You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Another great novel from Nicholas Sparks. I believe I loved every single character in this book--especially Kyle. The characters were real and genuine; innately human in all of their imperfections. Sparks has created a beautiful balance of drama, romance, and suspense in this tale that should appeal to readers of various genres. A great beach read.
A note on the audiobook: This was my first experience with the narrator and I found that he did a really great job particularly when narrating for Kyle whose vocabulary and pronunciation are acutely underdeveloped.
A note on the audiobook: This was my first experience with the narrator and I found that he did a really great job particularly when narrating for Kyle whose vocabulary and pronunciation are acutely underdeveloped.
Before going anywhere with this review I would like to say that I love Nicholas Sparks. He has brought tears to my eyes by his heart wrenching stories many times. But it really pains me to say that I did not like this book. I am so disappointed.
The premise, in short, is as follows. Denise, a single woman in her late twenties has a 4 year old son, Kyle, who has learning disabilities. Denise is juggling her evening shift at a local diner and is also managing to home school her son Kyle to improve his language understanding and speaking abilities.
On a stormy weather one night, Denise’s car skids and bangs against a tree. She falls unconscious. When she wakes up she finds that Kyle has disappeared.
Taylor is a volunteer fireman who finds her unconscious in her car. He and the other fireman manage to search and find Kyle from a swamp and it is very obvious that Taylor, being the hero of the novel, is instrumental in finding him.
So far so good. All this happens in the first 100 pages or less of this novel. The rest of the novel is how they fall in love and how Taylor manages to overcome his issues from the past and how they live happily ever after.
My main complain here, I never thought I would say this for a Nicholas Sparks novel, is the writing. It’s too cheesy. Don’t get me wrong, I love cheesy, but this is *bad* cheesy. It’s like he was trying too hard. ‘The Rescue’ lacks the easy and non-pretentious writing of ‘The message in the bottle’.
After the first hundred pages the book kind of dragged on and on and on. I really did not understand how Taylor’s problems from the past kept him from getting too close to Denise.
Finally, I thought Nicholas Sparks tried to explain things a little too much. I am intelligent enough to read in between the lines, thank you very much. I don’t need a step by step explanation of why the characters are doing what they are doing.
Even though I did not like this book, I will certainly read another book by him, albeit with a little caution.
The premise, in short, is as follows. Denise, a single woman in her late twenties has a 4 year old son, Kyle, who has learning disabilities. Denise is juggling her evening shift at a local diner and is also managing to home school her son Kyle to improve his language understanding and speaking abilities.
On a stormy weather one night, Denise’s car skids and bangs against a tree. She falls unconscious. When she wakes up she finds that Kyle has disappeared.
Taylor is a volunteer fireman who finds her unconscious in her car. He and the other fireman manage to search and find Kyle from a swamp and it is very obvious that Taylor, being the hero of the novel, is instrumental in finding him.
So far so good. All this happens in the first 100 pages or less of this novel. The rest of the novel is how they fall in love and how Taylor manages to overcome his issues from the past and how they live happily ever after.
My main complain here, I never thought I would say this for a Nicholas Sparks novel, is the writing. It’s too cheesy. Don’t get me wrong, I love cheesy, but this is *bad* cheesy. It’s like he was trying too hard. ‘The Rescue’ lacks the easy and non-pretentious writing of ‘The message in the bottle’.
After the first hundred pages the book kind of dragged on and on and on. I really did not understand how Taylor’s problems from the past kept him from getting too close to Denise.
Finally, I thought Nicholas Sparks tried to explain things a little too much. I am intelligent enough to read in between the lines, thank you very much. I don’t need a step by step explanation of why the characters are doing what they are doing.
Even though I did not like this book, I will certainly read another book by him, albeit with a little caution.
This is the first Nicholas Sparks book that I have read and now I understand why everyone loves him! He knows how to weave a love story that draws the reader in and wish they were the main character. While some parts of this were a bit predictable to all love stories, it is told well enough for that not to matter. Can't wait to read another.
this was a quick read for me and although the beginning was quite slow i enjoyed it. the characters were very authentic which is something i need in books. thankfully neither love interest was killed off, but don't get me wrong this book was still very sad. i cried on multiple occasions while reading. i especially liked that every time Kyle's character spoke Sparks put the pronunciation to his words in parentheses - i though this was a great way to write a character that is 5 years old.
amazing story, want to read all of his books even more now
Lloro y sigo llorando. Sigue la línea de todas las novelas de Nicholas Sparks: romanticismo y drama.
Me gustó el inicio aunque creo que ya por la mitad era obvio el desenlace aunque también opino que el autor fue muy cruel al provocar la catarsis del personaje así.
Los personajes secundarios me gustaron más que los propios protagonistas y lloré mucho gracias a ellos. Fin.
Me gustó el inicio aunque creo que ya por la mitad era obvio el desenlace aunque también opino que el autor fue muy cruel al provocar la catarsis del personaje así.
Los personajes secundarios me gustaron más que los propios protagonistas y lloré mucho gracias a ellos. Fin.
This review was first posted on Music, Books and Tea
The Rescue was one of the first Nicholas Sparks books that caught my attention a couple of years ago. At that point, I wasn't sold on the idea of reading a Nicholas Sparks book - it seemed like they all had sad endings, something that I wasn't particularly into at that time. Then I read A Walk to Remember last year, and found myself slowly becoming a fan of Sparks work. So I couldn't turn down the opportunity to read The Rescue, and it was definitely worth the read.
I found the first 150 pages of this book to be completely absorbing. A lot of action takes place within those pages, as the car crash that is mentioned in the synopsis happens right at the beginning of the story. I did think that Kyle's disappearance would have lasted longer than it did, but at the same time, if it had gone on any longer, it would have dragged and held back the story. I found the outcome of the rescue a little unrealistic, but, as I'm not a fireman, and probably never will be, I'm not the best person to judge. What I did like about it was that it wasn't a rescue that required daredevil feats from all the fire crew. Instead, it took logic and a knowledge of the surrounding area, which is certainly something that Taylor had.
As is typical with the Sparks books I have read, he created some wonderful characters that I couldn't help but fall in love with. Denise Holden was a strong woman, that was something I could tell from the first few chapters of this book. Her world revolves around her son, Kyle, who has learning difficulties. She barely makes ends meet, and she devotes everything she can to Kyle. Denise spends most of her day working with Kyle on his speech, and documents every single piece of progress he makes. Her evenings are spent at the diner, with Kyle sleeping in the back room while she works. Denise's life completely changed because of her son, yet she never once really blames him. Obviously, she gets frustrated with him, like any mother does with their child. And I felt Sparks really portrayed their relationship well.
Denise didn't appear to be the kind of person into taking risks, so for her to be willing to let Taylor into both her and her son's lives was a huge step for her, and I imagine that there are several people in the world in her position. They may or may not have a disabled child, but a child will be in the centre of their universe, and they have to decide whether or not it's worth letting someone new into their lives. And on the flip-side, people like Taylor have to decide whether or not they're willing to take on that kind of role. Luckily for us, both Taylor and Denise take the risk, and it turned into a beautiful relationship.
Taylor McAden was such a well-written character. There were so many hidden depths to him, and it took nearly the entire book to finally get the full picture of what his character was about. I love characters like that, and Taylor was no exception. If I believed that men like him existed in the real world, I'd definitely be packing my bags and heading to a small southern town! Unfortunately, I know better. (boo!) There were times where I wanted to pummel Taylor for being so damn frustrating and not opening up to Denise, especially as she gave him basically all of herself, yet he gave so little in return. What I did love the most about Taylor was how he interacted with Kyle. He knew that he had difficulties, yet he took the time to play catch with him for about an hour when he could have been doing other things. I loved Taylor and Kyle's relationship, which made me very, very frustrated with Taylor when he disappoints Kyle terribly.
The ending, as typical with any book by Nicholas Sparks did make me cry, although not at the part I was expecting it to. Whilst a lot of Sparks' work is predictable, every so often he adds in a little plot point that takes me by surprise, and it was this point that made me tear-up. It was such a sweet moment, and it really encapsulated the journey that all these characters had taken throughout the course of the book.
The Rescue is a book that I'd recommend to most people, even if you're not a fan of Nicholas Sparks. It's a tear-jerker, and yes, some of it is predictable, but that doesn't take away from the book. For me, this book has some of the best written characters that Sparks has created (in comparison to the others that I've read), and it was these characters that made me enjoy the book as much as I did.
The Rescue was one of the first Nicholas Sparks books that caught my attention a couple of years ago. At that point, I wasn't sold on the idea of reading a Nicholas Sparks book - it seemed like they all had sad endings, something that I wasn't particularly into at that time. Then I read A Walk to Remember last year, and found myself slowly becoming a fan of Sparks work. So I couldn't turn down the opportunity to read The Rescue, and it was definitely worth the read.
I found the first 150 pages of this book to be completely absorbing. A lot of action takes place within those pages, as the car crash that is mentioned in the synopsis happens right at the beginning of the story. I did think that Kyle's disappearance would have lasted longer than it did, but at the same time, if it had gone on any longer, it would have dragged and held back the story. I found the outcome of the rescue a little unrealistic, but, as I'm not a fireman, and probably never will be, I'm not the best person to judge. What I did like about it was that it wasn't a rescue that required daredevil feats from all the fire crew. Instead, it took logic and a knowledge of the surrounding area, which is certainly something that Taylor had.
As is typical with the Sparks books I have read, he created some wonderful characters that I couldn't help but fall in love with. Denise Holden was a strong woman, that was something I could tell from the first few chapters of this book. Her world revolves around her son, Kyle, who has learning difficulties. She barely makes ends meet, and she devotes everything she can to Kyle. Denise spends most of her day working with Kyle on his speech, and documents every single piece of progress he makes. Her evenings are spent at the diner, with Kyle sleeping in the back room while she works. Denise's life completely changed because of her son, yet she never once really blames him. Obviously, she gets frustrated with him, like any mother does with their child. And I felt Sparks really portrayed their relationship well.
Denise didn't appear to be the kind of person into taking risks, so for her to be willing to let Taylor into both her and her son's lives was a huge step for her, and I imagine that there are several people in the world in her position. They may or may not have a disabled child, but a child will be in the centre of their universe, and they have to decide whether or not it's worth letting someone new into their lives. And on the flip-side, people like Taylor have to decide whether or not they're willing to take on that kind of role. Luckily for us, both Taylor and Denise take the risk, and it turned into a beautiful relationship.
Taylor McAden was such a well-written character. There were so many hidden depths to him, and it took nearly the entire book to finally get the full picture of what his character was about. I love characters like that, and Taylor was no exception. If I believed that men like him existed in the real world, I'd definitely be packing my bags and heading to a small southern town! Unfortunately, I know better. (boo!) There were times where I wanted to pummel Taylor for being so damn frustrating and not opening up to Denise, especially as she gave him basically all of herself, yet he gave so little in return. What I did love the most about Taylor was how he interacted with Kyle. He knew that he had difficulties, yet he took the time to play catch with him for about an hour when he could have been doing other things. I loved Taylor and Kyle's relationship, which made me very, very frustrated with Taylor when he disappoints Kyle terribly.
The ending, as typical with any book by Nicholas Sparks did make me cry, although not at the part I was expecting it to. Whilst a lot of Sparks' work is predictable, every so often he adds in a little plot point that takes me by surprise, and it was this point that made me tear-up. It was such a sweet moment, and it really encapsulated the journey that all these characters had taken throughout the course of the book.
The Rescue is a book that I'd recommend to most people, even if you're not a fan of Nicholas Sparks. It's a tear-jerker, and yes, some of it is predictable, but that doesn't take away from the book. For me, this book has some of the best written characters that Sparks has created (in comparison to the others that I've read), and it was these characters that made me enjoy the book as much as I did.
Sparks always knows how to captivate you and take you away into his world. This world was of a single mom taking care of her son who could barely speak who's world collides into a firefighter. I mean who doesn't like a man in a suit?
It had the romance, the tears for the firefighters past, and to love someone forever despite pain it may bring.
It had the romance, the tears for the firefighters past, and to love someone forever despite pain it may bring.
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes