? ¿Estas sufriendo? Lo siento, es que antes de decir sentar cabeza contigo tengo que explorar todas las opciones". No la soporté. Y Richard es lo peor, y da mucho miedo, y era taaaaaan obvio que todo en él era falso que era como "¿Julie, como eres tan ciega?". Despues Julie decide romper con Richard, gracias a cierta cita espontanea con Mike. Amé el capitulo 14 y el 15, se respiraba ternura. Por fin Julie no era tonta e iba a hacer muy feliz a Mike. ¿Os he dicho que Mike es un buenazo? Me encanta ♥. Pero la paz duró poco, la felicidad de este nuevo amor Mike-Julie se veia empañada por el acoso de Richard y a partir de cierto momento, era imposible respirar con esta novela. Me he pasado casi 382 paginas con un fuerte nudo en el pecho y ¡es una relectura, por lo que ya se que Julie y Mike no mueren aunque Singer el guardiàn si :/! No esperaba que esta novela me gustara tanto como la primera vez pero tampoco esperaba odiarla :('. ¡Amantes de la novela negra, esta es vuestra novela! Pero la mia no. Aspectos salvables de esta novela: excelente escritura, adorable Mike, encantador perro Singer, y esas bromas Mike - Henry. Fin.
—Mayu
Notes from BookCrossing: Just finished this one. I was going to clean in my office a bit and then finish it up tonight, but with the stalker in it, I decided to read it while it was light out, as my husband is out of town :)I wasn't sure what to expect, as I saw the movie "Message in a Bottle" (hated it), the previews for "The Notebook" (but haven't read the book or seen the movie yet), saw "A Walk to Remember" (liked it, but it was slow and almost too sweet), and I have "Nights in Rodanthe" in the pile of books to be read.I didn't have any pre-conceived notions about this one, so thought it might be a good light one to read while my book club is going through Catch-22. Problem is we just started that (read the first 10 chapters for yesterday's meeting), and I've already finished this. Guess I'll have to find something else. . .Anyway, I liked this, in a odd romance/mystery novel sort of way. I actually liked it better when I read the author's notes at the end where he mentions having always wanted to write a book about a dog :)The characters were pretty believable and I found myself really caring for them, even if the story was fairly predictable from almost the first chapter.The best part was the description in the prologue, of how Julie felt after losing her husband. It was so totally accurate, I know the author has either lost someone close to him, or asked someone who has how it feels:If people asked how she was doing, she simply shrrugged. But sometimes, just sometimes, she had the urge to answer. You want to know what it was like to lose my husband? she wanted to ask. Here's what it's like. Jim's dead, and now that he's gone, I feel like I'm dead, too. Is that, Julie wondered, what people wanted to hear? Or did they want platitudes? I'll be okay. It's hard, but I'll make it through this. Thank you for asking. She could do the brave soldier routine, she supposed, but she never had. It was both easier and more honest to simply shrug and say nothing.This is a good, quick read.
—Antof9
