Review | Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

"Dear John", the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever.
When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. John must choose between love and country. Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover how love can transform us in ways we never could have imagined.

Thoughts: I think I have a love/hate relationship with Sparks. I loved The Notebook movie, but I wasn't too happy with the book. I know the book came first and the movie wouldn't even exist if the book didn't, but I watched the movie first. That was an obvious mistake. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it the book but it wasn't the same.

Dear John was just the opposite. I read (listened to it, actually) and really loved it. I connected with each character and really was able to appreciate Sparks' writing and the way he develops the story with this one. The movie was a waste of the eleven dollars that I didn't pay. Well, sort of. I think I would've enjoyed the movie a lot more if I hadn't heard the ending to the book just minutes before. I really hated the changes they made from the book to the movie. Which is weird, because I really loved the changes they made from the book to the movie for The Notebook.

Anyways, back to Dear John. I really found this book heartbreaking. I know that many people say that after John gets "the" letter the book gets sort of bad, but I think I really liked it more because it was so sad. I mean, I felt for the guy. I actually broke down and cried several times. And the relationship between the characters all felt so real to me. I was easily drawn to them.

I love Sparks simplicity. I don't know if anyone else agrees but I think that his writing style, from the two books I've read, is so simple. There's no suspense, action, horror or even that much drama intertwined with what's going on. Yet, I get a sense that this is really what real life is like. If you've enjoyed his other books I say you read this one too and everyone else should give it a try too because I think it's a great story.

Favorite Line: "It's possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time, the grief . . . lessens. It may not go away completely, but after a while it's not so overwhelming."

This book was won in a giveaway hosted by Zia.