The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks – Review + Giveaway

Nicholas Sparks is quite honestly one of my favorite authors. He is able to make me cry with each book and movie I’ve either read or seen – even after I’ve seen it before, I still cry. Remember A Walk To Remember? The Notebook? I cry like a little girl.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks was actually written as a screenplay before it was written as a novel. It is a love story and a coming of age novel sure to capture the hearts of audiences. It is also the longest novel that Sparks has written. Another interesting tidbit is that Miley Cyrus (who stars in the movie) actually chose the name Ronnie for the main character (that she plays).




Book Description
Seventeen year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father… until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms – first love, the love between parents and children – that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts… and heal them.


My Thoughts
In all honesty, for the first 12 chapters, I thought I was going to hate this book, which really quite surprised me. It was so boring and was quite dragged out. If those first 12 chapters were condensed into 2 or 3, it would have kept the interest better. Reading about a rebellious teen and how much she hates her father and small town life isn’t really very interesting.

After getting through those first 12 chapters though, it becomes interesting and reads more like a love story. It is however quite predictable. I won’t go into details in case you read the book or see the movie, but after the first few chapters I predicted just about everything that ended up happening in the book – no looking ahead either.

Even though I predicted (correctly) what happened, I still really enjoyed the book. Yes, I did cry a few times and probably will when I see the movie too. It is really a beautiful coming of age story mixed with a love story that will be remembered by those who read it (or see it) for years to come. I do encourage everyone who loves stories like this to read it.


The Movie
The Last Song movie is out in theaters on March 31, 2010. I don’t think it will stay quite true to the book, but I think it is still going to be quite good and I really look forward to seeing it.




The Contest
Love Nicholas Sparks novels and want to win The Last Song? Well, here is your chance! Follow the rules and comment accordingly please.

Rules:
* You must be a follower (publicly) of my Blog for your entries to count.
* You must have your entries in before the contest ends!

Entries:
* Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

One entry – Leave me a comment about The Last Song and tell me which Nicholas Sparks book and/or movie is your favorite and why.
One entry – Blog about this contest on your Blog (don’t forget to link to it too).
One entry – Be a follower of me on Twitter and tweet about this contest.


Contest ends on March 29, 2010.



* Thank you to Hachette Book Group for providing me with a review copy for this review.