Reviews - Message in a Bottle - Pesan dalam Botol

498 reviews for:

Message in a Bottle - Pesan dalam Botol

Most of my friends around these parts are probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I don't normally read such... Squishy books. I read a couple Sparks back when I was a heart sick teenager, cried my eyes out, and then moved on. Well, at some point, long long ago (inagalaxyfarfaraway), I apparently bought this book. I then proceeded to place it on my book shelf, where it remained until earlier this week. I had just finished another book, and I knew the perfect book to start next. I grabbed my next book, sat down with it… And stalled. I just wasn’t feeling it. In fact, I wasn’t feeling anything that I had previously planned to read for the next few months (I’m a planner). I needed something completely different, completely random.. And that’s when I noticed this book, alone and neglected, tucked into a corner of my “not as cool as the other books” book shelf. The pages were yellow from neglect… It needed some love. So I gave it the reading it always desired, the reading it yearned for. I read it good...

Ok, that got a little weird. For real though. This was just what I needed… It’s not a five star or even a four star, but it’s a solid three. It’s not my favorite Sparks, actually it’s my least favorite of the now four I’ve now read. I have gripes, but it fulfilled my need to change it up a little, and that’s all I asked from it.

This isn’t really a spoiler, but I’m going to mark it just in case, just to protect those who are more picky about spoilers.

Spoiler

So Garrett? My main gripe with this book is that he was totally.. I don’t know. I realize he had lost his wife and was learning to love again and all of that.. But he was soooo clingy, it made me feel anxious just to read it. This will get a little more specific, but still not really a spoiler..

Spoiler

Even his memories of conversations with Catherine were creepy. Not that he was remembering her, it would be weird if he wasn’t, just the clinginess he displayed even in his own reminiscence. Don’t leave me, I’ll miss you, waaaaah…

. It wasn’t a big deal, because I wasn’t looking to hit that anyway, but it did kind of hamper my ability to lose myself in the story.. A moment would start to get romantic and then he would go all cling on Theresa and it made me feel anxious and set of my *FLEE* instinct.

Other than that, this is DEFINITELY a spoiler…

Spoiler

The ending? Sad. I didn’t expect it, though I should have. It’s been so long since I read Sparks, I forgot that it’s not usually a happy ending, all the ones I’ve read have been bittersweet. I can’t say it was a tear jerker for me, mostly because of the stuff I mentioned in the other spoiler.. But it definitely did make me whimper a little. Just a tiny one… Don’t judge me.

That’s about it. I think I’ll read a couple more Sparks to continue to cleanse my palate. Yep, just cleansing the old palate… I don’t like it at all, just gotta be done... Nothing to see here, move along now.

karsgm's review against another edition

2.5

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lookatjimmy's review against another edition

3.0

Honestly up until the last about 10 pages or so this would’ve been a 2-star rating. The death of Garrett really did make me appreciate it slightly more. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

bethanyybradshaw's review against another edition

3.0

theresa is a blooming columnist and single mother raising her son. during a beachside morning, she comes across a mysterious message in a bottle. it moves her unlike any other writing has. the deep love garret, the mysterious author, has for his deceased wife, catherine, is evident. after stumbling upon two more letters, theresa seeks out to find garret and truly know the man behind the message in the bottle.

theresa is a character i love! she is hard working, has her head on straight, and isn’t afraid to be a little bit feisty. i loved that her and garret’s relationship wasn’t perfect and they actually had arguments. heck, it wasn’t even love at first sight. my issues are that the book was awfully predictable and garret is a big impatient dumb dumb. i actually would have liked if sparks wrote a bit more on the grieving process itself. that could have added such an interesting layer i think. overall, a good read!

malsbookmark's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 3%

I will definitely revisit this as I love the movie and Nicholas Sparks books. I was in a slump after a book and desperately trying to find my next read!