Review: At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

If you’ve ever found yourself ugly-crying on a plane because a fictional couple couldn’t communicate like adults… welcome, habibti, you’re among friends. At First Sight is classic Nicholas Sparks: small-town charm, high-stakes feelings, and a finale engineered to liquefy your tear ducts.

The gist (spoiler-light)

This is the direct sequel to True Believer. We rejoin science journalist Jeremy Marsh and librarian Lexie Darnell as they trade long-distance sparks for engagement rings, ultrasounds, and the thousand paper cuts of “real life.” Secrets, insecurities, and big-city/bayou-town friction pile up, testing how well love holds under actual weight.

What worked for me

• Domestic stakes over grand gestures: Sparks zooms in on the unglamorous parts of love—money worries, in-laws, creative burnout. It’s a quieter, cosier canvas than his whirlwind romances, and the everyday-ness feels honest.

• Small-town texture: Boone Creek hums with the gossip mill, aunties-with-opinions energy, and tender routines. (As a diaspora Arab raised on extended-family commentary, the porch-side meddling felt… familiar.)

• Emotion you can feel in your ribs: The last act is a blunt instrument, yes, but also cathartic. If you read to metabolize big feelings, this scratches the itch.

What didn’t quite land

• Communication breakdowns on repeat: Several conflicts hinge on withheld texts and conveniently timed misunderstandings. If you’re allergic to “just TALK to each other,” prepare hives.

• Predictable pull of the tearjerker lever: Sparks presses the Big Red Feelings Button with visible finger. It works—but you can see it coming down the hallway.

• Jeremy’s inner monologue: At times he reads like a composite “anxious husband” rather than a fully singular person, which blunts some of the nuance.

Vibe check

• Tone: earnest, gently melodramatic, wistful

• Pacing: mid-tempo domestic drama with a late surge

• Tropes: second-chance love (but already together), small-town vs. city, impending parenthood, grief & healing

Read this if you…

• Want a relationship-in-progress story rather than a meet-cute.

• Are in the mood to cry-cleanse and text your favorite cousin afterward.

• Enjoy romances that wrestle with trust, identity, and family expectations.

Maybe skip if you…

• Need characters to communicate like a high-functioning therapy group.

• Prefer romance arcs without tragedy-adjacent turns.

• Want subversive or experimental prose. (Sparks writes clean and straight down the middle.)

Content notes (gentle)

Pregnancy, childbirth, medical complications, bereavement, anxiety, and career stress.

Pair it with

• A soft blanket and something warm to drink.

• Companion reads:

  • The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (fate vs. choice, achey romance)

  • The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (if you prefer a slightly lighter Sparks)

  • Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid (domestic choices, parallel paths)

Verdict

⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5
A tender, weepy continuation that trades swoon for sincerity. It won’t convert Sparks skeptics, but if you like your love stories domestic and devastating—with a coda of hope—At First Sight delivers.

If you’re shopping in the region, consider supporting local booksellers— At First Sight is often available via BookBoss.ae and indie shops.

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