The Best of Me

This is the second time I've read this book and I could feel the emotions of Amanda and Dawson so much that I had to put the book down to keep from crying. All of the phases of their love developing I could feel it alone with them. They were both believable characters and to love so completely and to be loved so completely must be the most amazing feeling in all of life. I only wish that I could have had that experience. I really don't think that very many couples experience that..

I loved this book. The storytelling kept my interest. I don’t think I have read an entire novel as quickly as I did this one. It had everything: love, action, tragedy, compassion, forgiveness… The romantic thread was beautiful and dreamlike. Mr. Sparks adeptly floats the love story along as delicately as gossamer amidst the harsh events that were occurring that kept me wanting the story to go otherwise. Truly an example of not always getting what you want, but rather what you need.

This is Nicholas Sparks at his best. Interesting, intriguing story complete with the good guys and the bad guys. Set in small town, North Carolina, Dawson is called back home not by his family but by a lawyer. To his surprise his high school girlfriend, Amanda, is also in attendance. Some of Dawson’s family see him in town and they are not happy about it. With each page, the story becomes more tense and also more happy for Dawson and Amanda. Time to pick up the book and start reading!

If you ever had a first love that got away, this is the book. It was a real page turner. It brought out a range of emotions, including tears. I really enjoyed this book. I read reviews where people said it was predictable. Maybe so at times, but I say it is a true romantic story. He wrote it with other characters involved in the story, and left us to fill in the details of their lovemaking. He tells a story, not just focusing on jumping in and out of bed. I found this very refreshing. I've read 2 more books by him since this read. I've found an author who actually tells a story.

At first I thought I knew how the ending would be, but boy was I wrong. A funeral brings two high school lovers back together, but only for a short time. An old man's last wishes, a bar fight, car accident, and a one in a million chance of getting a transplant will keep you reading this book untill the very end.

I'm not a big romance novel fan, but I tend to find myself enjoying Nicholas Sparks books anyway. I love how his stories are really well developed and thought-provoking, rather than just revolving around the physical aspects of love as many other romance novels do. "The Best of Me" had to be one of Nicholas Sparks' best novels yet. Yes, the basic theme is one that's been done over and over again - two high school sweethearts having to let go because real life interferes, and then running into each other again years later. But this story is so much more than that. You find yourself really sympathizing with the characters and understanding how difficult their situations are. Nicholas Sparks captures and holds your attention until the very end in this book, and this story is one that I'm sure will stick with me for a long time.

The Best of Me follows the struggles of Amanda as she must decide between her imperfect family and her first love, Dawson. Her decision is heart-wrenching, and the events that ensue will inevitably bring tears to your eyes. Amanda discovers what really matters in life, and Dawson is able to truly give the best of himself to Amanda in a shocking manner.

In true Nicholas Sparks fashion, The Best of Me is simultaneously heart-warming, melancholy, and suspenseful. How Dawson gives life to Amanda is sure to change your view on what is important to you.

Nicholas Sparks novels are kind of my guilty pleasure... I know I'll never come away from his novels with an enlightened or deepened view of the world, but I always know I'll walk away from his novels feeling the love from the characters. That being said, it's hard for me to rate this novel because even though I love his novels, I really am starting to get tired of the recycled plots/characters formula. But I'm gonna try my hardest to explain what I did and didn't like about this one.

The Good: I really loved and appreciated the way Sparks took on the topic of alcoholism. He didn't make the character the stereotypical dirty, violent, raging alcoholic. Instead he chose to showcase the character as a high-functioning alcoholic, a middle class, white collar, nice family man. I think Sparks made a great choice doing this because there are SO many families that experience alcoholism in a parent even though on the outside they may seem completely normal. Even successful, charming businessmen and women can fall into the traps of alcoholism. Sparks also did a magnificent job creating the worlds scariest brothers. Oh my. Ted and Abee Cole are some frightening characters. These are the type of guys who wouldn't blink an eye at killing someone if they were provoked. They are the main character's brothers and I don't blame Dawson for hating his kin. There were actually passages that I cringed because the brothers were that creepy/scary. The one thing I ALWAYS love about Sparks books are the settings. I love the North Carolina southern-ish type of setting. He always describes the setting in such detail that I think I can visit North Carolina in my head rather than actually going there. It makes me want to move there!

The Bad: Okay. Besides being horribly predictable, this book is basically The Notebook/Message in a Bottle/Nights in Rodanthe mixed into one. Rich girl meets poor boy, they fall in love, girl is forbidden to see boy because her parents disapprove, boy and girl have fight, life goes on but both think about each other often, then something happens that brings them back together and they rekindle their "one true love" status but both believe things should go back to "normal" until one of them realizes that's the wrong decision and then something tragic and bad happens and there is a sappy ending. Something else I've noticed is that the older I get and the more and more I read, the less and less Spark's sentences seem unique. They seem a bit contrived, forced and cheesy honestly. I'm really not trying to dog on him because I truly do love him and his ideas, I'm just saying there are some things you don't realize until you get older and the quality of his writing is one of those things. As far as the characters go, it's hard to get attached to the characters because as far as I'm concerned, I've seen Amanda and Dawson in Sparks other novels. Whereas when I read The Notebook, Noah and Allie were such unique, different characters that I couldn't help but fall in love with them. I also thought the character of Tuck could have been SO MUCH MORE. He was supposed to be this great character that represented the past for Amanda and Dawson but he just didn't live up to the hype he was given in the first couple chapters. There's a part where he leaves letters for Amanda and Dawson and Sparks builds up the scene like these letters are going to contain some serious information or advice and once the letters are revealed, they really aren't anything great. I was highly disappointed.

Overall, I'm not denying the fact that I finished this book in a day and a half and that I plowed through it with intensity like I do for amazing books, all I'm saying is that this is a novel I've seen many times before, mostly from Sparks himself and I was hoping it would be a little different. I'm going to give this book a C.