Safe Harbor

by Nicola Yoon, Alaska Jackson (Narrator), David Yoon

In this charming coming-of-age short story from New York Times bestselling authors Nicola Yoon and David Yoon, a group of teens’ lives collide when they’re brought together under unconventional circumstances—forcing them to confront hidden truths and personal secrets.

For Isabel, the artist who no longer believes in love, Safe Harbor’s therapy program is just another checklist item to survive her parents’ divorce. But what begins as a tense session filled with mistrust and heartbreak blooms into something that neither Isabel nor the other teens in the program could have expected. Maybe it’s time to begin again?

Nicola Yoon and David Yoon’s Safe Harbor is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.

Genres: Short Stories, Young Adult, Audiobook, Novella, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary

2 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 23, 2026

About the author

Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Both her novels have been made into major motion pictures. Nicola grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their family.

Reviews

[Saranya [uni- s.ia.]]

A camp brings together a volatile mix of adolescents carrying different scars- some are casualties of weaponized, messy divorces and others are ghosts in their own homes, raised by chronic absenteeism. A few carry the suffocating weight of much darker, more complicated family secrets. Though their backgrounds are different to a vast extent, they share a common, unspoken anger toward the people who were supposed to protect them. As the therapy forces them to strip away their defense mechanisms, these teens go through forced vulnerability. In a world where the adults have proven untrustworthy, they are left with a choice:
continue sinking under the weight of their resentment or build their own harbor in each other.

Dealing with heavy topics like loneliness and feeling misunderstood in under 50 pages wasn't the best choice in my opinion. It just didn't go deep enough. But I have to give the authors credit who did a great job creating a relatable group of characters whose struggles felt very real.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub Date: 23 June 2026

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡]

pre-read:

reading books from my july hopefuls post on my bookstagram! 💌🙈 heard nothing but really good reviews from this little series, so i’m kinda expecting to like it too!

[vaishnavi ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*]

a heartwarming short story that focuses on an important topic, but… I really wish the execution had been different. the reasoning behind the teens' actions isn't revealed until after they do stuff, which is pretty standard for most stories, but here, it made their behavior feel so over-the-top and comical at first that by the time everything was explained, I just couldn't take it seriously.

at some places, it felt like I was reading a script of an SNL sketch about a bunch of teens that go to therapy to deal with their parents' divorce 😭

── .✦ pre-read 𖹭.ᐟ
I need to increase my feedback ratio on netgalley immediately cause I'm waiting on a request so... I'm gonna read these novellas and hope for the best! 🫣

[angelinabvby ۶ৎ]

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, & Nicola Yoon & David Yoon for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

a cute little story about a therapy group for teenagers of divorced parents. while things were wrapped up a bit too quick & neatly and preethi annoyed the shit out of me with her brainrot, the bonding & wedding was sweet. i resonated especially with isabel's thoughts on her parents' divorce ~ how can you still believe in love when your own parents don't anymore? im happy that she found a bit of solace in gray 🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

ᨒ ོ 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 ₊˚⊹ ㅅ ⚓︎
i heard this is disappointing and i was like yes please give here

[PattyMacDotComma]

4★
"To anyone looking, we must seem like a group of ordinary teenagers, goofing off on a Saturday afternoon. No one can tell just by looking that deep inside, we’re all mourning the death of our families. The families might’ve been good or bad, but they were ours, and now they’ve suddenly become unrecognizable."

Isabel describes the mixed bunch of kids whose parents have dropped them off on a Saturday to attend Safe Harbor, a group therapy session for teens of divorcing parents. No two kids are alike; no two kids have the same kinds of parents; no two kids know each other. They are meeting at a deserted college campus.

Isabel arrives first and sits under a tree with her sketchpad to wait for others before she goes in. Soon, a mother drops her son off.

"The boy keeps his eyes on his phone as he waves goodbye. Even as he heads up the stairs. I do a quick gesture sketch of him with my charcoal pencil and caption it SCREENAGER."

Next comes a luxury SUV.

"A girl (tall, unbelievably gorgeous, with hair curled like calligraphy) dressed head to toe in Chanel comes swishing out. Dad (or maybe chauffeur) offers her a fur shrug; she refuses it with a gentle look. Then she bows her head to accept a kiss to her forehead. Dad then, not chauffeur… She’s a dream to draw. I caption my sketch DIVA."

It was a great way to introduce this varied group of teens and get a snapshot first impression of each. Their counsellor arrives late and swearing as she's looking at her phone. She doesn't realise the kids are already in the classroom, so it certainly breaks the ice and lets everyone know she's only human, too.

Gradually, of course, the characters develop and all of the kids agree to continue for the whole six-Saturday course.

I think the authors caught the right tone about how teens are affected by family dynamics and what happens when we discover our parents are individual people whose lives are actually independent of ours.

One good example (or bad, depending on your point of view) is when one boy, Gray, describes with stick characters what happened when his parents split because his mother has been having an affair.

"When little Gray asked his mother if he could come live with her, she told him she needed space to get her mind right and to give her new relationship room to breathe.”

… as if a kid is going to understand, let alone sympathise with, a statement like that!

I wasn't familiar with the authors, but after reading that each is a 'New York Times' bestselling author, I figured this was worth having a look at. I recommend it for YA/Teen audiences.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for a copy of #SafeHarbor for review.

[Olga]

3,5/5

Este es el primer relato de la colección The Edge of Everything de Amazon, escrito por dos autores de los que tengo varios libros súper pendientes y, de hecho, este fue mi primer acercamiento a ambos.

​Para empezar, la historia se sintió como ver Victorious desde los ojos de Jade, girando en torno a una terapia grupal con Lane, el consejero escolar de Hollywood Arts, pero profundizando en los mommy/daddy issues que tenían todos esos personajes (bien random y específica mi analogía, pero ajá).

Respecto a los personajes, Joey ni fu ni fa. Lilliam me recordaba muchísimo a Wonyoung (físicamente preciosa y súper elegante) y Preethi me dio muchas vibes a Cat Valentine. Por otra parte, Gray me gustó como personaje, aunque siento que le faltó bastante desarrollo. En cuanto a Isabel, me pareció la mejor opción como narradora porque, de no ser por su perspectiva, habría sido alguien totalmente olvidable.

Aunque todos encajan en el típico cliché de adolescentes “problemáticos” (menos Preethi), a la vez se le da otra vuelta de tuerca con el trasfondo de sus problemas familiares. Eso sí, tengo 18 años y definitivamente estos personajes no se sentían de 17; por el contrario, se sentían mucho más de 13 o 14 años.

​Al final, resultó ser un relato bastante interesante. Si bien al principio no me estaba convenciendo, a partir del 50% me enganchó por completo y terminé con una buena impresión, aunque me hubiese gustado ver un poco más de profundidad.

​Teniendo en cuenta que es un relato corto de aproximadamente 50 páginas, se desarrolla muy bien, aunque sinceramente siento que hubiese funcionado mejor como una novela completa.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of Safe Harbor in exchange for an honest review.

[lauren ୨ৎ ⟡₊]

this was a fine read, could’ve been better ?? idk maybe it needed to be more developed or just written in longer form… i don’t have any real thoughts on this tbh…

one book closer to my goal! 😅🥳

[Stephanie]

A Breakfast Club inspired book about teens headed to a Saturday afternoon therapy group. Each are broken in their own way, but find each other after discovering that therapy actually works.

Simple but sweet coming of age short story.

[ashlyn]

i’m actually kind of shocked this ended up being a 5 star novella. with such a short page count, i didn’t expect to get so attached, but somehow it made me feel everything. i only wish it had been longer because i would’ve happily spent another 300 pages with these characters.

this did exactly what a novella should do: tell a complete, emotional story while leaving me wanting more. and now i absolutely need to read the rest of the series because if they’re anything like this, i’m sold.

thank you netgalley for the arc💛

[Celeste | bookrecs_by_celeste]

An emotional short story to help towards my reading goal for the year. Listened on audio.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Safe Harbor is a short read about five teenagers who have been sent to a teen therapy group called Safe Harbour to work through their feelings about their parents divorces.
Each character has a different story told in fragments during the group session and their reactions to each situation. I enjoyed the glimpse into each characters personality and vulnerability which came through even though the story is short and sweet.
The book ends with a 2 months later epilogue to tie up the story which I found a cute little ending to wrap up the book.

[Alya]

Thoughts
This book truly took me by surprise! I loved everything about it from start to end a mix of emotional and heartfelt. Will definitely be checking out more reads by this author in the future

Plot Summary
After her parents divorce, Isabel joins a therapy programme in Safe Harbor with little faith that it will help. But as she connects with the other teenagers in the group, she slowly begins to heal and discovers that new beginnings—and perhaps even love—may still be possible.

My Bookstagram

[mandie ੈ♡˳]

Not the 6-7 reference 🙄😂

This was a sweet little coming-of-age story, but I wanted just a bit more from it. I really liked Isabel as a main character, especially watching her reluctantly show up to a group therapy program after her parents' divorce and slowly start letting the other teens in. The awkward first meeting turning into genuine connections was definitely my favourite part. We've all been there at some point, so we can all relate.

Since it's such a short story, I felt like it wrapped up a little too quickly for me to get fully invested. The two month time jump helped a little but I needed more. Still, it captured that messy feeling of trying to trust people again after your world gets turned upside down.

Cute, heartfelt, and worth the quick read (or listen in my case), I just wish we'd had a little more time with these characters.

[Katie’s Bookshelf]

3⭐️

"What you’re going through is hard. It hurts because it’s supposed to. All you can do is feel your feelings."

This was a sweet story about teenagers working through their feelings that at times seemed like the authors had never actually met any teenagers? Do therapy camps for children of divorce actually exist?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

[bookmarksandbarbells]

Cute take on heavy topics.
Wasn't sure I'd enjoy this but after the marshmallows, I was in!

[Christy]

3.5 stars

I love a good new adult/coming-of-age story. This was a promising start to a new short series by Amazon, and I’m excited to listen to the rest. Sometimes it can be hard to really get into the story when it's only an hour long. I feel like we were just getting started with these characters, but I liked it!

Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Narrators: Alaska Jackson
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 1h 11m

[Olga Rudnitska]

Група тінейджерів розведених батьків. Різні причини, а відчуття втрати одне.

[har.]

┆ ⤿ 🎨 ⌗ started: july 2, finished: july 2

3 stars 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹

summary: ⋆˚࿔
isabel never expected to find herself at safe harbor, a therapy program she only attends because of her parents' divorce. guarded and convinced that love only leads to heartbreak, she keeps her distance from the other teens. but as each of them begins to open up about the struggles they're hiding, unexpected friendships form, old wounds begin to heal, and isabel starts to wonder if sometimes the hardest part isn't letting go, it's allowing yourself to begin again.

thoughts: ⋆˚࿔
this was such a quick read, so i don't have too many thoughts, but i appreciated how different it felt from my usual reads. instead of focusing on romance, it explored healing, vulnerability, and finding connection through shared experiences. i would've loved for it to be a little longer because i wanted to spend more time with the characters, but for such a short story, it still delivered a meaningful message about hope, growth, and second chances. 💛

ⓘ thank you to amazon original stories, nicola yoon, david yoon, netgalley, for the arc in exchange for a honest review.
⊱ ۫ ׅ ✧ OUT ON JUNE 23

[Sam]

Safe Harbor is if group therapy met The Breakfast Club. I enjoyed this novella and thought it was a great succinct way to illustrate the benefits of grieving together.

[Amy | Foxy Blogs]

3.5 sars

[Pearl]

Millennial brainrot.
Who talks like that? Also, using "narcissists" as an insult in a book about therapy is a choice. An educated and bad one.
The kids are sweet and their hearts are in the right place, but..the adults changing in just two months, drastically? Please.
What a weird story. Almost felt like a cringe Netflix script.
thankyou to the author, amazon original stories and netgalley for the arc.

[Mariah (Wondered Pages)]

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Safe Harbor packs a surprising amount into 47 pages. Most of it left me wondering why any of these adults were allowed to make decisions for teenagers.

Isabel is angry about her parents’ divorce and expresses some of that anger through her appearance and a small act of rebellion. Her parents respond by sending her to Safe Harbor which is a behavior focused group therapy program for teenagers dealing with divorce. This response felt wildly disproportionate to me. Your teenage daughter dresses in all black and wears makeup you do not like, so you send her away to be reformed? Maybe try being more open minded towards the teenager you are raising.

I also struggled with the choice to use a reform style program as the setting. Stories about troubled teen programs carry very different associations now that survivors have spent years speaking publicly about abuse within that industry. Paris Hilton’s advocacy after her experiences at Provo Canyon School immediately came to mind. A story published in 2026 needs more awareness of that cultural context. Instead, Safe Harbor is mostly treated as a convenient place to gather a group of unhappy teenagers together.

The adults at Safe Harbor do not improve matters. Isabel’s parents already had me judging their decisions. Then, we meet the group therapist. What does this woman actually do? She is distracted by planning her wedding while the teenagers argue, expose one another’s vulnerabilities, and create drama. She mostly seems to be occupying the same room as a non-player character.

Isabel does find some comfort in realizing that the other teenagers are dealing with their own complicated families. That part made sense to me. Divorce can make teenagers feel like pieces being moved around by adults. The conversations between the kids give the story some healing aspects.

Then, Isabel develops feelings for Gray. Inside the reform program. Her parents sent her there partly because they disapprove of her choices. Now, she is falling for another teenager they almost certainly would not approve of either. I also could not get excited about a romance built inside such a temporary and controlled environment. What exactly happens when the program ends? The relationship felt more like another idea squeezed into an already crowded short story. The romance was not something I could believe in.

Forty-seven pages somehow gave me terrible parents, a questionable reform program, an ineffective therapist, teenage group drama, divorce trauma, personal growth, and a romance. That is a lot of luggage for such a tiny book to carry. I had far more problems with Safe Harbor than enjoyment. Isabel deserved adults who listened to her instead of trying to fix her.

[Liz | lizzuplans]

While I did like the kids’ different personalities, I did not really enjoy the story. It felt too short? (Yes, it is a novella.)

2.5 stars rounded down.

I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.

[Lindsay (pawsomereads)]

3.5⭐️
Safe Harbor was a sweet and thoughtful coming-of-age story about heartbreak, friendship and learning to open yourself up again. I really liked Isabel’s journey and the way the therapy program brought together a group of teens who were all dealing with their own struggles and secrets. It was short, but it still managed to touch on some meaningful themes around love, family, and starting over.

[mia:)]

i loved the support group concept. the support on how hard divorce can be on everyone, not just the parents. the therapist confused me a little, though. it felt like gray and isabel helped the other kids more than she did, but i guess it all worked out in the end.

speaking of the end, it was super rushed, and i wish we would’ve gotten to see gray and isabel’s dynamic a little more. 🙃 i was hoping we’d skip a few years later or something, and they’d meet on the street and fall in love. 🤭

i will say, i definitely cringed at the “six seven” comment, but they’re kids, so it fit. 😂

'I forget for a second that I am touching him and he is touching me. I can see every curve and line of his face this close up. They would make a lovely portrait.'

[Danai]

I was scrolling through netgalley and randomly saw Nicola Yoon so I just HAD to grab the book immediately.

In typical Yoon fashion, this is a contemporary young adult. I was surprised on the fact that it was a novella instead of a novel and some parts WERE a little.... Clanky ( specifically cliché character archetypes) but there's so much heart in this. Unpopular opinion, but as always I enjoyed the modern day references, they added a realistic element, and I also really liked that the characters were all going through different struggles with how their parents approached divorce. It felt so.... Comforting to read. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for 17 year olds ( age of protagonists) but I do believe it would help younger people on the YA audience to cope with a divorce.

(God, I really need to read more Yoon. )

[Moon_child31]

3,5⭐️

[Dozelina 666]

This was probably one of the more relatable stories in The Edge of Everything collection for me.

Safe Harbor follows a group of teenagers attending a therapy program. Their situations may be different, but they all have one thing in common: the adults in their lives have let them down in one way or another. Some are dealing with parents going through messy divorces, some have absent parents, and others are carrying the weight of more complicated family situations.

Like many teenagers struggling with circumstances beyond their control, they've been labeled as "problem kids."

Honestly? Been there, done that.

What I appreciated most about this story was how real it felt. Beneath the short page count, there's a lot about loneliness, anger, feeling misunderstood, and trying to navigate changes that you never asked for.

Despite its serious themes, the story also carries a sense of hope. Watching these teens slowly open up and realize they aren't alone was genuinely heartwarming.

At only around 40 pages, there's only so much character development possible, but I thought the authors did a good job creating a group of characters whose struggles felt authentic.

I think a lot of readers will be able to relate to this one; both teenagers currently living through similar situations and adults who remember what it felt like to be that age.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.

https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...

[Marissa C]

I have read a couple of Nicola Yoon’s works of which I remember she brought out all the feelings. The short story “Safe Harbor” is no different. This is a sweet story exploring the positive outcome of a group therapy for teens experiencing a divorce of their parents. Preethi was my favorite character as she made me laugh. The leader Ms. Waters definitely brought too much of her own experience into therapy, which I found a bit jarring. However, the way the group all reconvened at her wedding was kind of sweet. Whilst this was a short story, I found it effective in being able to convey a variety of feelings and really appreciated the attention to mental health and therapy.

[ronja]

I think a novella like this does have potential but for me this just didn’t really hit the way I guess it was supposed to. The characters felt very over the top and stereotypical and just like ticking a box for one way a typical teenager would typically behave and even though that got addressed towards the end of the story, it was still handled in a way that just felt very cliché for me. Maybe I’m just not the right audience for this, and someone a little younger might enjoy this novella far more though!

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!