Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

I just finished reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.  It was my first "borrowed e-book" on my Kindle.  I'm a big fan of Nicholas Sparks, so I knew that I would like this book.  His books always make me cry.  I was shocked, though, that this one didn't.  I teared up, but didn't actually cry like normal.

The book is about a military man (John) home on leave from being stationed in Germany.  He meets a girl (Savannah) who, even though she is his complete opposite, turns out the be his soul mate.  She is in his town from college building Habitat for Humanity houses.  He also befriends her long-time friend Tim.  John's relationship with his father is strained at best, and Savannah helps him with that as well.  His father ends up having Asperger's Syndrome, which I've done a lot of reading about since Edward's brother was diagnosed years ago.  (I was kind of proud to be able to peg him with it early in the book.)  He gets to come home on leave to see her again and they fall more in love.  He goes back to Germany.  Then the events on Sept 11 leads him to re-enlist in the military, when he was supposed to be going home to be back with her.

At this point in the book, I figured the book would turn out how most Nicholas Sparks books turn out.  John dies in combat, Savannah is crushed, you know the drill.  Strangely enough, that's not what happened.  She writes him a Dear John letter shortly after he re-enlists.  To avoid spoilers, I won't go into detail after that.  I was very impressed with John and the character development and maturity that he gained from this point forward.  I greatly enjoyed the character traits and morals that Savannah portrayed.  The last third of the book was completely unexpected, and while the ending wasn't the perfect ending I hoped for (it rarely is with Nicholas Sparks), I found that I truly enjoyed the way that the book concluded.  It is one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks books that I've read.  It's a quick read and I'd really recommend it.

(I'm curious to see the movie now, but I've been told the movie ending is completely different from the book ending.  I was so impressed with the book ending that I doubt I'll like the movie ending.)

287 pages