So those who know me, know that I can be hard on Mr. Nicholas Sparks. I find his books quite predictable and I don't always buy into the "love story" that runs central in all his plots. However, this is one of the few books that I will definitely without hesitation recommend. Perhaps it is because he decided to make this one have a little bit of a thriller aspect to it.

The book is about a Great Dane named Singer( my favorite character) who is the pet of a widow named Julie who is trying to find a new life partner. Among those she considers are Mike, an old friend of hers, and Richard, a successful manager. I also enjoyed that we are offered different perspectives from many characters and I admit that I liked quite a few of the secondary characters in this one.


Goodreads review published 25/07/22

ممتعة...مشوقة...لم استطع التوقف حتى انهيتها...
الترجمة سيئة... فضلت لو أنني قرأتها بلغتها الام

Different people might take different messages from The Guardian but the strongest message shown throughout the novel is undoubtedly the idea of everlasting love.

Julie is a young woman recovering the tragic loss of her husband, Jim, to a brain tumor. As it would be for any average person, moving on seems to be a near impossible task. After taking some time to pull herself together, she decides to start seeing someone again, only to have that idea change her life in a way no one could expect. She goes on several dates with a man named Richard. He seems perfect; there’s not a flaw she can find but she still is unsure if he is the one. On the side, she is also seeing her husband’s best friend, Mike. Confused by her feelings, Julie makes no decision as to which one she’d like to expand her relationship with. But instead of finding happiness and peace through finding new love, she finds herself being stalked by Richard and once again, in a world of desperate pain. Richard takes the stalking to the next level and everyone surrounding Julie becomes in immediate danger only to be saved by what seems like a miracle when the “I will always be watching over you” promise made by her husband is fulfilled.

“She knew Jim would have wanted her to listen to music tonight; she could hear Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas" in the background. She'd put up the tree for him as we'll"(VIIII).

Julie’s everlasting love for her deceased husband is evident throughout her actions. When moving on and dating new people, she questions if she can really ever feel the unconditional love she felt for Jim. She also occasionally asks herself questions like “Is this what Jim would have wanted me to do?”. Sparks shows us that Julie will forever hold a place for Jim in her heart. He shows that she will never forget him through the act of referring back to him and keeping him in her daily thoughts.

Although the theme is hinted at throughout the book but not completely revealed until the very end. Therefore, anyone with intentions of reading The Guardian, who would like to keep the ending a mystery until experiencing it themselves, may want to skip the rest of this paragraph and go directly to the paragraph beginning with “I gave The Guardian...”. Every hint at the theme was focused on Julie’s love for Jim, but never in return. Before Jim died, he wrote a letter to Julie and purchased a Great Dane to keep her company. Towards the end of the book Richard finds Julie, Mike, and a police officer at a cottage. They were there in attempts to hide from Richard. After taking everyone out of the picture to help Julie, Richard got Julie along. He treated her brutally and forced her to say she loved him. Finally, he’d gotten what he wanted, or so he thought. Richard’s perfect world was short lived as Julie’s Great Dane came and saved her, dying in the process.

“On the day they buried Singer in Julie’s backyard, a warm, soft rain fell around the small group of people who gathered to say goodbye to the Great Dane who had been Julie’s companion in life and, at the end, her guardian”(381).

It was like a miracle; like Jim had been with her through everything, keeping her from getting hurt in a unique way that no one would’ve guessed. Sparks showed us that Jim was really always watching over her and had never forgotten about her or stopped loving her. The way he showed us Jim’s protective presence was one of my favorite elements of the book because it was unique and unexpected. I never knew that a dog could hold such a strong message.

I gave The Guardian 5 stars because of the quality of the text and the emotional connect that can be felt with the book. Sparks creates the characters in a way so that they’re almost like real people in the reader’s life. Richard was a character that was created to give off a suspicious vibe. Something about him just wasn’t right, making me simply not like him. As Richard evolves my feelings switched to near hatred. I dreaded every time he entered a scene for I knew something was fishy and not right about him. In a sense, it was like Julie was a close friend of mine and through the characterization of Richard, I saw he was no good and I wanted her to get away from him.

"And then there was Mike, Henry's younger brother and Jim's best friend growing up. In the shower, Julie smiled. Mike. Now there was a guy who would make some woman happy one day, even if he seemed a little lost sometimes"(8).

If you’re a sucker for romantic novel’s in the way I am, you’ll love this book. The classic love story is tied with action and suspense which is basically the other reason that I rated this book the way that I did. Sparks used details and descriptions that easily made me love Mike’s character the second he was introduced and wish Julie would choose him. The way he’s always there for her and their relationship seems so easy. When they would go on dates neither of them had to work to impress the other, it came naturally. The events of the stalking and the intense ending made for a book that was nearly impossible to put down. The details of the events had the power to make me hate what was going on and I just wanted it to stop, which tied me to the book and made me unwilling to let go of it.

Being a more intense book than the others that Sparks have written, the book is a bit of a switch up for any Nicholas Sparks fans. I still, however, would recommend The Guardian to anyone who likes action, mystery, or romance based novels and wants to see them all tied into one. I guarantee you’ll find it to be a good read!

I really enjoyed this book but who wouldn’t like Nichole Sparks book?
I have read all of this books and loved them all.

Thanks I wanna die now. This tore my heart apart. Dogs should live forever.

The last 100 pages had me on edge

Como não poderia deixar de ser, Nicholas Sparks prendeu-me logo nas primeiras páginas do livro. Fiquei arrebatada e apaixonada por uma história que além de ser de amor, também tem a sua vertente policial.
A leitura deste livro como já previa foi uma agradável surpresa, uma narrativa apaixonante, envolvente, emocionante, repleta de mágoa, tristezas, sentimentos, perdas, acção, suspense e perigo, que me fez verter algumas lágrimas.
A escrita deste autor prima pela simplicidade, clareza, beleza, activa, enérgica e encantadora, um estilo de escrita própria que nos transporta para o interior das suas páginas. Li estas 448 páginas sem dar por elas, quando reparei estava no fim. Dá-me a sensação que a este escritor as palavras saem sem ele dar por isso de tão belas que são.
Uma narrativa, enredo e personagens muito bem estruturados e fantásticos.
Esta é a história de Julie Barenson que fica viúva na flor da idade. A partir da morte do marido Julie sentia-se morta por dentro e nada a fazia alegrar. Mas, na noite de Natal fazia quarenta dias que o marido Jim tinha morrido, quando nessa noite recebe uma caixa grande embrulhada. Dentro da caixa encontrava-se um cachorrinho, mas um cachorrinho assustado, doce e feio que olhava para ela com os seus olhos remelosos, e ao seu lado encontrava-se uma carta. Uma prenda que o marido tinha preparado em vida.
O cão Singer tornou-se no melhor amigo de Julie, compreendia tudo o que ela lhe dizia assim como percebia tudo o que ela sentia. O autor apresenta na perfeição a ligação existente entre Julie e Singer.
Com o decorrer dos anos Julie está pronta para refazer a sua vida afectuosa, no seu caminho encontram-se Mike Harris melhor amigo de Jim e Richard Franklim.
Richard era sedutor mas Julie sentia que algo não encaixava na sua maneira de ser. Seria ele o homem ideal?
Até onde iria Richard Franklim após ser rejeitado por Julie?
Sobreviveria Julie à mente doentia, possessiva, perversa e diabólica daquele homem?
Um livro que nos marca e mexe com os nossos sentimentos mais sinceros .
Um desfecho assombroso e arrepiante que nos deixa a pensar e divididos entre a tristeza e a alegria. Tinha sido o companheiro de uma vida e o seu guardião final.
Uma mensagem de amor, afecto e dedicação dos nossos amigos animais.
Este livro é daqueles que por mais que escreva, tenho a sensação que fica sempre algo por dizer. Por isso: “Quando não sabemos o que exprimir, então o melhor é ficar calado, por vezes o silêncio vale mais que mil palavras”.
Recomendo que leiam esta história que me cativou, encantou, maravilhou e deslumbrou. Que dizer mais de Nicholas Sparks, LEIAM LEIAM muito este Grande Senhor da Literatura.
Sou uma viciada livrólica de Nicholas Sparks :)

This was a solid story. It was pretty predictable but packed an emotional punch. This is a good mix of romantic suspense.

When a young widow begins dating again she doesn’t realize that not everyone in this world is who they say they are. With her late husband in her heart and his final gift to her - a Great Dane used to be her guardian to protect her throughout her life - she tackles life’s ups and downs through grief and hopefully finding love again after all. A love between a dog and its human is like no other bond in this life.

Julie lives with her dog Singer in a small town in North Carolina where she meets Richard, who is hiding a dark secret. Her friends, especially Mike, try to protect her, but Richard knows no boundaries. In the end, she loses a faithful friend and with him the connected love for her husband Jim. This book was a little bit different than the other love books of Nicholas Sparks, although it was less heartbreaking, the book is totally exciting and full of love.

Este libro me da más nostalgia que nada, porque con él puedo afirmar que he leído todas las novelas de Nicholas Sparks.
Sobre la historia, es preciosa, como todo lo que escribe este hombre. Me encantó el gran héroe, Singer, ese perro era amor puro.

Stars: 5

I'll write a review when i stop crying.

This book was so horrendously bad I would have given it less stars but I find comfort in the NC references and I didn’t want to do Nick Sparks dirty like that lol. The love interest was truly such a loser that I thought he was going to end up being a villain. I think it also just didn’t stand the test of time since I believe it was written in 2003.