7 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is an older book, but if you read one great book this year-let this be the one. Good things come in small packages. A short novel of excellent quality. This was made into a movie-but as always, the book is better. A celebration of passion. An enduring love. This one will make you cry. A book you will not forget.....ever. This is one of those books that you must read before you die. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a standard romance, because it is not. A must read for everyone, regardless of what type of book you enjoy.
7 member(s) found this review helpful.
In 1932, two North Carolina teenagers from opposite sides of the tracks fall in love. Spending one idyllic summer together in the small town of New Bern, Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson do not meet again for 14 years. Noah has returned from WWII to restore the house of his dreams, having inherited a large sum of money. Allie, programmed by family and the "caste system of the South" to marry an ambitious, prosperous man, has become engaged to powerful attorney Lon Hammond. When she reads a newspaper story about Noah's restoration project, she shows up on his porch step, re-entering his life for two days. Will Allie leave Lon for Noah? The book's slim dimensions and cliche-ridden prose will make comparisons to The Bridges of Madison County inevitable. What renders Sparks's (Wokini: A Lakota Journey of Happiness and Self-Understanding) sentimental story somewhat distinctive are two chapters, which take place in a nursing home in the '90s, that frame the central story. The first sets the stage for the reading of the eponymous notebook, while the later one takes the characters into the land beyond happily ever after, a future rarely examined in books of this nature. Early on, Noah claims that theirs may be either a tragedy or a love story, depending on the perspective. Ultimately, the judgment is up to readers?be they cynics or romantics. For the latter, this will be a weeper.

Stacie F. (
staceid) - MO wrote on 8/27/2007...
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
I'm not usually a fan of books that jump around in time, but this one is an exception. The leaps from present-day into memory take the reader on an incredible journey into life and love.

Lenore D. (
Lenore) wrote on 11/10/2006...
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Made me CRY! I read this book in one sitting, then called my best friend and made her go get it immediately! She finished it that night and called me to yell at me the next morning because her eyes were still puffy!

Amber
skeeter wrote on 2/19/2009...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
OMG This has to be the most wonderful love story EVER to be written! I cried, I laughed, I was jealous, I was angry! It Is about unconditional love in all it's glory. I feel like this is the dream when you think about how you want to be loved! If you haven't read it, READ IT!!!

Jennifer P. (
JennJenn) wrote on 6/16/2008...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
I absolutely loved this book! I was turned on to Nicholas Sparks books when I read Message in a Bottle, I now own every book by this author. His writing hits you right where you can feel it the most.
Grab your tissues as you take the journey of Allie and Noah, and the destiny of love.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Nicholas Sparks really touches the heart. I liked this book about a loving, lasting relationship from the perspective of an elderly man whose wife suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was my first Nicholas Sparks book, so I didn't know to expect the schmaltz, sentimentality, and plain improbability and predictability of the plot that apparently are hallmarks of his writing. This was nothing more than a Harlequin romance souped up with a fancy cover. I was mad that I finished it because it was so darn cheesy and hokey. I didn't care a whit for the characters and knew from the beginning they'd be together at the end.
All the women I know "looooooove Nicholas Sparks!" but I fail to see the allure. If all his books are as lame as this one, I do not want to read any more. Barf.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...

Jeanette B. (
jnet) wrote on 4/12/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
At 31, Noah Calhoun, bak in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At 29, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle...