Dear John - Nicholas Sparks

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 has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.

I started of hating this book and very nearly threw in the towel. I found the writing really clunky and the conversations within the story didn't feel smooth or real enough. I also struggled with the initial personality of Savannah - maybe I'm just too jaded but I found her innocence really unbelievable and uncomfortable. I was having trouble understanding why a book that sounded so great from the back cover, could turn out so flat and boring once the story started, BUT...at around halfway through it thankfully picked up and I started to see development with not only John and Savannah, but also the storyline with John and his Dad.

Towards the second half of the book I was hooked, and I could feel characteristics of The Notebook ("What we had really was real wasn't it...") and I loved it from then on and devoured it. I especially loved that the ending wasn't predictable and it kept me guessing how it would turn out. 

Originally I would have given this book 3 stars, but my final verdict is a 4 out of 5. If you love heart-warming love storied then this is for you.