Wednesday 20 April 2016

A Walk To Remember - Book Review

Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had 
ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood...



On February 14th 2016, a Sunday to be exact, I was lost in the world of romance films being as it was Valentine's Day and I'm a single lady so fictional characters is all I have to swoon over at this moment in my life, I was sat recovering from another Sparks story 'The Best of Me' and wasn't too sure on which film to watch next as I didn't know if I could take anymore. I was ranting to my best friend about how Nicholas' stories usually end in happy endings, she gave me a film of his that did NOT have a happy ending and instead of choosing a happier romance film, I risked this one... I didn't realise how messed up I was going to be after it was over. 

Being as this book was set in the 50's, I knew I was going to fall in love with the people and everything about this book immediately! So I'm going to start with ONE and just ONE negative observation about this book, if you aren't religious like me, it can sort of get rather slow placed when the religious parts appear and let me tell you, there's a lot of religious speaking involved in this book and it definitely takes over the growth of Landon and Jamie's relationship. 

Anyway, on to the good parts! I have to say that Landon Carter is definitely now on my list of favourite fictional characters EVER! The story and bond between Landon and Jamie throughout this book is just so, so, so beautiful and unfortunately for me, my standards are getting even higher when it comes to guys. Damn you Landon! I picture Landon as your typical teddy boy who thinks he's too cool for everybody and Jamie is too much of a 'square' to get any attention from her peers. Personally, I think Jamie is such a beautiful character and is very much too good to be true, if only we had people like Jamie! 

There's so many moments in this book that made me have to catch my breath because I'm a sucker for romance and some of it was too much for me! A couple of examples would be, the moment Landon saw Jamie for the first time with her hair down, little things such as walking her home etc. The one thing that made me gasp while I was on the bus one day was the chapter which involved Landon collecting 70 cans around the town for Jamie so she could collect all the money that had been donated and buy new toys for the children at the orphanage she volunteered at regularly, the end total came to $55.73 which, under Jamie's influence, began to dishearten Landon so he secretly put in his own donation, making the official total cost, $247.00. You are becoming a true gentleman, Landon!

The influence Jamie has on Landon throughout this entire book was so powerful and honestly, it's amazing to see what being in love can do to a person. Sometimes the person you don't take notice of, you don't have any interest in, is the one for you but you just don't know it because of your own and others judgements. 

Although, this book is full of happiness and romance, being a Sparks novel, there always comes a tragedy... Jamie being diagnosed with Leukaemia was the most heartbreaking thing I had ever witnessed in a film and a book! I was just not ready for what was coming! You sit there and have faith that by the end, Jamie will still be smiling and standing strong, but those were not Sparks' intentions for this one. The fact that I had to witness them getting married, knowing that Jamie and Landon wasn't going to have the marriage they truly deserved, broke me, it tore me up into pieces! 

We didn't get the happy ending we wanted but it was a beautiful story (which made me hate life and cry for about an hour), and it is one story I will keep close to me because Nicholas really does have a way with words and I never cry at books so, well done Nicholas for finally cracking me. People aren't always going to approve who you love, some people will even go great distances to keep people apart, but if you really love someone, you will face all obstacles together and still be together at the end. 

5 STARS!!!!!!!



If you want to know about the author, here's a couple of his social medias:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicholasSparks

- Shelby xxx


1 comments:

  1. Brilliant review and I completely agree! I remember seeing the film first and balled my eyes out and then gave the book a read and was also moved by it too. I sort of took comfort in the way love changed Landon into a better man and also I really liked how even though people found Jamie kind of odd, she didn't change who she was to please others which were both strong points to me that I liked. The film version is one of my faves and I get goosebumps when Mandy Moore sings Only Hope, such a beautiful song!
    Also I loved The Best of Me too! I thought the story and the twist in that was really good :)
    Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed reading this :)
    VioletDaffodils
    xx

    ReplyDelete

 

ItsShelbyMariee Template by Ipietoon Cute Blog Design and Bukit Gambang