Dear John

"Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks is centered around a 27-year-old man named John Tyree who is in the army, and during his tour of duty, he falls in love with a college girl named Savannah Lynn Curtis. Throughout the whole book, it shows not only their love for each other, but their history - including John's painful one. This book may be cheesy and hard to relate to some people, but there are things in this book you can relate to. I found this book to be very interesting because - like everyone else - I saw the movie trailer for the movie and decided to read it before I saw it. The book may have been different from the movie, but it was interesting to see both versions of an amazing story such as this.

The novel is centered around John Tyree, one of the protagonists. In the beginning, John doesn't really have the best life in the world. Growing up with a single father in North Carolina can be rough for a person, especially John. His mother left him when he was a small child and he has been waiting for her to come back since. During those years, John and his father didn't have such a close relationship. The only conversation that seemed to spark between them was about coins. When John was a little boy, he and his father was attended conventions about coins and talked about various types. Although, those conversations and road trips ended when John was a teeanger and his attitude got the best of him. After high school, deciding that he has nothing to do with his life, John enlists in to army. On one of his leaves during his tour of duty, he meets a girl named Savannah after he gets her bag when it fell in the ocean. After that, John and Savannah were fascinated with each other, and soon, they fell in love in just two weeks. When the two weeks is up, John has to go back on his tour of duty. Savannah writes him a letter saying that she'll wait for him and making him promise that he would tell her everything while he's on his tour of duty. When his tour is almost up, the tragedy of September 11 happens. John has to make a choice whether to go back or extend his duty. Also, something happens to both John and Savannah that will change their lives forever; all because of one letter.

The book really gives a good punch in the gut in some parts. That's a good thing though! It's very emotional in some parts and it really gives you some surprises you probably didn't expect. Although, it's very boring and slow in some parts, which makes teenagers want to give up reading this book. Other than that, it's a very easy read! It's an amazing book and it will leave you paralyzed at the end. I know it left me like that! I definitely suggest it to anyone who's interested in romance, but isn't afraid to learn a little bit of military tid-bits on the way. Nicholas Sparks does not disappoint!