Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Dear John

Author: Nicholas Sparks (also wrote The Last Song)

Pages [hardcover]: 276

Memorable Quote: “We’d met at a carefree time, a moment full of promise, in its place now were the harsh lessons of the real world.”

Favorite Characters: John & Tim

Summary:

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. “Dear John,” the letter read…and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever.

Review:

I’ve been meaning to read more of Nicholas Sparks’ work, and this is the second book of his that I’ve read. It was interesting, had a nice romantic storyline, and kept me reading. The only thing I wasn’t completely satisfied with was the ending.

I loved every character in this book. From Savannah, to her best friend Tim, to John’s father, every one of them had a unique personality that made them memorable. I especially liked how the relationship between Tim and his younger brother Alan was shown.

I don’t know much about the miliary, or what it’s like to be in the army. I like how Nicholas Sparks assumes that is true for most of his readers and lets us experience what it may be like for someone choosing to enlist.

The ending . . . Well, I can’t complain about it being unrealistic. For those of you who haven’t read it, or watched the movie (I’m going to watch it tomorrow), I’m not going to give it away. But it makes sense, so I can’t say I hated the book because of it. I just . . . Expected something different. It’s not always a bad thing to get something unexpected.

Dear John  gets 4/5 stars from me. It was a quick read full of fantastic characters.