Book Review: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

“The saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last.”

― Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

American author Nicholas Sparks published his romantic book Dear John in 2007. Sparks drew inspiration from his cousin Todd Vance's real-life experience serving in the U.S. Armed Forces . In 2007, it was included as one of The New York Times's best sellers.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart.

But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else.

Dear John, the letter read... and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.

My reaction to this novel...

This is a true love story for those who enjoy the excruciating emotional theme. As John is serving in the military, Savannah and John fall in love and continue to correspond to one another for years. Long-distance relationships are often challenging, but they are made much more challenging when a couple has only recently begun dating and one person thinks there are better possibilities out there. When you're just sad about being away, it becomes easy to argue with your loved one about what seem to be insignificant issues. The majority of people who have read this novel, however, assert that the plot, not the characters, is what moves the story along. The story itself had me reading the entire book, and I was surprised by the turns it took at the finish.

I’ve read a couple of Nicholas Sparks books, and while I find them to be a little predictable (you normally know how the book will end, and they’re frequently terrible endings), it’s still a wonderful read. I think the viewpoint was handled effectively all around, and you were scarcely aware of what was going on. Not much detail, but not too little, all things considered.

I really enjoyed how the plot flow in this book was explained from John’s point of view. The novel seemed incredibly pleasant, especially in light of the fact that there was occasionally a lot of his usual life. Despite the fact that Nicholas Sparks’ books are always quite short, you never get the impression that they are overly long because of how beautifully and engagingly he writes.

Nicholas Sparks crafts true, realistic stories that cause the reader to feel intense emotions. I deducted one point from Savannah's character since I found her to be an uninterestingly level person. The conclusion of this book is, in my opinion, simple yet surprising. If you enjoy reading emotionally engaging novels with a clear narrative and recognisable characters, I highly recommend picking up this book and giving it a read.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5)

“I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”

I believe this to be true. If you truly love someone, you would give up anything to see them happy—in a good manner, of course. You are willing to let them go since you know they will be unhappy with you by their side. Love transforms you into a selfless person. Love truly does operate in a manner similar to that, despite how difficult it is. 

“When you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through.”

We're all dealing with something in our life. We experience different kinds of difficulties, therefore we shouldn't assume that others cannot relate to what we are going through since we are also experiencing similar difficulties. Since we are not aware of the struggles of others, we should refrain from passing judgment on them. We shouldn't expect too much from people or feel entitled to everything since we never know whether someone else is going through worse things than we have.