The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Logan Thibault (pronounced "T-bow", not "Thigh-balt") is an ex-marine. In Iraq, he found a picture of a woman and posted it on the bulletin board. Weeks passed and no one claimed it, so he took it for himself. He found himself becoming luckier, whether it be in poker or in combat. His friend, Victor, insists that it is a lucky charm though Logan doesn't really believe it. When they are sent home, Victor encourages him to seek the woman out because he "owes her". He does, and meets Beth. Beth lives in a small North Carolina town and is a single mother. They fall in love. And then there is Clayton, Beth's evil ex. He doesn't like Thibault, and he especially doesn't like him near Beth or her son.

I swore I would never read another Nicholas Sparks book, and look what happened. The movie is coming at the end of this month, so I figured I would read it... lol.

First of all, I will put aside the obvious similarities and formula that Sparks uses while writing novels. If I didn't, I would spend this entire review ranting about how its like the exact same thing as his other books. Anyways.

One thing Sparks does wonderfully is his character development. The Lucky One is told in three points of view: Logan's, Beth's, and Clayton's. Each character has their own voice and way of thinking that is extraordinarily realistic. You can even follow and almost sympathize with Clayton through his words, even though he's the "bad guy". And that's a really weird thing to find yourself relating to the villain and being like "oh, I see where he's coming from." It's awesome at the same time though.

The storyline is a little slow at the beginning, but afterward is pretty quick paced. The plot is interesting and generates many different emotions.

And the ending... After reading The Best of Me, I was expecting the worse. And I was about ready to kill Nicholas Sparks when I was reading that last chapter. Lucky for Sparks, he is still alive right now.

Overall, this is a really sweet romance. It's a light read, though not too special. I look forward to when the movie comes out at the end of the month. I will probably be dragging my reluctant boyfriend with me haha :D . 4 out of 5 stars.

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

After reading The Best of Me, I was like “No more Nicholas Sparks books.” But I loved the Notebook (the movie) so I decided to give this one a try.

One thing that bothered me was how similar it was to The Best of Me. Guy and girl fall in love when they’re young, girl’s parents disapprove of guy, they go separate ways, meet again years later and realize out they’re not satisfied with their lives, and find they still have a connection. Exact same formula right?

The last chapter or so were so touching and sweet, and made me cry, even though I already knew what was going to happen. The rest of the story, however, I found to be adequate. There were some thoughtful and memorable quotes in there, but I didn’t really FEEL the romance.

If you saw the movie and are interested in reading the book, I suggest you just skip the book and just leave it at that. And if you are thinking about reading the book and then watching the movie, just watch the movie. I think it told the story better and you see more into the personalities of the characters. I wished I could have loved this book as much as I loved the movie, but I just didn’t. The movie was more of Allie and Noah when they were young, and the romance then and what made it so great and such, but the book seemed to be more about when they get crabs (whoops that sounds better in my head) and go on the canoe and about old Noah talking about his love for his wife. And as sweet as that is, I wanted to know more about their past. There were some amazing moments in the story, but at other times, it was boring for me.

I recommend the movie, because it was amazing. The book? Yeah, on a smaller scale. I like the story, but not so much how it's told. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks



Dawson Cole was born into the rebellious and dangerous Cole family in Oriental, North Carolina. But Dawson is different, unlike his family he didn’t want to be violent and get into trouble. One day in chemistry class, he meets Amanda.

Amanda Collier was born into a wealthy family and has big plans to graduate from Duke. When she meets Dawson, they fall in love despite their families differences.

When Amanda’ parents refuse to pay her tuition if she continues to see Dawson, Dawson makes a difficult decision in letting her go so she can pursue her dreams. Twenty-five years later, they are reunited with the death of Tuck, and older friend of theirs. They are forced to confront the realities that they live in, neither of them having the future they imagined.

This was my first Nicholas Sparks novel, and nobody warned me that it was going to be so sad! My god it broke my heart. Anyways…

I liked the whole basic plot of the story, it was interesting and nicely paced, though maybe a little slow at times. The story was entrancing and there were some surprisingly suspenseful action scenes. I liked how the author shifted between points of view and the different characters so you didn’t get too bored and you were able to understand everyone’s thinking. I liked all the characters, except maybe Abee and Ted, but even then I still understood their motives and everything. The romance was so real, and it makes me so sad to see how things didn’t work out for them. I also liked how Sparks kept the reader guessing, and even though I assumed mutiple times about things, I turned out to be wrong.

My only complaints were the author’s enter button seemed to have been broken for a while. And also how sad it was. The story could have gone either way, but instead it took a sad turn. :(

I was reading some other reviews, and I noticed that a lot of them said that the whole “Dawson seeing a spirit” was cheesy, but I liked it because it kinda put an ongoing mystery into the story, one which I did not see at all. Also, they complained about how predictable the story was. Maybe it’s just me and my hope for a happy ending, but I DID NOT see that coming. I had my suspicions set in a different area.

All in all, I loved this book no matter how sad it was. I liked how everything came together nicely in the end and how touching it all was. It’s being turned into a movie, and I’m interested in seeing how they will interpret it.

If you’re a fan of Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Picoult, then I would recommend this one. I loved it, even with the dramatic twists. 5 out of 5 stars.