While I enjoyed the premise of this, I really wish the book was longer.. It felt like it was missing something the entire time. I wish there was more background between the Reece and Wren that we got to see, but it just felt to....easy?

The creepy nighttime scenes were described pretty well! I could picture then vividly, ew, lol.

All in all, it wasn't the worst, but it sadly wasn't the best! :(

Thank you Net Galley and Random House for the ARC!

This is the collab I never knew I needed!
Picture a heartfelt Nicholas Sparks love story wrapped in the eerie, supernatural edge of M. Night Shyamalan—it’s every bit as captivating as it sounds. I devoured this book and have already recommended it to all my book-loving friends.
On a personal (and slightly spooky) note… two names in this story matched my real life. The grandmother shares the exact name of my beloved grandmother, who passed from COVID in 2020, and one of the husbands even has my last name. 😳
Goosebumps alert!
#Remain #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of Remain by Nicholas Sparks. While Sparks delivers the emotional storytelling and romantic tension he’s known for, I found the female characters to be somewhat stereotypical and two-dimensional, which made parts of the story feel predictable. That said, the novel still explores themes of love, loss, and the impact of past choices in a way that can be moving for fans of his work. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I wish the female perspectives were more fully developed.

I could not resist hitting the request button with gusto when I saw the two names attached to this story. Admittedly, while I always appreciate a ghost/spiritual element, this story was too much of a slow burn. In M. Night fashion, I expected some twists and turns, dark elements of spook and suspense lurking within the pages, that did not come to fruition. A little tame for my expectations.

I was intrigued from the start to see how the book would unfold with a collaboration between Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. Loved the mysterious vibes that started right from the beginning!
I was on the edge of my seat while reading, trying to figure out how the book would unfold. Good twist at the end! I enjoyed the different supernatural spin on things. Will recommend!!

I love a good genre mishmash and was so excited to see a collaboration between Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. Cheesy romance meets sci-fi horror with possible jump scares? I’m in!

Alas, that is not what this is. “Remain” is a paranormal romance by Sparks in the same vein as “Safe Haven.” Sure, there’s an underlying mystery made more interesting because one of the protagonists is a ghost, but I just don’t sense Shyamalan’s influence. There isn’t much depth to the characters, there aren’t really any twists or scares that you don’t see coming, and I bet most of us can determine who did it by the halfway point.

I’m not surprised to hear that this book is being made into a movie. I bet, with this collaboration, that had been the concept all along. I have a feeling I will like the movie better. We’ll see.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Remain
by Nicholas Sparks; M.Night Shylamalan
Pub Date: Oct, 14, 2025
Thanks to the authors, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A one-of-a-kind novel that grapples with the supernatural mysteries of life, death, and human connection—an unprecedented collaboration between the globally bestselling author of love stories like The Notebook and the renowned writer and director of blockbuster thrillers like The Sixth Sense.
For me this collaboration did not work as well as I had desired. I wanted more. More Sparks.

This was a very entertaining read. It lacked depth, which will make it a great movie, but I found myself wanting more. More between Wren and Tate, more about their past. Just. More.

A lot of time was spent disparaging Wren, and I’m not sure how I felt about that. I need more to redeem her. More time with Tate may have helped to show that those were lies.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Things I liked:
I am not normally a romance reader. I picked up this ARC because of the collaboration with Shyamalan. That being said, I feel like this was a good level of romance vs mystery.
I will say the whodunnit is good, and I didn't realize until closer to the end who the killer really was.

Things I disliked:
There are some plot points where things were resolved a bit too easily - for example how Oscar basically believed with almost no questioning that his friend was seeing a ghost.
While the story kept me engaged, it did lack depth. The characters were very one dimensional.

Absolutely beautiful!!! Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! Literally it is like Nicholas Sparks and M Night Shamalan collide! I love the authenticity of both! Paranormal, romantic, and suspenseful!!! It’s so good!!!!

I was sooooo excited for this pairing. I never read anything by Nicholas Sparks but when I heard M. Night Shyamalan was teaming up with him to write REMAIN, I knew that I’d have to read this one immediately. Hit or miss, M. Night Shyamalan’s movies are always on the top of my list.

Seeking a fresh start in Cape Cod, architect Tate Donovan helps his best friend Oscar build his dream home. Everything seems to change when he meets Wren, a captivating woman who shatters his logical worldview. Their deep connection soon faces threats from dark secrets in her past. To save her, Tate must confront truths that challenge love, reason, and reality itself.

This book is a trick. In the editor’s note, the idea of this book came together but from my understanding Nicholas Sparks wrote the book while M. Night Shyamalan is writing the screenplay—that is not the same as co-authoring a book. Sorry! Also, this book is nothing new (insert Nene Leakes “nothing was there gif” 😂). This book is not original, nor anything more than just a paranormal romance-ish tale. You’ve heard and read this book before. I do think the writing style allows for a quick read, but I wish I picked up a different book for my morning commute. This was my first and last Nicholas Sparks book.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for giving me the eARC to read and review! The review will be on my Instagram on sometime this week 9/3-9/7/25

When I saw that the book was a collab I didn’t know what to expect. These two authors are totally different, but, oh did this book turn out great. I’m an avid Nicholas Sparks reader and it’s nothing like he has ever written. The book has Nicholas Sparks romance and M. Night Shyamalan supernatural. It was such a fun read and the relationship between Wren and Tate is so pure. It keeps you guessing throughout the whole story. The book did remind me of the show Ghost Whisperer, but I really like the show, so it makes sense why I like the book. Remain is a perfect book for fall and spooky season! Hope you all enjoy reading it too!

I was hoping for a little more Shyamalan and a little less Sparks -- but it was still good! There's definitely a huge supernatural element, so be willing to kinda go with and suspend reality.
I'm thinking this will make a great movie!

When I saw that Nicholas Sparks and Shyamalan teamed up for a book, I knew I absolutely had to read it. I don’t know what I was expecting, I guess a little more of a creepy factor… But instead, what we got was a very romantic, albeit slightly-tragic love story that who Nicholas Sparks.

Without posting any spoilers, kind of saw the ghost angle from a mile away, so the plot was not very twisty and not very surprising. That said, the story was endearing, and I found myself very interested in finding out what exactly happened after the festival, 2 years ago.

This is perfect for fans of Sparks!

Going into this, my first thought was "will this be a tragic romance or a thriller?" I was so happy to get both! I wasn't sure how each author's vibes would come together but the book was enjoyable and felt like a single author had written it. Tate and Wren's love story combined with a death story kept me anxiously turning each page. Even at the end, when I was so sure I knew who'd dun it, I was pleased to see that I was wrong!

Remain has to be one of the best books Sparks has written, and the fact that he worked with Shyamalan makes it even more of a hit. I was captivated by the vivid descriptions of Cape Cod and the relationships developed throughout the book. It transported me there. Addictive storytelling. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I have been anticipating this book for forever. I missed that it got approved when it did until I was looking through my NG approvals and screamed. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was good. Not PHENOMENAL, but it was good.

Tate is fresh off of a grippy sock holiday after the death of his sister rocks his world. He temporarily moves to help his best friend Oscar remodel a house when he discovers he has inherited his sister’s quirky sixth sense (ope, see what I did there 🤪)

I don’t know how much I can put out there, so I will say it’s paranormal, it’s romance, it’s mystery. I didn’t love it but I really enjoyed it. I wanted more from the ending and that’s really what brought down the score. The characters were *chefs kiss* though and I would really enjoy following Tate’s life journey in another story one day.

The writing was top tier and I think this is going to be a big hit, so please check it out and decide for yourself. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House, Nicholas Sparks (😱), and M. Night Shyamalan (😱) for allowing me to read and review this book.

I must admit when I first heard that Nicholas Sparks was writing a supernatural romance it gave me pause. And then I learned it was a collaboration with a screenplay writer, M. Night Shyamalan, known for their work in the genre I was more intrigued.

After diving into the book it felt less supernatural than I was expecting. Ultimately, I would label this book more Magical Realism, where the plot of the book is set in the real world but there’s some additional supernatural force also. The story felt easily digestible by someone who isn’t used to the supernatural genre, and I think it could be a good gateway because of that.

The main character, Tate, meets Wren and the pair immediately take a liking to each other. Then, Tate realizes Wren is a ghost who died 2 years ago but has no idea. As the story unfolds you get to experience them falling in love while Tate works to uncover the inconsistencies of Wren’s death.

I’ve read every Nicholas Sparks book and can confirm that this one delivers his typical style of a swoon worthy romance that also touches your heart and doesn’t play out as you would expect. For those familiar with Sparks’ previous work, it reminds me of the thrill in ‘See Me’, the magical realism of ‘Safe Haven’ and the romance of ‘Nights in Rodanthe’.

I really enjoyed this book, even more than I expected to. I can’t wait to see how it adapts to the screen.

Thanks so much to the publisher for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan are two names I never thought I would see in a sentence together. I’ll be honest, I do not watch the type of movies that Shyamalan makes so I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this book, even though I have been reading Sparks for a long time.
While I rated this book a 3, I am not sure I would read another by this combo because I struggled with the relationship in this book. I did enjoy the mystery storyline portion of this book though. I was glad the murder storyline was wrapped up, but did not feel like the book had a satisfying ending overall.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Being a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, I approached this latest release with a mix of anticipation and curiosity. Having read every one of his books, I felt I somewhat knew what to expect with the romance aspect of the story but was interested to see how the paranormal aspect would apply. I was pleasantly surprised with how the story played out. I enjoyed how they dealt with Tate's grieving process with the death of his sister and love the bind between Tate and Oscar and how Oscar and his wife truly cared for Tate's wellbeing. I struggled a bit with Tate's acceptance of Wren's Ghostly presence. The transition from disbelief to belief felt somewhat quick and I found myself wanting a more pronounced pushback or skepticism before Tate fully embraced the supernatural premise. That hesitancy could have deepened the tension and provided a more layered reasoning of his love, especially a love that crosses the boundary between living and dead. Overall, It was an original story that I enjoyed and was very unique.