The Return

by Nicholas Sparks

New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with a moving new novel about an injured army doctor and the two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. But when a mortar blast outside the hospital where he worked as an orthopedic surgeon sent him home from Afghanistan with devastating injuries, the dilapidated cabin he'd inherited from his grandfather seemed as good a place to regroup as any. Tending to his grandfather's beloved beehives while preparing for a second stint in medical school, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . yet, from their very first encounter, Trevor feels a connection with deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson that he can't ignore. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding. Further complicating his stay in New Bern is the presence of a sullen teenage girl, Callie, who lives in the trailer park down the road. Claiming to be 17, she works at the local sundries store and keeps to herself. Discovering that she was once befriended by his grandfather, Trevor hopes Callie can shed light on the mysterious circumstances of his grandfather's death, but she offers few clues - until a crisis triggers a race that will uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could have ever anticipated.

In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Mystery, Book Club

355 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2020

About the author

Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with over 130 million copies sold worldwide, in more than 50 languages, including over 92 million copies in the United States alone.

Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was published in 1996 and he followed with the novels Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005) and its sequel, At First Sight (2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010), The Best of Me (2011), The Longest Ride (2013), See Me (2015), Two by Two (2016), Every Breath (2018), The Return (2020), The Wish (2021), and Dreamland (2022), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother Micah. His twenty-fourth novel, Counting Miracles, will be published on September 24, 2024.

Film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels, including The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven (on all of which he served as a producer), The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song, have had a cumulative worldwide gross of over three-quarters of a billion dollars. The Notebook has also been adapted into a Broadway musical, featuring music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson.

Sparks lives in North Carolina. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually. He co-founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina in 2006. As a former full scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local public high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a World Junior Indoor Record in the 4×400 meters, as well as US High School National Records in the 800 Medley and 1600 Medley. Click to watch the Runner’s World video with Nicholas.

The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was founded in 2011, to provide scholarships and fund educational programs for underprivileged and disadvantaged youth. Between the foundation, and the personal gifts of the Sparks family, more than $15 million dollars have been distributed to deserving charities, scholarship programs, and projects. Because the Sparks family covers all operational expenses of the foundation, 100% of donations are devoted to programs.

Reviews

[Natalie "Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle" Laird · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been a huge fan of Sparks' previous work, but this did not hit the mark. The Male protagonist was unlikeable, as was one of the females Natalie. He was too full-on, and she was too guarded, and I was seriously frustrated reading their conversations.
The plot around his grandfather and the beehives was much too slow to keep my attention.

[Reading Mama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever "outgrown" an author? My love for Nicholas Sparks started when I was younger and movies like "A Walk to Remember" and "The Notebook" came out. I was so excited when I found out they were based on books; I read them and have been a fan ever since. Even though some would regard Sparks' writing as formulaic, cliché, and predictable, that was something I kind of enjoyed, like I could always count on him for a good story. His last book, Every Breath, was disappointing to me, but I let that one slide because I had loved every other book of his. Enter The Return. I don't even know where to start with this book. I thought it was very similar to Dear John (although I enjoyed DJ MUCH more). There was hardly a romance in this one... characters that fell in love too quickly (she is a cop who shows up at his house and he falls in love with her), and none of their relationship was developed. I found myself rolling my eyes, laughing out loud, and saying, "omg" at how CHEESY it all was. There was more about beekeeping than there was about anything advertised in the blurb. Maybe I feel this way because I have read so many amazing romance stories this year. I feel like someone else is writing for Sparks, because this is definitely not the Nicholas Sparks I came to love. I had to finish this book because of my past love for Sparks, but I think my relationship with him might be over. Sorry, Nick...it's not me, it's you.

[Larry H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Return isn't quite as “Sparksy” as Nicholas Sparks' other books are, but it still delivers a good dose of drama and intrigue.

Trevor was a surgeon whose career ended when he was seriously wounded in Afghanistan. After recovering, he’s on the cusp of starting a new career as a psychiatrist helping veterans with PTSD. But first, he travels to his grandfather’s house in New Bern, NC, following his death, to tend to the man’s beehives and get his affairs in order.

Not long after arriving in town he meets Natalie, a police deputy, and he is immediately drawn to her. While Natalie feels the same about him, Trevor can sense she’s hiding something, and she doesn’t want to let her guard down.

Meanwhile, Trevor also has to deal with Callie, a sullen teenager who knew his grandfather and helped him from time to time. Why does she keep pushing Trevor away, and refusing to answer his questions about who she is?

As Trevor tries to navigate his relationship with Natalie, he also tries to figure out what led his grandfather to leave town for the first time in a long time, only to fall ill in the midst of his journey. What did the garbled words that his grandfather said before his death mean? What were the man's secrets, and how do they connect with Callie?

This was an interesting story because of the mystery part more than the romance. I felt the romance part was almost non-existent; I didn’t believe how quickly they fell for each other. I enjoy instant-love scenarios but this didn’t feel convincing. The book's pacing was also much slower that it needed to be.

I know Nicholas Sparks has lots of romantic tearjerkers, but this isn’t one of them. It's better you know that coming in, so you can adjust your expectations!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Sheyla ✎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book centers around Trevor Benson, a Navy doctor.

During a tour in Afghanistan, Trevor suffered multiple injuries, including losing a few fingers terminating his career as an orthopedic surgeon. He is suffering from PTSD but he's in therapy to help him deal with it.

Trevor recently lost his grandfather whom he loved and while waiting to begin his second residency as a psychiatrist, he moves back to his grandfather's town in North Carolina. Here he meets two women.

One is a young girl by the name of Callie. No one really knows much about her except that she works at a local store and lives in a trailer park close to Trevor grandparent's property. Yet, Trevor believes she knew her grandfather and he cared for her.

The other woman is Natalie Masterson. She is a local sheriff and someone Trevor starts developing feelings for.

I wish I could say that I loved this romance but I just can't. The insta-love killed it for me. They met a couple of times and Trevor was in love with Natalie already.

Now, the mystery surrounding who Callie is and why it was important to find out was much more interesting to me.

I loved learning about beehives. Keeping bees alive is primal to our survival. So I was very interested in them.

I also thought the PTSD angle was important since so many live with it and The Return gives you some idea on how those affected by it can be treated.

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Grand Central Pub in exchange for an honest review.

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was just Eh.
Took too long to get into it and the protagonist was unlikable. In my opinion, not the best from Sparks.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return by Nicholas Sparks is the typical Nicholas Sparks romance I’ve been waiting years for.

I really enjoyed The Return. The Return is a typical Nicholas Sparks romance with two people that shouldn’t be together falling in love. I was so curious to find out what Natalie was hiding and why she was so hot and cold. The mystery of Trevor’s grandfather and Callie was also very interesting. There were so many different aspects of this book that kept the reader interested. I really liked Trevor and Natalie. Trevor is such a caring person. He doesn’t want to fall in love but easily falls in love with Natalie. Natalie is an interesting character. She is a deputy sheriff but shows her softer side to Trevor. She is a strong woman. Callie seemed so standoffish, but once her secrets are revealed everything makes sense.

Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

[Meagan (Meagansbookclub) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

Poorly written. Shallow character development. Flat plot line (enough about the bees!!!).

[Brandi Morpurgo · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a Nicholas Sparks book, and I thought “heck, it’s a new one - why not?”. This book was told from the male p.o.v. and I felt the narration was tedious, too much inner monologue and none of it was terribly engaging. I am not one to step on an author’s hard work, but this one was not for me. I didn’t care about any of the characters, it had multiple plot lines which didn’t evoke any emotion or interest in me and when it was over, I felt nothing. The cover, however, was very pretty and drew me in. Clearly not my fave Sparks title. Maybe the movie will be better.

[katyjanereads · Rating 1 out of 5]

***SPOILERS***
1. This took me so long to read because it was painful to get through. The writing was terrible, glossed over, one note, boring, had a weak plotline, had flat characters, and unbelievable details.
2. The bee information timeline:
-oh, this is really interesting!
-I’m learning a lot.
-okay, a little pretentious saying apiarist.
-this information isn’t weaved into the narrative enough for me. It’s an information dump.
-alright, enough with the bee terms.
-I mean, I get the symbolism of bees working hard for the honey and maybe that’s Trevor and Natalie having to wait on their relationship and learn patience????
-Over the bees.
- But I would rather read a textbook on bees than The Return by Nicholas Sparks
3. To be clear, I have been a Sparks fan since the beginning, but I threw this book across the room when I was finished. At least I learned about bees.
4. HE TOSSED JARS OF HONEY AWAY. Honey basically doesn’t go bad and for as much freaking time as this book spent on bees, are you kidding me? And then his grandpa’s furniture ended up in the dump?! Free to a good home, dude.
5. I hate that this book broke the fourth wall a few times, especially in the beginning. “...but more on that later.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY THAT. JUST LITERALLY TELL US LATER.
6. “The dog had teeth the size of bacon.” Like what? Just long pieces of tooth hanging down? Like tusks on a walrus. Wait. Would a pitbull with bacon teeth look like a walrus?
7. Speaking of information dump: the talk about PTSD, CBT, and DBT felt forced and like I was reading a textbook. And again, that would be more interesting than reading The Return.
8. I related to this: “Because who is ever really fixed when it comes to mental or emotional health? Life takes radical twists and turns, and hopes and dreams shift as people enter different phases of their lives?” I’ve been through a divorce, a breakup, homelessness, and lived in 7 different homes in the past two years. I’m finally finding my footing, but dealing with suppressed emotions and battling anxiety and depression have kicked my butt.
9. I did not care about the love story at all. Trevor was too full of himself and Natalie was annoyingly secretive for no reason. Like, just tell him about your husband. The whole town already knows. I realize Sparks used this to further the mystery, but it did not intrigue me in the slightest. The love was rushed anyway. There wasn’t even enough time for me to get invested in their love story because they weren’t telling each other anything truthful and only met like 3 times.
10. I hope Natalie is better as a florist than a cop because if she didn’t know to look online for missing persons, she’s an idiot.
11. Callie’s life is a country song: rare disease, runaway, brother killed, dad lost his job, family fighting, house burned down, mom got skin cancer, sold the house.
12. Okay, the whole Callie thing: She doesn’t speak the entire book, then with one word, she’s spilling her guts to Trevor. (I didn’t even remember Trevor’s name until I had to learn it for this review.) It was way too rushed at the ending, and by then, I wasn’t even invested in the story. I’d rather read about Callie’s life, honestly.
13. SO. CHEESY. “I want to remember our time together as if it were a beautiful dream. In the moment, it was powerful and real and completely transporting.”
14. Oh, there’s another fourth wall break. Cool. “If you don’t believe me, look it up,” says Trevor. If you are going to break the fourth wall, make it throughout the whole book as a thing you are doing. Not because you are just being a lazy writer.
15. Natalie talking out loud to her husband annoyed the crap out of me. It was obviously just to give the reader information, but it was way too obvious and cringy.
16. I was over Natalie’s martyr shtick. “Don’t ask me to come with you or I will. blah blah blah.”
17. Natalie talking about the school and yearbooks and maybe that’s how they can find Callie. Trevor: How did you come up with that? That’s brilliant!
Me: Literally anyone on this earth, children included, could have thought of that.
18: Trevor: Deciphers his grandpa’s last words and cracks the code
Natalie, a literal cop: What did it say?
Trevor: I’d rather not say.
19. If it isn’t obvious, I hated this book.

[Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last "Sparks" book I read was a "one-star"... this one is joining the pile. OMG, what a load of drivel. At one stage I was going to give up but I decided to persevere just to see HOW he is a best-selling author. Talk about juvenile ... very little character development. The main guy, Trevor, acting like a silly teenager. I cannot find anything good to say about this... even the Bees bored me. So long, Nicholas, won't be picking up one of your books in the future ...

[zainab]

Trevor comes to New Bern to manage his late grandpa's old house. In this small town he meets two women: Natalie and Callie. Trevor falls head over heels in love with one of them, he tries everything to win her heart, but she hides a sad secret. Just like the second woman in Trevor's life. With the help of his deceased grandfather, he uncovers her secret and is able to save her life. In the beginning, the book did not excite me as much, but as time went on, I was more and more carried away. A beautiful romance novel with an additional interesting story...

[Bandita · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

It's my 17th Nicholas Sparks book. And it was a very Nicholas Sparks-esque book. I enjoyed it very much. This isn't one of his best books but definitely not one of his worst either. It's a very enjoyable one. I really liked it. I wish there was a bit more of the romance. I also liked the mild mystery part surrounding the mysterious Kelly, his grandfather, and why Natalie won't commit to Trevor. But after reading 17 of his books, I knew exactly what Nicholas Sparks was aiming at. 😂 Would recommend!

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholas Sparks excels on the quirky, small-town feel with this book. He created some rather ordinary characters, at first glance uninteresting and at second glance, they were everything I wanted to read.

The protagonist Trevor, recovering veteran and retired doctor had a life that was secluded, involved focus on recovery, health and bees. Bees…honestly, I adored this aspect of the story, the foundation and focus it brought to all the characters in the book . And my favourite character? Trevor’s grandpa, what a man. Alongside Trevor, there were a small cast of characters and they were all interesting, especially Natalie and Callie.

This was a story of why a loved one died mid-adventure and what he was up to, who was Callie and why was she so closed up and why was Natalie the way she was. It was a tale cleverly woven together, I felt like I almost got there with some of my guesses but they were just out of reach. When the reveals came, I was all ‘oh my’.

I actually only acrued two cry counts for this Sparksy. I don’t cry easily at books but Sparks can usually eek out a little more from me. That said, I was glad not to be a weeping wreck.

THE RETURN was a generally enjoyable, quirky, small-town story with grief, illness, bees, romance and that signature lament. It was pretty wholesome and it left a good feeling on completion.

Thank you to Sphere, Little Brown UK for the early review copy.

This review can be found on A Take From Two Cities Blog.

[Mary Jackson _TheMaryReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love a good romance. Sparks has done it again. If you love romances and happy endings then you should grab a copy of this one. I bet we see this one on the big screen in the future.
5 stars and I HIGHLY recommend this book.

[Karen J · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return by Nicholas Sparks
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another incredible book written by Nicholas Sparks. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook especially with a well spoken narrator.
Very short review because I’m trying to power off my books to reach my 2021 Reading Challenge! LOL

[Natalie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry eyed and mostly satisfied!

No tissues required for this contemporary but slightly uncharacteristic Sparks novel.

Protagonist Trevor, a war-veteran surgeon who finds himself home in New Bern, North Carolina. He is there to recover and retrain, after a career-ending injury in Afghanistan. Suffering from PTSD and physical injuries he returns to his grandfather’s house, following his death, to tend to his bees and decipher the message he was given from his grandfather's death bed.

Natalie, a police deputy, in New Bern catches his eye and his heart. She seems equally smitten but for the sense, she is hiding something, is always on guard, and never opens up.

The storyline is a connected by sullen, isolated teen Callie, and his grandfather and you guessed, Trevor. Secrets, the death-bed message and all their relationships collide and intertwine through Callie but this takes a while to be unfold.

A very slow burn and definitely not the typical romantic tearjerker.

[So Starry · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Return
Nicholas Sparks

After reading this book, I'm amazed that I ever liked any of Nicholas Sparks books. In hindsight, I realise that I perhaps liked the movies better, because of the added factors of music and good-looking faces. If this book is like any of his previous books, then suffice to say that these stories are abysmally boring and pathetic, and if you like Nicholas Sparks and hate on twilight, then you are literally worthless and have zero appreciation for good writing.

Nicholas Sparks, In my 31-year old opinion, is the Chetan Bhagat of America.
And I've never read a more disappointing read that either of these authors in my 25 years of reading books of every genre possible.

And if this book can be published, I think I really should get down to it and write my book, because I'm pretty sure I'd make a better manuscript than this.

The book starts well enough, It has all the elements that are time and tested to produce a four star rating - war veteran, PTSD, scarred human being, a half dead young guy, a dead grandfather, a young mysterious teen, a young mysterious woman and a doctor with a LOT of time on his hands.

And bees.

A whole lot about bees and I admit, it was a tiny bit fascinating in the absence of actual reading material. I do agree bees literally hold the world together and if I could, I'd buy freshly harvested home made honey myself.
The rest of the book is so dreary, I read three fourths of it in rapt attention, hoping to find atleast one line or paragraph that I could happily mark as a witty or sarcastic or wonderfully phrased piece of literature, but there were none.

The male protagonist was beyond creepy, his lines were fake and sick, I felt like I was watching one of the guys in my college talking, and I went to an indian medical college, and indian guys have zero cool and one hundred percent cringe, so to me, the first half of the book was like nails scratching on a board. The female protagonist seemed cool but there is no character description in this book, just love at first sight of sexy outfit, and that is just NOT right. The slight mystery that was created in the book regarding the dead grandfather and the second female protagonist was unraveled as fast as picking on a piece of yarn and having the whole scarf fall apart in your hands.


If this is the abysmal level of storytelling we've been used to, we seriously need new stories, new material, new authors and new writers and we need to wake up and smell the flowers and stop reading such utter crap and start writing and reading our own journals, cuz pretty sure everyone of our stories are much better than whatever this book was. I need a whole week of lemonades and berries and good reading material to wash this crap down and out of my system. I feel sorry that I fed this rubbish to my brain.

Sorry, Nicholas Sparks. All I can say is I hope the movie turns out better.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trevor is recovering from injuries he received while serving as a navy doctor in Afghanistan.
He hears that his grandfather is seriously ill and immediately goes to visit him. When his grandfather dies Trevor moves into his house to look after the bee hives and decides to repair the cottage.
He befriends Natalie who works for the Sheriffs office and the pair become close.
A wonderful summer read with some lovely characters and I learnt a lot about bee keeping.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[♡ Kim ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - really enjoyed this one!

[Tamsin Preece · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice book. I use the word nice deliberately as it wasn’t dreadful but it also wasn’t outstanding. It was a nice, average book.

Our main character Trevor is a good guy, but he’s a little creepy for my liking. Almost obsessive and stalker like in places. Natalie is a bit unlikeable. She could have explained her situation quite easily and spared them both heartache!

I did enjoy the story and, whilst predictable, I’m glad it ended as it did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet, tug-at-your-heartstrings romance / contemporary.

I’d expect nothing less than beautiful from Nicholas Sparks.

“Life endlessly offers us chances to set new directions and in the process we grow and change; when we look in the rearview mirror, we catch a glimpse of former selves who sometimes seem unrecognizable.”

Trevor Benson is an honorable military man that suffers from PTSD from what happened to him outside of the hospital that he worked in during his deployment to Afghanistan. The mortar blast caused a permanent scar on his face, left his torso pock-marked, his left hand is missing a pinkie and ring finger, among other wounds.

When his grandfather passes away, Trevor is his last living family member and must go to New Bern, North Carolina to handle his will. He reaches the hospital with barely enough time to say goodbye, but when his grandfather gives him a message due to his poor condition he isn’t able to discern what it means. Additionally, he was found in his truck in Easley, South Carolina and Trevor has no idea why he’d be traveling seven hours away at his age, with Alzheimers.

“...When I was a teenager, [my grandfather] told me that one day I would meet a woman who would change my life forever.”

Upon returning to his grandfather’s home he meets a woman, the town sheriff named Natalie and falls in love with her almost immediately. He wants the kind of love that his grandparents had, he looked at her as his North Star.

“I barely know you.”

“And that’s a shame.”

Together, he and Natalie try to figure out the mystery of his grandfather’s last few days. But, when she’s not around Trevor prides himself in taking care of the hives in the backyard, as his grandfather was a bee-keeper. While doing so he runs into Callie, a young girl who he always sees walking from the trailer park to her job at the local general store/diner. He can’t figure out her story either. Why is she alone against the world? She looks like she’s only 16! So he starts to ask around...

“It’s like she dropped in out of the sky one day.”

Trevor will find out in getting to know both Callie and Natalie, that they both are hiding a huge secret from him. Can he help them in time before leaving for Baltimore to take a job as a Psychiatrist? Will they give him a reason to stay?

I did enjoy this story, but I wanted WAY more details about the romance and much less discussion about bees. I did however learn a lot about them and the different roles that they play in the hive, as well as things that their stings and honey can cure.

Going into this—-be prepared to learn about bees for the first half of the book. I also thought that the ending was very rushed and I wanted way more of THAT part of the story.

🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝

4 ⭐️

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars.
Injured in Afghanistan, Trevor Benson is sent home to try and rebuild his life since he can no longer be a surgeon. His suffering includes post-traumatic stress disorder. When his grandfather dies, Trevor inherits the run down cottage and property. Trevor wants to find out about his grandfather the mysterious Helen, mentioned among some other rambling words by his grandfather before he dies. Callie who works part time at the diner seemed to know his grandfather well but she is keeping pretty silent about what was happening in his grandfather’s life. Trevor hopes in time to break down her reticence. Early on in his return, Trevor also meets Natalie, the deputy sheriff. Attraction is instant on Trevor’s part but it is obvious Natalie is trying to keep him at arm’s length as she has her own secrets. Will Trevor be able to break down the barriers Callie and Natalie have built? And discover the meaning of his grandfather’s last words?
How a reader responds to this book, I suspect, will largely depend on how you respond to the main characters, especially Trevor. I liked him and found it easy to empathise with him, his attempts to build a new life and combat his PTSD. It gives a very good look at the problems facing someone with PTSD. Natalie and Callie were also interesting characters. Since his grandfather was an apiarist there is a lot about bees. Maybe more than I needed to know about bees and the way honey is made, but that is just a minor quibble, in what was a very enjoyable read. I was right there with the characters all the way and turning pages quickly. Wouldn’t surprise me if this novel ends up making it onto the big scene as many of his others have. It’s been a wait for this latest novel from Nicholas Sparks But in my opinion it was well worth it. I loved it.

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was concerned with some of the reviews but I thought the plot and characters were very intriguing. The nerd in me ate up all the facts about bees and beekeeping. Recommend giving this one a read for an interesting plot drenched with suspense and mystery with romance of course.

[Britt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm unsure if I've outgrown Sparks or if Trevor is just the worst protagonist he's ever written. His perspective is so toxically male that I felt uncomfortable just reading the book.

Trevor is an expert on everything; don't worry, he'll tell you about it. At times The Return felt like a textbook on therapy techniques rather than someone working through trauma and applying therapeutical approaches to their daily life. And then there was a lesson on bees; when he's on a pseudo-date with Natalie, showing her the bees, it sounds like he's giving her a lecture. This was my biggest problem (out of many) with their whole relationship - Trevor rarely stops talking. He's always so surprised that he knows so little about her life because he's made such an effort. In his case, this means he asks her one question, she evades, and he starts a monologue about himself. But don't worry, there's a serious case of instalove going on, so their relationship doesn't need to make sense. There's no give and take to the relationship, just all Trevor all the time.

"It's been said that women are the mysterious sex, and even now, my first inclination is to laugh when a guy I'm talking to says he understands what makes women tick. I was flummoxed by the one-sided nature of the conversation. I'd told her a lot about myself but had learned almost nothing about her."

The Callie/Trevor's grandfather storyline could've been the best part of this book, but it feels like an afterthought. Something that was thrown in to kill time after Natalie ghosts Trevor. Because *gasp* instalove is not. a. thing. At least, not a sustainable thing.

I am a sucker for a tearjerker, and Sparks usually gets me good, but The Return didn't make me tear up even once. So honestly, I think I'm being generous with this two-star rating.

Review originally posted here on Britt's Book Blurbs.

Amazon | Blog | Bookstagram | Reddit | Wishlist

[crίѕтίŋα•●Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ●• · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A vida brinda-nos constantemente com oportunidades de definir novas direções e durante esses processo vamos crescendo e mudando; quando olhamos pelo espelho retrovisor, vislumbramos os nossos eus anteriores, que por vezes nos parecem irreconhecíveis.”
*
“Life endlessly offers us chances to set new directions and in the process we grow and change; when we look in the rearview mirror, we catch a glimpse of former selves who sometimes seem unrecognizable.”
- Trevor Benson

-—-

“A casa do meu avô, encerrava os fantasmas de uma memória plena de significado; era um lugar onde o passado continuava a segredar, enquanto eu estivesse disposto a ouvi-lo.”
*
“My grandfather’s house, carried the ghosts of meaningful memory; it was a place where the past continued to whisper, as long as I was willing to hear it.”
- Trevor Benson

-—-

“Por vezes, na vida, somos confrontados com uma decisão impossível, sem um final feliz, seja qual for a escolha que façamos.”
*
“Sometimes, in life, you’re confronted with an impossible decision, with no happy ending, no matter what you choose.”
- Natalie Masterson

-—-

“Fiz um voto de que ficaria casada na saúde e na doença. A saúde é a parte fácil; é permanecendo fiel na doença que se revela o verdadeiro amor.”
*
“I made a vow to stay married in sickness and in health. Health is the easy part; it’s remaining faithful in sickness where love really shines.”
- Natalie Masterson

[Kate Southey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will preface this review by saying I loved The Notebook and have read and enjoyed many of Sparks other novels but this one just fell a bit flat for me. It has been some time since I’ve read one of his books and I do wonder if because I loved The Notebook so much and yet not this one was because of the passage of time. I read the others in the late 90’s and early 00’s when attitudes to women were different and at the risk of sounding terribly ‘woke’ I felt Trevor was a bit sleazy. I don’t think Spark’s male characters or either sexes characters have moved into the world we now live in and this could be a factor in how well this book does and how well future books do.
It’s not all bad though! The descriptions of the locations are beautiful and I could hear the frogs and cicadas as Trevor sat on his deck at night. The descriptions of his Grandfather and the bee keeping are utterly lovely and though I found the first half of the book a trifle cringy, the second half (once I was used to Trevor and his constant internal monologue of hotw sexy Natalie is and how he can’t understand why she won’t fall at his feet) was much better. His relationship with Callie was far more natural and relatable and her story was gripping. I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out where his Grandpa was heading within the first few chapters too!
I will continue to read Sparks’ novels in the hopes of another Notebook but this one wasn’t it. Mind you, it will be a great movie especially if it isn’t accompanied with voice over of sexist thoughts from the male lead!

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitivamente me estoy haciendo mayor (ojalá me equivoque y sea todo lo contrario, que esté volviendo a la adolescencia que era cuando devoraba este tipo de libros) 😂 Que no tengo nada en contra de ellos,no me malinterpreteis,me encantaban, pero a partir de encontrar mi príncipe azul 🤴💙 los dejé de lado y me dediqué a leer terror y novela negra hasta el día de hoy. Pero últimamente me vuelven a apetecer historias de este tipo, sin grandes complicaciones, tiernas, con un toquecito de misterio y sus dosis de lagrimitas, jope que si he llorado, me ha cogido por sorpresa en la calle y vaya corte 😂😂😂
Me gusta como escribe este hombre, seguramente lea alguno más.


Ahora voy a ver si me echo unas risas con "Sin noticias de Gurb" que ya va tocando reír un poco ☺

[Scottsdale Public Library]

"Maybe," Bowen said. "Or maybe not. There's no way to know for sure. And while it may be normal to feel guilty, it's also important to remember that guilt is simply an emotion, and like emotions, it will eventually pass. Unless you choose to hold on to it." Books by Nicholas Sparks are like Hallmark movies, in my opinion. The plot is mostly predictable, but it's enjoyable read nonetheless. The Return is your typical Sparks book set in North Carolina with a complex love story. However, this one had some depth as well. I appreciated the emphasis on grief, the way to cope with PTSD, and Trevor's conversations with his psychiatrist. It's a great read for those looking for a clean romance with some depth. – Megan G.

[BookNightOwl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading from this author. Stories are always interesting and I usually love all the characters. Enjoyed this read 📚

[Amina Hujdur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lagano ljetno štivo, očekivano romantično sa dozom misterije, kako to zna napisati Sparks. Za odmor i relaksaciju uma, preporučujem.