Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

After graduating from high school, John Tyree just goes through the motions of living. No ambitions, no career, he's just living from job to job. The relationship with his father is strained, as they have nothing in common, and there's no one he can turn to. After a few years of floating around, John decides to join the army, and it's the best thing for him. He learns disclipline, patriotism and has a group of guys that he would give his life to protect. But it's during his summer leave that everything changes. That is when John first meets Savannah, who is beautiful, sweet and unlike any girl he's ever met. They start spending time together and before he knows it, he's in love with her. But at the end of two weeks, John has to return to Germany and it's harder than ever now that he's leaving someone behind. Savannah and John vow to keep in touch, but will their love conquer the boundaries of time and space?

So, the phenomenon that is Dear John. I first heard of this book when I saw the movie trailer a few months back, and thought the movie looked really cute. I didn't give much thought into reading the book until one of my friends (who happens to be a guy) was practically in love with this book. He's one of those people who rarely, if ever, picks up a book, so the fact that he liked this one so much (a romance at that) made me want to read it. And as it gets closer to the movie release date, Dear John is becoming a craze at my school. Seriously, everyone has read, is reading or wants to read this book. It's starting to feel a little like Twilight. So I decided to pick it up. Here's my review:

It seems to me that Dear John is one of those books that appeal to non-readers. This is my first Nicholas Sparks book and I've found that his writing is simple and the story easy to follow. Everyone (and this is mostly people who don't do a lot of reading) rave about this book. I, however, was a little disappointed because I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I don't know if it's because I've read some amazing books that non-readers haven't or if it just wasn't the book for me, but it wasn't the masterpiece that people are making it out to be. It wasn't all bad; like I said the story is cute and easy and doesn't take that much brainpower. The thing that bothered me was that it seemd like Nicholas Sparks was writing superficially because the book doesn't go into much detail nor does it speak in-depth about the character's thoughts and feelings. This book was based on emotion and the fact that the characters were kind of blah is sort of disconcerting. I also didn't understand why the book was titled Dear John if Savannah only writes two letters the whole book (that the reader can actually read). The whole story seemed kind of rushed if you ask me.

I know it sounds like this book is awful, but it wasn't. I did enjoy reading, I just wasn't that impressed overall. I'm still looking forward to seeing the movie (Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum are two of my favorite actors) and I have a feeling I'll like the movie more than the book.

7 out of 10.