Nicholas Sparks and M. Knight Shyamalan are not two names you would naturally expect to see sharing a book cover. Sparks built his reputation on emotionally-charged romance, while Shyamalan’s work is more closely tied to mystery, tension, and supernatural storytelling. Remain, first released in the UK in October 2025, sits somewhere between those styles. It does not always balance them perfectly, but the combination is interesting enough to hold your attention throughout.

The story follows Tate Donovan, an architect recovering from acute depression and a subsequent breakdown stemming from the tragic death of his sister. Hoping for some distance from his normal life, Tate travels to Cape Cod to design a summer house for his best friend Oscar. It’s while staying in an old inn along the coastline that he meets Wren, a young woman who quickly becomes central to both his emotional recovery and the novel’s growing mystery. 

The opening chapters are easily the strongest part of the whole book. Cape Cod gives the story a cold, isolated backdrop that suits Tate’s emotional state perfectly, and the slower pace works well early on in the novel. Sparks’ influence is obvious in the more intimate scenes, while Shyamalan’s influence appears through the constant sense that something is slightly wrong beneath the surface.

Readers expecting psychological horror may find the supernatural side surprisingly restrained. There are some unsettling moments, but they are rarely pushed far enough to become genuinely frightening. Instead, the ghostly elements function more as an extension of the story’s sadness and unresolved grief.

This approach works better in some sections than others. The relationship between Tate and Wren carries enough intrigue to keep you engaged, though the emotional side of the story is noticeably stronger than the mystery itself. Some revelations arrive exactly when you would expect them to, and the novel occasionally seems less concerned with suspense than with watching two isolated people find comfort in each other. 

The middle section is where the pacing becomes uneven. Tate’s internal reflections start to repeat themselves, slowing the story considerably at points, while some of the larger plot developments pass by too quickly. The result is a story that sometimes feels caught between two identities, without fully committing to either. 

Wren also remains difficult to fully connect with for much of the story. Her distance makes sense within the mystery, but it weakens parts of the romance because the reader never understands her as clearly as Tate does. Tate emerges as the more believable character simply because the narrative spends so much time inside his perspective. Oddly enough, some of the novel’s warmest moments come from Tate’s cat, Paulie, whose presence brings a lighter energy whenever the story risks becoming too emotionally heavy.  

There are moments when the contrast between the two writers becomes particularly noticeable. Some scenes feel unmistakably Nicholas Sparks, sentimental and emotionally direct, while others lean fully into Shyamalan’s dreamlike unease. Occasionally, the shifts are jarring, though they also give the novel a personality that feels different from many of the more conventional romance books of today.

That tonal uncertainty will probably divide readers more than anything else. Fans expecting a traditional Sparks romance are likely to be met with something darker or more unpredictable.

Still, there is something compelling about a book willing to sit awkwardly between genres instead of fully committing to one. Even when Remain loses momentum, it remains difficult to compare directly to many recent mainstream releases. The combination of romance, grief, and ghost story elements gives it a distinct identity, even if every part of that blend does not work equally well. 

Interest around the novel has increased since the announcement of its upcoming film adaptation, directed by Shyamalan himself. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor, it is currently scheduled for release in February 2027. While authors are often involved behind the scenes in adaptations of their work, it is far less common for a co-creator to step directly into the director’s chair, particularly someone with such a recognisable visual style. In many ways, Remain already feels written with cinema in mind, from its isolated coastal setting to its slow-building sense of unease, making Shyamalan an especially natural choice to bring the story to screen. 

For readers open to slower supernatural fiction that emphasises emotion over suspense, Remain offers an absorbing, if uneven, experience. It may not fully satisfy devoted fans of horror or romance individually, but its unusual mix of the two gives it a character that is difficult to forget.

Other works by Nicholas Sparks

If Remain leaves you wanting more emotionally driven fiction centred around love, loss, and personal tragedy, Nicholas Sparks’ wider catalogue remains one of the most recognisable in modern romantic fiction:

• The Notebook (1996)

• A Walk to Remember (1999)

• Dear John (2006)

• The Choice (2007)

• The Last Song (2009)

• The Best of Me (2010)

• The Longest Ride (2013)

• Counting Miracles (2024)

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