Rating: 
Summary: Great read!
Review: I was disappointed with Nicholas Sparks' The Rescue and A Bend in the Road, and I wasn't sure if I'd read his next novel. I read Nights in Rodanthe which was very good, so I decided to read The Guardian. I am very happy to say that this is the best book he's written since The Notebook. It's an excellent read, that catches you off-guard and pulls you in until you just can't put the book down! The first half of the book is a bit slow in parts, but the second half of the book is exciting, engrossing, and very fast-paced. You will not be disappointed. In the Author's Note at the back of this book Sparks explains how difficult this book was for him to write. (It is quite different than his previous works.) The Guardian is not Sparks' typical love story but is unquestionably entirely successful. My only complaint is that sometimes his dialogue is a bit stilted and unrealistic. (This is true in some of his other novels as well.) It has a way of pulling me out of the story and kind of rolling my eyes. But even so, I liked this book very much, found it believable, and the characters well-defined and realistic. I strongly recommend it! :>
Rating: 
Summary: Someone to Watch Over Me
Review: Bestselling author Nicholas Sparks' newest novel, THE GUARDIAN, is a tale of loyalty, love, and danger. In it, he tells of Julie Barenson, a young widow who is making her first entrance onto the dating scene since her husband Jim's death four years earlier. Before Jim passed on, he made arrangements for a Great Dane puppy to be delivered to Julie after his death. The dog, Singer, becomes a major rock in Julie's life, her healing partner, and a major component of this story.Enter Mike, Jim's best friend, whom Julie cares deeply for. However, she is afraid to ruin a wonderful friendship by adding romance to the equation. Mike makes his feelings known, but Julie is not persuaded. Julie decides instead to go out with Richard Franklin, an engineer in town on a contract. Richard and Julie go on a few dates, and things seem to be moving along. But when Julie begins receiving ominous phone calls and Singer begins acting strangely disturbed, this would-be love story becomes a powerful thriller. I am probably one of the few people who have never read Sparks before this book, but I assure you, this will not be my last time. His characters are depicted in a way that makes you see them, hear them, and feel the range of emotions they experience. THE GUARDIAN is a great summer cliffhanger. Reviewed by CandaceK
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating: 
Summary: Too much jelly...
Review: Nicholas Sparks' "The Guardian" is like a poorly made peanut butter and jelly sandwhich...The nourishing part is spread way too thin and the jelly is really piled on. The bread's a little soggy too...and it cakes on the roof of your mouth. To translate the analogy: not enough sustainance, way too much sugar, and some very second-rate prose to hold everything together. Certainly not of a caliber of the earlier Sparks novels--avoid this concoction.
Rating:
Summary: BookWorm
Review: I gave this book 5 stars because I think it is probably the best Nicholas Sparks book I've ever reaad, out of all of them,because I've rwad all of them. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Rating:
Summary: Nicholas Sparks does it again!
Review: The Guardian is a fictional book, a mystery, but at the same time a love story. It takes place in present time in a little town in North Carolina. The theme of the book is love, danger, and dealing with the loss of a spouse. It is about a women, Julie, who has lost her husband at a young age. He leaves her with a puppy, named Singer to watch over her. She feels like she is ready to start dating again and when she starts looking she finds a man named Richard but there is also Mike Harris, her husband's best friend. Soon, when Julie finally thinks she's happy, strange things start happening to her and she realizes if she doesn't take action soon, she will pay the ultimate price- her life.
I loved everything about this book. It was most definitely a page turner, especially toward the end. I usually read the most before I go to bed. One night, I started reading around ten, and I literally could not put it down! I read a little over 200 pages, and I didn't stop reading until 3 a.m. when my mom finally came in and told me I had to go to bed because I had to get up in another two hours. The book put me through a lot of emotions as it went on, I was excited, happy, mad, scared and sad. Even though "The Guardian" is a fictional book, it deals with real situations. It made me more aware of some dangerous things that could happen in real life, to real people. Most people think "this could never happen to me", but this book shows it can.
I think that this book targets many different types of people. Some people like action books, some like romance, but this books satisfies both wants and ties them together very well. The two elements in the story were perfectly balanced, and the way he paced the story, I never lost the slightest bit of interest. I enjoyed the novel and would definitely recommend it, I couldn't ask for more in a book.
By: JB
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: I've read every one of Nicholas Sparks novels and I have to say this is one of his best. He follows his typical love stories with an element of suspense and danger. One of my all time favorite novels and comes highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: My second Sparks novel
Review: "The Wedding" was my first Nicholas Sparks novel and I loved every word. Now, "The Guardian" is my second, and it's every bit as good as my first read. Sparks is one of those authors, like McCrae or Grisham, who can weave a great story, bring us memorable characters, and give us a satisfying ending, all without selling out. The writing is stellar and you truly feel that Mr. Sparks is trying to "give" you something. Also recommended: McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
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Summary: The Gaurdian
Review: This book, The Gaurdian, by Nicholas Sparks is a great book. If you have read any other of his books and did not like them you should still read this one it is much different than any of his others. The book is based in a small North Carolina town, and the main character is Julie Barenson. She is a widow, whose husband died because of a known health problem. She is now trapped in choosing who she wants to be with. Mike,her husband's brother, or Richard, someone she met on the job. She likes them both but cannot chose. All of the sudden something terrible happens and she has to cling on to someone to live and be safe. Her dog is her gaurdian, as she travels on this journey of love and hate. This book is part romance, but definatley more mystery. This plot what was what brought me into the book. The connection between the characters is wonderful.Even if you haven't read any other Nicholas Sparks books you should read this. If you like any kind of romance or mystery this is the book for you. Once you start, you won't stop. Bottom Line: Don't Miss Out! Some other titles written by Nicholas Sparks are: The Wedding, The Rescue, A Bend In The Road, and The Notebook.
Rating: 
Summary: A very disappointing book
Review: If you love your dog like a member of your family, you'll hate this book. If you enjoyed "A Walk to Remember" and "Message in a Bottle" also by Nicholas Sparks, you'll hate this book. On the other hand, if you love slow moving plots with pages and pages of monotonous dialogue and if you love stories about serial murderers who excuse their violence because their mothers were beaten by their fathers and if you love books that are so predictable you can figure out the whole plot by reading the book jacket, then "The Guardian" is a book for you! This is an "Old Yeller" style story: like the long-ago Disney movie, the bad guy dies, the good guys all live happily ever after and Old Yeller gets shot at the end! This book isn't a good love story, unless you count the dog; it isn't a good murder mystery, and it isn't a good fantasy. Rather, it's a chaotic mixture of elements from all three that never quite jell into a coherent or interesting whole. I bought "The Guardian" as an audio book; I wish I had used my money for something better or, at the very least, I wish I had bought it as a cheap paper back!
Rating:
Summary: trite and predictable
Review: This is the first Nicholas Sparks book I've read and guessed the plotline from the bookjacket summary... not surprisingly, I guessed correctly a very predictable storyline. Though love-obsession is a scary situation to be in, Sparks' writing did not make me feel compassion or empathy for protagonist Julie. I found all of the characters to be very shallow and not well-developed, mostly stereotypical.
Sparks' writing style is clean but uninspired, filled with stock phrases and a bland rhythm (the shouts aren't shouts, the italicized thoughts don't have any weight). Hope that standard writing formula isn't prevalent through all of his books, if I should ever read another book of his again.
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