Review: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

My Aunt gave me this one to read. She gave me a huge box of books and this one jumped out at me first!



About the Book

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love--and face the hardest decision of his life.

For more information about Dear John please visit Nicholas Sparks' website, "Like" him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

As always you can purchase a copy of Dear John from my Amazon Store.

My Review

I find it hard to review this one. I liked the book, and I cried while reading. So there was an emotional attachment, but it just wasn't an unforgettable book for me. It was kind of like fodder - just there to pass the time. I hate to say that about it, because I did enjoy it. I just missed something with this one. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I didn't have a disconnect because it didn't follow the movie or vice versa. Maybe as time passes I'll be able to figure it out. But on with the review...

I really liked Savannah. John was an ok character but I just got the "dumb jock" sterotype stuck in my head and couldn't get past that with him. I don't know they the jock thing stuck, since he was in the Army, but that's what stuck. Even when he was being a sweetheart I didn't see it as being realistic. Savannah was so caring and had such a big heart, but she also knew she had to take care of her heart and wouldn't let herself get hurt. I could see her falling in love with John, but I also could see that it would be short lived. They were two different people and he didn't really suit her.

I would have liked to have had more about John's father, as I think he was the "sweetheart" influence on John. Maybe if he'd been a little bit more developed and a bigger part of the story then I wouldn't have had the negative view of John and his ability to be a anything but cool hearted. Through the whole book I just felt like John's emotions were a bit distant, I know he didn't want to "show" his emotions but everyone has emotions whether they like it or not. So I would have liked to see more of John's dad and John's emotions.

I was also kind of disappointed at the end. There was a big build up and no real resolution. I am going to watch the movie. I've heard it's pretty different from the book and that it's one of the few movies that is better than the book.

I will read more of Sparks' novels because I do like a good love story. Other's of his that I've read were really good. So I think maybe this one was just a fluke!