Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

No. of pages: 338
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: "Dear John", the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever. When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. What neither realises is that 9/11 will change everything and now John must choose between love and country. Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover how love can transform us in ways we never could have imagined.

Review: John meets Savannah at the beach while on holiday leave from the army, and as they get to know each other, they fall deeply in love. Then John has to return to Germany where he's stationed, for the 18 months he still has left to serve. While apart both John and Savannah write letters to each other to pass the time while they're waiting. But then 9/11 happens, and John must make the toughest decision of all - does he re-up for another two years and risk losing Savannah, or does he abandon his country when he's most needed?

I wasn't sure whether to read this before watching the film, after all I really wanted to watch the film and wasn't so sure I wanted to read the book. But I fell in love with the story and immediately went and got a copy of the book and started it as soon as I could. There are three main characters in the book, John, Savannah and John's dad. I really felt I connected with all 3 characters in both the film and the book, they were all fantastically written and you really feel what they are feeling. I have to admit, I really adored John's dad, and some of the scenes with him made me cry, he is easily one of my favourite characters ever. The storyline in the book does differ a little in places from the film, the main change would be the ending, which was so sad in the book, and so I prefered the film ending, purely because it was the ending I was rooting for throughout. The writing in the book was beautiful though, as you'd expect from Sparks, who is known for his fantastic writing. You can just feel the love between John and Savannah spilling from the pages, and it's wonderfully uplifting to read. I could just rave forever about this book, it's definitely one that has touched me deeply, and that's something I never imagined I'd be taking away from this book. I'd recommend it to everyone, it's such a fantastic book, and the film is equally great.