The Last Song

This latest offering from Nicholas Sparks is a lovely coming of age story which deals with relationships, love and death. The story is told from four different perspectives with each character revealing more of the story and giving slightly varied slants on the events that are occurring. Ronnie is an engaging character with a tender heart who loves her little brother and turtles, and she quickly gains the reader's empathy. In typical Sparks' fashion, I found myself crying in the last few chapters even though the ending was predictable early in the book. While I loved "The Last Song", I don't think it's my favourite Nicholas Sparks book, although it does come close.

The last thing that Ronnie wanted was to leave her friends and favorite haunts in NYC and spend her summer, along with her little brother, in Wrightsville Beach, NC, the home of their estranged father Steve. But she is only 17, and even though she has not talked to him in the three years since her parents divorced, she is given no choice in the matter. He is a pianist, once a teacher at Julliard, then a concert performer and composer, and she blames his traveling and weeks away from the family as the cause of the breakup. She is punishing him, not only by not speaking to him, but by giving up the piano at which she also excelled and undergoing a little rebellious phase, complete with purple streaked hair and black finger nails. Without show more question, it is going to be the worst summer of her life or so she thinks.

But very soon after arriving she meets Blaze, who seems like a kindred spirit, and her bad boy boyfriend Marcus. She also runs into, literally, the handsome, preppy Will and against her first judgment, finds herself liking him. It seems that not everyone is who they seem at first glance. As Ronnie finds, as she starts to learn more about herself, maybe she even made a few mistakes about her father. In fact, Ronnie learns she made have made a number of serious mistakes in her young life, but hopefully there will be time to make them right. But time is the most limited of resources...

I must say that I have never read a Nicholas Sparks book before, but when Miriam from Hachette suggested that I might like it due to the seaside setting, I was thrilled to take her up on the offer of a copy. And I must say, I loved the setting. A shacky house on the beach, turtles fighting their way from their nest to the sea, the beach from the hot summer to the cool autumn days...what's not to love. But that is not the only enjoyable thing about this book. Mr. Sparks is a good writer, there are some very good characters, and I must say even my cold, gray heart was moved by the touching ending. It is also very refreshing to have a mainstream book give a very positive example of the role of God and religion, and such themes as faith and redemption, in a person life.
Ok, that is the good news.

On the more negative side, there is something rather formula like about this book. I can't say for a fact, but I would not be surprised if there are more than a few similarities between this book and others of Sparks' books. It was almost as if you could see Sparks making a list "rebellious girl, bad boy, good boy, loving parent, life changing crisis, stalking, fire, cute animals...ok, all set." To my mind, he squeezed just a bit too much into the story, went just a bit too over the top, made it all just a bit too melodramatic. When I read that he originally wrote this as a screenplay and that at some point in the near future we will see this as a feature film starring teen idol Miley Cyrus, I can't say I was at all surprised. This one has Big Screen written all over it.

Bottom line, The Last Song is a perfect end of summer read if you are looking for a heart-warming, coming of age, first love tear jerker. Fans of Sparks will no doubt enjoy it. As a first time reader of Sparks' book, I must admit that it was pretty entertaining, although I doubt I will become a regular fan. show less

My Summary: Ronnie does not want to spend the summer with her dad. Her dad left them three years ago, and she hasn’t really forgiven him for it. She hated him for it so much, that she refused to take his calls, quit playing the piano, and never read the letters he sent her. What is she going to do all summer stuck with a dad she hates in a small town with nothing but sand on every side of her, no clubs, no friends…

When she finds Will, the cutest volley-ball players slash aquarium volunteer in her back yard helping her protect un-hatched sea turtles from being eaten by raccoons, she judged him as not-her-type. She doesn’t expect to find a friend in a jock-rich-perfect-family boy, nor does she expect that this will be the show more best—most exciting, most scary, most fun, most painful—summer of her lifetime.

My Review: I’m not really sure where to start here, other than I am so utterly pleased with The Last Song, I cannot begin to find words to describe it.

Ronnie, Jonah (her brother), Her dad Steve, Will… all the characters really, were such real characters. I felt everything they felt, I laughed when they laughed, and I (nearly) cried when they cried.

I hate it when books suffer from "happy-land syndrome—" where everything works out just too perfectly that it seems silly. The Last Song seemed to work perfectly, but it didn’t have that plot-manipulated feel to it. It didn’t feel like Sparks was just trying to move the story along and causing things to line up too perfectly to be realistic—it felt like the story was writing itself, and it was perfect. The pacing didn’t feel rushed or slow. It was not a thriller, but I did find myself sitting on the edge of my seat dying to find out what happens. I read it through in two or three days (which is fast for me right now, what with school the way it is!). There are twists, there are surprises—some beautiful, some painful, but all wonderful.

The writing was contemporary. It was easy reading and it wasn’t Dostoevsky, but it wasn’t bad either. The humor was light and witty and sarcastic, sometimes laugh out loud, and more times than I can count my sister would look up from her homework and say “Haley. What is so funny?” The perspective alternated between several different characters, but it wasn’t disorientating. It was all from third person perspective, but I still felt like I could get inside the character’s head.

The end was perfect. That’s all I can really say about it because any information would totally ruin the story. All the loose ends were tied, all the questions were answered, and the ending was open to the future but closed in a wonderful conclusion. Suffice to say I grinned so wide I couldn’t see, and my cheeks are still sore.

Audio Review: Let’s just say that I almost gave up reading The Last Song when I started listening to the audio. Pepper Binkley read Ronnie’s perspective and had a high pitched voice, she read a little too fast (which is rare. Most of the time readers are way too slow), there was no differentiating between voices of characters so you couldn’t tell who was talking, and she seemed up tight and nervous. Scott Sowers read the various men’s perspectives, and he read alright. He was a little slow and his voice took some getting used to but he was otherwise ok. I did get too frustrated to get far in the audio book though. I ended up quitting and reading the paperback. I recommend reading The Last Song over listening to it.

Content: blissfully clean. There was romance between Will and Ronnie, but no sex. It wasn’t needed, either. I feel like the fact that they didn’t sleep together added to the book rather than took away from it. It was also clean of foul language. There was some mention of God and the Bible, but never did it feel like Sparks was preaching.

Recommendation: Ages 14+ show less

When you look at modern Women's Fiction (or Chick Lit, as it is called for whatever reason), Nicholas Sparks is one of the few names you cannot turn away from that easily. He has written more novels than many other authors, most of them have become quite popular, and if you take a look at his Goodreads page, you might realize that thirteen of his novels have more than 100,000 ratings. There was only one author who I discovered to have more novels than Sparks with such an achievement on Goodreads.

It's easy to figure out why people like this novel, and I understand and value all of the raving opinions. The concept is pretty interesting, too. A teenage-girl one step before entering adulthood trying to deal with life and the obstacles show more thrown at her, her dysfunctional family trying to hold together what hasn't already been shattered, and this gorgeous boy from neighborhood who is so sweet and courteous and attentive that it seems like Nicholas Sparks wants you as a reader to fall in love with him as well. And that's already the problem: I just don't buy it. People can be as beautiful as possible, but it's impossible to judge whether the soul behind that beauty is just as beautiful ... or maybe ugly. However, Sparks defined Will, the protagonist's love-interest, as sweet and beautiful and successful and ... did I mention beautiful? Throw in the facts that Will rescues endangered animal species, has a lot of friends and experience and is one of the best atheletes in his town. Let's summarize: He is the perfect guy.

It seems like Nicholas Sparks wants to handle every stereotype available out there. He introduces the cruel, mean antagonist who finds pleasure in making life difficult for others, terrorizing them and treating women like shit. Guess the purpose of this? To make the perfect guy shine even brighter, of course. Nobody is as perfect as Will Blakelee, but Sparks seems to want his reader to believe just that. But allow me to question one thing: If Will had had the same character, but another appearance, not the Liam Hemsworth kind, but a not-so-attractive guy ... would the movie have been that successful then?

I guess not.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against romance novels. I liked Ronnie, the female protagonist, and the story of her family, I adored her little brother Jonah, and the writing was not as bad as I initially feared. But I do have something against novels defining love by how good-looking people are. show less

Nicholas Sparks has become increasingly more popular as the days go by, and for a good reason. His love stories are irresistible, and his characters are so real and relatable. The Last Song is no exception.

Ronnie, living in the Manhattan club scene, is forced to spend her summer off in North Carolina with her father, who she hasn't spoken to in three years. As she learns about herself and her parents' pasts, her entire world is thrown off-kilter. Will is overwhelmed with guilt over keeping his friend's secret.

I gobbled this book up in two evenings. Beautiful, sad, uplifting, tragic - there are such a variety of feelings in this book, I can't even begin to describe it. I laughed and I cried, and I loved every word of it. Ronnie's father show more is so strong, in such a unique way. He's the kind of father I wish I had growing up.

I loved the effect of the varying perspectives on the story. It's not an easy thing to do, but Nicholas Sparks pulled it off (of course!). Each character had their own voice, and it gives the reader a more rounded view of the story.

A great story, definitely one of my favourites in a long time. A typical Sparks novel though, in the sense that everything doesn't have a perfectly happy ending. Endings are inevitable, which is conveyed through this heartbreaking and yet heartwarming tale of summer love, and forgiveness. show less

I am not a big Nicholas Sparks fan. Why? I don't know. Maybe I've been jaded by the schmaltzy offerings that the movies have provided of his books and because, up until this past month, I had only read one. Now, with my third under my belt, I feel a little better about offering comments. This is by far the best Sparks' book I've read. To be fair, I'll tell you that I have read Nights in Rodanthe and The Longest Ride; if you have ones that you think are better and would offer as being better than The Last Song, please let me know. I am hesitant to read more Sparks. I feel as if I am treading on banana peels with each read, and that may simply be because of the movies.

I know that Sparks is playing with my emotions, but this book was show more pretty well written. I liked the characters. I liked the situations. I liked the prose, which I can't say was true with The Longest Ride. In The Last Song, I think Sparks was onto some rhythm and feeling with his words. There was a lot of beauty and precision here, along with a lot of emotion.

I knew what was going to happen with the first cough. Coughs are big in literature....check out La dame aux Camélias; it goes way, way back as the first sign.

Because I have been reading a lot of YA lit recently, I liked the way Sparks handled Ronnie. He gave her qualities that other YA writers aren't dealing out to their characters. Respect. Too many YA writers (One Night That Changes Everything comes significantly to mind as an awful read from 2013) reinforce whiny, self-indulgent teens as the end-all. Ronnie and Eliza are so disparate that you could imagine they are from different planets. Yikes!

And, Ronnie deals with a lot of things in her 18th year that many of us don't have to go through, ever. I liked the way it all was handled. In fact, while I did cry, I don't know that Sparks went overboard with the melodrama. Maybe because I have been dazzled with too much melodramatic writing last year in my reading goal quest? Everything is relative.

So, loved the book. It is emotional. Maybe not for everyone, but I liked it! show less

“The Last Song” by Nicholas Sparks is such a moving story which will bring you tears while reading. Ronnie (short for Veronica) and Jonah are on their way to spend time with their father for the summer. Ronnie has a history with shoplifting and hanging out with the wrong crowd. Old habits die hard it seems when she arrives in the town her dad lives, or perhaps she is just being misjudged. A boy named Will sees right through the “rebellious" act she puts on and like each love story; it doesn’t take long before Will begins to fall for her.

This is a classic tale of opposites attract, with many promises and lies. This story was so unpredictable in many ways. Once you thought you were beginning to understand a character, a truth is show more reveled; nothing you could expect coming.

I left out a great deal because I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone planning on reading this story. All I have to say is this is one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time and I’d like you all to read it and find out for yourselves.

P.s. Oh and don’t forget to keep a box of tissues nearby! Trust me, you'll need them! show less