Reviewed on: Ashes Books & Bobs.

My friend, Megan and I decided to do a Nicholas Sparks reading marathon this month and as I was checking my Goodreads to see which of his books I’d yet to read, A Bend in the Road showed up. I decided to start there only to quickly discover I had read the book before, long before I started tracking my reading with Goodreads.

Nicholas Sparks was the author to introduce me to the romance genre. I used to read his new books religiously when they came out because he was the only one I knew who could create love stories to give me all the mushy-gushy feels I had grown to love. The North Carolina settings always seemed cozy and welcoming, the characters were loveable, and there was just enough drama to keep it interesting.

Rereading this book made me realize how much I’ve grown as a reader since my Nicholas Sparks superfan days. While his books feature all of the things I mentioned above, all things I still love, many of his books also feature lengthy descriptions of absolutely mundane daily details I don’t have the patience to read about anymore. As a younger reader, these details didn’t bother me, likely due to the fact that I wasn’t living a mundane adult life myself yet. These things were new and novel and added to the romanticism. Unfortunately, A Bend in the Road featured an abundance of mundane and I found myself skimming until I’d find a bit of action taking place again.

Nonetheless, I’m glad I decided to start with A Bend in the Road, if only for the sake of nostalgia. In some ways, it was sad to see how much my reading tastes have changed but in other ways, I’m glad to see the growth I’ve experienced in life. I’m not stagnant and that’s a good thing.