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A review by mtaylor414
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
2.0
***SPOILER ALERT!!*** For those of you seeing this review posted on facebook, beware of spoilers in the beginning of this review! My first thoughts on this book are definitely spoilers and facebook posts my first few lines of my reviews regardless of spoilers. So having said enough to not show up on my facebook post, I will now give my review...
The only reason why I gave this book such a low rating is only because of the ending!! I HATED IT! The book itself was really good. The story was very sweet and well written. I actually kind of hate to only give it 2 stars because I started out loving it. I'm giving it 2 stars because if someone where to ask me how I liked the book, I would pause, sigh and say "It was ok, but...". I am a romantic. I like books that are fairytale romances that have happy endings and the couple stays together in the end after all they have been through. This book tugged at my heart strings and I really felt for both characters. More for John of course because he was left in the dust. :(
Just in case I want a refresher in the future, here is a recap. John is an only child raised by his father. His mother left when he was just a baby and he has never seen her. He and his dad have a distant type relationship due to his father being quiet, reserved and unsocial. John eventually joins the army. On his first leave from being in Germany he comes home for a few weeks and meets Savannah. They hit it off immediately and even fall in love after the few days they are together. When he goes back to Germany, he is gone for one year and they both promise to write and call and try to make their relationship work. When he came back a year later, they picked up where they left off. They fought a little but quickly made up. When he left again it was only going to be for 6 months then he would be back then away again for a short time then he would be out for good. Then September 11 happened and he signed up for 2 more years as everyone else did. Savannah was proud of him but still it put a strain on their relationship. While he was gone, Savannah went to her best friend Tim, who she grew up with, for comfort and they fell in love. Savannah wrote to John telling him that she fell in love with someone else and it was fair to him so she was ending their relationship. John stayed in the army for 2 more years after that having no reason not to. In this time his father had a heart attack and after a year or so died. John came back for his funeral and without thinking about it he drove to see Savannah. She was at her farm next to her parents and had been married to Tim for a couple of years. Tim ended up with Melanoma and was in the hospital when John came to see her. They went to see Tim in the hospital and talked about his condition and that they couldn't afford the treatment for him. The town was collecting money. John's dad had left him his coin collection which was worth a LOT of money. John and Savannah tearfully said good bye for good after professing their undying love for one another and John left. On his way out of town he called a coin collector and sold all his dad's coins and had the money wired anonymously to the account set up to Tim's treatment. A year or so later John went to the farm house and kept his distance up on a hill so no one could see him where he watched Savannah and Tim, who was in remission, together holding hands outside their farmhouse. Then he left. UGH...
The only reason why I gave this book such a low rating is only because of the ending!! I HATED IT! The book itself was really good. The story was very sweet and well written. I actually kind of hate to only give it 2 stars because I started out loving it. I'm giving it 2 stars because if someone where to ask me how I liked the book, I would pause, sigh and say "It was ok, but...". I am a romantic. I like books that are fairytale romances that have happy endings and the couple stays together in the end after all they have been through. This book tugged at my heart strings and I really felt for both characters. More for John of course because he was left in the dust. :(
Just in case I want a refresher in the future, here is a recap. John is an only child raised by his father. His mother left when he was just a baby and he has never seen her. He and his dad have a distant type relationship due to his father being quiet, reserved and unsocial. John eventually joins the army. On his first leave from being in Germany he comes home for a few weeks and meets Savannah. They hit it off immediately and even fall in love after the few days they are together. When he goes back to Germany, he is gone for one year and they both promise to write and call and try to make their relationship work. When he came back a year later, they picked up where they left off. They fought a little but quickly made up. When he left again it was only going to be for 6 months then he would be back then away again for a short time then he would be out for good. Then September 11 happened and he signed up for 2 more years as everyone else did. Savannah was proud of him but still it put a strain on their relationship. While he was gone, Savannah went to her best friend Tim, who she grew up with, for comfort and they fell in love. Savannah wrote to John telling him that she fell in love with someone else and it was fair to him so she was ending their relationship. John stayed in the army for 2 more years after that having no reason not to. In this time his father had a heart attack and after a year or so died. John came back for his funeral and without thinking about it he drove to see Savannah. She was at her farm next to her parents and had been married to Tim for a couple of years. Tim ended up with Melanoma and was in the hospital when John came to see her. They went to see Tim in the hospital and talked about his condition and that they couldn't afford the treatment for him. The town was collecting money. John's dad had left him his coin collection which was worth a LOT of money. John and Savannah tearfully said good bye for good after professing their undying love for one another and John left. On his way out of town he called a coin collector and sold all his dad's coins and had the money wired anonymously to the account set up to Tim's treatment. A year or so later John went to the farm house and kept his distance up on a hill so no one could see him where he watched Savannah and Tim, who was in remission, together holding hands outside their farmhouse. Then he left. UGH...